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27 Oct 2009 09:00:10

Tuesday 27th October 2009

11.30pm Seats and candidates: The unacceptable treatment of Liz Truss

9.45pm Martin Parsons on CentreRight: The future cost to Britain of Labour's flirtation with shari'a finance

8.45pm WATCH: How William Hague in 2008 imagined the scene of "President Blair" visiting Downing Street - is it quite so funny now?

Picture 167pm Parliament: For MPs, Christmas - quite literally - will come earlier than ever this year

5.45pm WATCH: Jeremy Hunt tells Andrew Neil about his plans to reform the BBC

4.30pm Mark Wallace on CentreRight: Petition President Klaus to stand firm

4pm Seats and candidates: Liz Truss has ConservativeHome's full support

3.45pm Dan Hamilton on CentreRight: Republican Hara-Kiri

3pm WATCH: David Cameron explains why he doesn't want to see Tony Blair as EU President

1pm ToryDiary: David Cameron reiterates Tory opposition to Tony Blair becoming EU President

ChangesTactics12.30pm Seats and candidates: David Cameron changes tactics on All Women Shortlists

12.15pm Latest on CentreRight:

ToryDiary: The Conservatives are on the march in Wales where Labour are "in deep trouble"

Sarah Macken on Platform: At a time when we may need more Reservists, Labour's misunderstanding of the role of the Territorial Army is alarming

Stanley Johnson in Seats and Candidates: If All-Women shortlists are on the agenda, then why not All-Over-60s shortlists too?

IslamicExtremism
Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens in Local Government: Boris fails to tackle Islamic extremism

Also in Local Government: Nick Seaton: In defence of the teacher taken to court for hauling a disruptive pupil out of a lesson

Alex Deane on CentreRight: You are no longer trusted to run your own credit card

LISTEN: Gordon Brown's latest podcast on the state of the economy

Voters agree with David Cameron that the State is too big

David Cameron at podium "Two-thirds of voters back David Cameron’s call for the size of the state to be slimmed down, a ComRes survey for The Independent discloses today... Sixty-seven per cent said they agreed with the Tory leader that “the Government has grown too big and needs a major overhaul to make it smaller”. Just 28 per cent disagreed, with his call for a smaller state supported across the social spectrum. Andrew Hawkins, the chief executive of ComRes, said: “The Conservatives are on to a winner with this campaign line.” - The Independent

> Last night's ToryDiary: ComRes for The Independent puts Tory poll lead at 13%

Whitehall mandarins face sacking threat under Conservative plans

"Whitehall mandarins face an unprecedented threat of sacking under Tory plans to end the "job for life" culture of the civil service. The Conservatives are drawing up plans that would allow ministers to dismiss permanent secretaries, the senior officials who run Whitehall departments. No permanent secretary has been formally dismissed for more than 70 years. Francis Maude, the shadow Cabinet Office minister overseeing the Tories’ preparations for power, wants to end the “job for life” culture at the top of the civil service and make officials directly accountable for the performance of their departments." - Daily Telegraph

Eleanor Laing survives deselection attempt

Eleanor Laing "Eleanor Laing, the shadow justice minister who paid back £25,000 in expenses, has survived an attempt to have her deselected as a Tory candidate at the next election... "I'm absolutely delighted," said Ms Laing. "I'm very much looking forward to going forward to the general election... It was a very difficult meeting... I've been scrutinised. I have been questioned and I have answered all the questions and my critics accept that." - Daily Telegraph

> Last night in Seats and Candidates: Eleanor Laing MP wins confidence vote of Epping Forest Conservatives

Liam Fox: Government TA proposals are "a shambles"

"Defence chiefs last night went into retreat on controversial moves to halt TA training. They had intended to ban all drill for vital reservists to claw back £20million. But the Ministry of Defence has now decided that training can continue - though for only one night a month... Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox accused the Government of plotting to strip the TA's core budget of £43million. He said: "These proposals are a shambles. They must be reversed. For many the TA is a habit. Break the habit, break the TA." - The Sun

> Yesterday in Parliament: Liam Fox challenges Government over its position on the Territorial Army

George Osborne's warning on bankers' bonuses gets a mixed press

George Osborne on Marr 2 "Bankers reacted angrily to a Conservative party pledge to ban end-of-year cash bonuses announced as part of the party's attempts to stimulate lending. In a speech at Canary Wharf earlier today the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, expanded on heavily trailed plans to force the regulators to ban high street banks from giving big cash payments as rewards, seen by many as incentives to risk-taking and wrongful remuneration during a downturn." - The Guardian

“It would be much better for [Mr Osborne] to be wiser, in terms of finding the right approach, rather than adapting a more headline grabbing one,” said Miles Templeman, director-general of the Institute of Directors... The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that “not for the first time this year, the City feels that politics is unfairly shaping pay and remuneration policy”. George Magnus, the senior economic adviser to UBS, questioned the direct link between the cash used by the banks for bonus payments and their levels of lending. “If it was as simple as that, they’ve got enough cash already to have expanded their loans,” he told the BBC." - FT

"The Federation of Small Businesses said it welcomed the proposals to “ring-fence money for small businesses and hard-pressed families that would otherwise have been handed out in bonuses for bank staff.” - Daily Telegraph

"Mr Osborne's proposed interference in the free market may sit uncomfortably with true Conservatism, but these banks - which would not exist if billions in taxpayers' money had not been pumped into their coffers - are no longer part of that free market. We applaud Mr Osborne's courage in making himself unpopular with the City in order to tackle this scandal." - Daily Mail editorial

"There was no need to appease the bonus-bashing mob and inflame anti-City sentiment further. Mr Osborne would have won fewer headlines for such an announcement, but he would have been advocating the sort of policy that separates a chancellor-in-waiting from a shadow chancellor." - FT editorial

> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Osborne warns banks that they'll lose state aid if they keep paying big cash bonuses

Alan Duncan accuses Government of publishing misleading re-offending statistics

DUNCAN ALAN NEW "Ministers were last night accused of creating "total confusion" to hide the number of lags freed to re-offend. New statistics show a "snapshot" of the number of violent and sexual offenders under supervision on March 31 instead of totals for the year. Critics say this makes it impossible to compare with previous years how many are freed into the community... Shadow Justice Minister Alan Duncan accused the Government of a "shameful attempt" to mislead the public over the scale of re-offending. He said Labour had also failed to publish data on lower level offenders." - The Sun

Heseltine predicts Tory retreat on European policy

"David Cameron would be forced into a swift and humiliating retreat on Europe if he wins power, according to one of the elder statesmen from the last Conservative Government. Lord Heseltine, the former Deputy Prime Minister, predicts that Mr Cameron will have to rejoin the European People’s Party (EPP) soon after the election. He is understood to have warned the party leadership at a private meeting last week that its currently Eurosceptic stance would be deeply damaging to Britain’s foreign policy interests. He suggested that the Conservative leader would inevitably have to “reach an accommodation” with the EPP — even though that would be extremely difficult to achieve without losing face and enraging party activists." - The Times

Chris Grayling questions Government motivations on immigration policy

GRAYLING-OPEN-SHIRT "The rate at which foreigners are swelling the population has increased by 50 per cent since a secret Government immigration policy document was written.  Critics said it was clear evidence that ministers had implemented the controversial Cabinet Office report.  This allegedly claimed mass immigration would make Britain more multicultural and allow Labour to portray the Tories as racists. Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said it would be 'utterly disgraceful' for ministers to base immigration policy on party politics. He asked Immigration Minister Phil Woolas: 'Can I invite you to put the record straight  -  what was the motivation behind the very rapid increase in immigration under this Government?'. Incredibly, Mr Woolas did not appear to know which report Mr Grayling was referring to." - Daily Mail

Tebbit joins revolt against All-Women Shortlists

“I think it’s a daft idea. We need to choose people entirely on their merits, whether they are brown, white, yellow, male or female... It will breed resentment because it just ain’t fair. Imagine the reaction if a party started saying that women shouldn’t become MPs?” - Lord Tebbit quoted in The Times

The Guardian reports Rory Stewart's selection for Penrith and The Border

"He's braved Indonesia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and found time to teach both Prince William and Harry, but Rory Stewart's next challenge is almost certain to be navigating the backbenches of the House of Commons. On Sunday night, the former foreign office civil servant, writer, academic and tutor to royalty beat five other candidates to win selection to the safe Conservative seat of Penrith and the Border. He is now standing to become the MP for the constituency currently represented by David Maclean, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis and who is standing down on health grounds." - The Guardian

> Sunday's Seats and Candidates post: Rory Stewart adopted for Penrith and the Border

Bercow consults leaders on how MPs could question Mandelson and Adonis...

Speaker Bercow "Speaker John Bercow has written to party leaders to discuss calls for peers who serve as cabinet ministers to appear in the Commons. The move, which could see senior figures such as Lord Mandelson directly questioned by MPs, was being "actively" discussed, a spokesman told the BBC. It was hoped that a "solution" could be reached soon, he added." - BBC

> Recently in Parliament: MPs may soon get the opportunity to question Lord Mandelson and other ministers from the Upper House

...as the Speaker's unofficial biographer promises to lift the lid on his life

"BBC news producer Bobby Friedman is currently interviewing friends and acquaintances of Bercow, for the unauthorised work, which he plans to release in time for the next general election. "What I want to look at is how someone can be so hated," Friedman tells us. "I've always followed his career. It's very obvious that so many within his party don't like him. How did someone with virtually no party support get in? I want to know why people hate him. The reasons are more complex than people make out." - The Independent

Czech court to consider Lisbon reforms - Daily Telegraph

Downing Street dismisses reports of push for "President Blair" - BBC

Gun crime doubles in a decade - Daily Telegraph

ID card plan "needs 28 million people to sign up to cover costs" - The Scotsman

Employers under pressure to give all staff anti-paedophile checks - Daily Telegraph

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26 Oct 2009 09:00:19

Monday 26th October 2009

10.45pm ToryDiary: ComRes for The Independent puts Tory poll lead at 13%

Eleanor Laing9.45pm Seats and Candidates: Eleanor Laing MP wins confidence vote of Epping Forest Conservatives

8pm David T Breaker on CentreRIghtIf America wants a strong EU, America has got it wrong

5pm Parliament: Liam Fox challenges Government over its position on the Territorial Army

3pm WATCH: Veteran Labour MP Austin Mitchell says that MPs require a pay rise or "cast iron" allowances to cover their second homes if they are to to the job properly

2.15pm Parliament: Eric Pickles seeks official information about the extent of plans to switch general election counts to Friday

Picture 1211.30am ToryDiary update: Osborne warns banks that they'll lose state aid if they keep paying big cash bonuses Updated with text of key passage from his speech and at 1pm with video clip

11am Matthew Sinclair on CentreRight: A guide to the alphabet soup of semi-autonomous bodies runnig the country

10.30am Latest on CentreRight:

10am WATCH: George Osborne tells Sky News that any spare cash going at banks should be made available to businesses and not paid out in bonuses

ConservativeBluePlan
ToryDiary: The Conservative plan to paint Britain blue for a generation

Also in ToryDiary: David Willetts proposes new access rights for grandparents to their grandchildren

Ali Miraj on Platform: Who, in Parliament, speaks for the white working class?

Seats and Candidates:

Local Government: Islamic extremists funded to start schools

WATCH: Conservative Future backs the NO2ID campaign with the support of Damian Green

George Osborne demands emergency measures to prevent banks paying cash bonuses...

George Osborne on Marr 2 "Emergency moves to stop the retail banks paying out cash bonuses and instead to divert the money on to balance sheets to support new lending will be demanded by the Conservative leadership today. In a marked hardening of the party’s stance, George Osborne will say the Government can no longer wait “for the promised land of a new responsible bonus culture which looks more remote than ever.” The Shadow Chancellor will call on the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority to combine forces to stop banks paying out profits in “significant cash bonuses.” - The Times

"In a speech to Thomson Reuters in Canary Wharf, east London, Osborne will tell financiers: "We cannot wait for the promised land of a new responsible bonus culture which looks more remote than ever. We need to take emergency steps to support bank lending and move the economy forward. I am today calling on the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority to combine forces and stop retail banks paying out profits in significant cash bonuses. Full stop. Then the cash that would have been paid out should be put on to banks' balance sheets explicitly to support new lending. This should be a condition of continuing to receive taxpayer guarantees and liquidity support." - The Guardian

"The independence of Scotland's oldest bank could be re-established if the Conservatives come to power in the next election. Shadow chancellor George Osborne hinted that the Bank of Scotland could rise again under a Tory government as part of plans to dismantle the UK's superbanks." - The Scotsman

> Last night's ToryDiary: Osborne warns banks that they'll lose state aid if they keep paying big cash bonuses

...as Bruce Anderson calls for more richer bankers

"Bankers are in it for the money. If they cannot make money here, they will leave. London is an international financial centre, which means that banks and bankers end up paying a lot of UK tax on a large number of transactions that have nothing to do with Britain. There is no law of nature which decrees that this is inevitable. If the tax demands are too high, the bees will move to another hive." - Bruce Anderson writing in The Independent

Ken Clarke again urges the Government to part-privatise the Royal Mail...

Ken Clarke "Ken Clarke, the shadow business secretary, said Lord Mandelson should not intervene in the dispute, but urged him to revive the Postal Services Bill to pave the way for part-privatisation of the Royal Mail. It was when the Business Secretary dropped the bill in July that the CWU began preparing for the current round of strikes, in the hope of getting out of the modernisation agreement sealed in 2007, Mr Clarke added. He indicated that a Conservative Government would get private management and capital into the Royal Mail and would not be willing simply to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into preserving the Post Office in its current state." - Daily Telegraph

...as he says the UK economic recovery will be feeble

"Britain's economic recovery will be "feeble and fragile" and whoever wins the next election will need a full Parliament to nurse it back to health, shadow business secretary Kenneth Clarke has predicted. The former Chancellor's comments came after Gordon Brown pledged to return the economy to growth by the end of the year... Mr Clarke said he believed that Britain's route to recovery would be "L-shaped" - suggesting a lengthy period of stagnation and minimal growth - rather than the V-shaped swift return to healthy growth that Mr Brown is hoping for or the W-shaped "double dip" recession that some economists fear." - Press Association

"While wasteful public spending must be reined in, the most important policy that an incoming Tory administration needs to set out is a strategy for growth. We have heard a lot from the Conservatives about spending restraint, but not a great deal about economic revival... Growth will only return when private enterprise is given the freedom and incentive to invest, make a profit and recruit staff. Mr Cameron is beginning to talk the right language and we need to hear more of it." - Daily Telegraph editorial

William Hague hails the UUP and Conservatives as "natural allies"

William Hague happy "British Conservatives and Ulster Unionists are “natural allies” who have similar views and philosophies about “UK-level issues”, the Tory deputy leader [sic] has told The Irish Times.  Speaking before his address to the UUP conference in Belfast at the weekend, William Hague said it was only right that the two parties co-operate at the next Westminster election so that the Northern electorate would “be able to be part of [a] winning majority”. UUP MPs could serve as ministers in a David Cameron-led government, he added. He denied that his party’s official ties with unionism meant an appeal was being made to one section of Northern Ireland society only." - Irish Times

How the new alliance could land a handful of Westminster seats - Analysis by Gerry Moriarty of the Irish Times

The Guardian backs David Cameron's intervention on all-women shortlists

"David Cameron is right to warn local parties that although things are much better than they were, they are still nowhere near good enough, and the appalled reaction to his proposal last week for all-women shortlists (AWS) suggests how far Tory culture still has to go to understand how discrimination works... After his conference speech announcing the end of big government, it is an early reminder to the Tory leader that without central control it is necessary to tolerate undesired outcomes. Mr Cameron has a sufficient record of concern about female representation to refute the sceptics' suggestion that he is merely seeking a confrontation with his party. But that is what he has got, and only the power of the centre is going to deliver victory." - Guardian editorial

> Weekend Seats and Candidates posts on All-Women shortlists:

Tories accuse ministers of "bedroom snooping" in census for 2011

HURD NICK "The nation’s sleeping arrangements are to come under scrutiny in the next countrywide census, it has emerged. The 2011 survey will include questions on the number of bedrooms in a person’s home, as well as the name, sex and birth-date of any overnight visitors. Nick Hurd, the Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, yesterday called it a “snooper” census, hitting out at “invasive and intrusive” new demands." - The Times

The Sun predicts the "dirtiest general election ever"

"Britain is heading for its dirtiest General Election in memory - with party chiefs already drawing up plans for personal attack. The Tories will target Gordon Brown, asking voters: "Can you face another five years of this man?" And Labour will try to paint David Cameron as a "rich toff" with no idea how ordinary people live. Both parties know there is a danger that personal attacks will put voters off, but recent research in America shows undermining opponents often sways the electorate." - The Sun

Government to backtrack over TA cutbacks

"Gordon Brown is being forced to backtrack over planned cuts in Territorial Army training amid fears that it would turn into a political disaster rivalling his humiliation over the Gurkhas." - Daily Telegraph

> Recent ToryDiary: Liam Fox condemns "twisted" plan to suspend TA training

Boris Johnson: Teachers need the law on their side

"We want the next education secretary to stand up and say that the law is plainly and unambiguously on the side of the teacher exercising reasonable discipline – and not on the side of the violent little squirts who are trying to make their jobs impossible." - Boris Johnson writing in the Daily Telegraph

Julian Glover: The battles ahead for Cameron with Labour's appointocracy

"David Cameron could find old regime partisans sniping at him from the hills; the people who sit on boards and commissions, hold chairs and run reviews: the whole well-intentioned infrastructure of progressive society that, almost like royalty, remains in place from one government to the next... Typical of the skirmishing to come is the conflict between Boris Johnson and Liz Forgan, chair of the Arts Council (and also of the Scott Trust, which runs the Guardian), over the mayor's attempt to appoint Veronica Wadley, a former editor of the Evening Standard, to an arts job in London: one establishment grappling with the demands of another." - Julian Glover writing in The Guardian

Brown favours Commons questions for Mandelson

Lord Mandelson "Gordon Brown has opened the way for Lord Mandelson to become the first Cabinet minister from the House of Lords to be grilled at the Commons dispatch box. The Prime Minister has written to John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and said that he saw “no reason” why ministers who are normally confined to answering questions in the Lords should not be held to account in front of MPs in the Commons chamber... It is understood that Mr Brown wants to go further than Mr Bercow’s idea for peers like Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, and Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, to be quizzed by MPs in a special debate in Westminster Hall, a smaller chamber currently used for backbench debates." - Daily Telegraph

> Recently in Parliament: MPs may soon get the opportunity to question Lord Mandelson and other ministers from the Upper House

David Miliband backs Blair for European President

"David Miliband has ruled himself out of taking a senior role within the EU, while endorsing Tony Blair for the new post of European president. There have been suggestions the foreign secretary may become the new EU high representative for foreign affairs, to be created under the Lisbon Treaty. But Mr Miliband told the BBC he was not "available" to be a candidate." - BBC

> WATCH: David Miliband backs Tony Blair to be EU's first permanent President

Philip Johnston: Book me a seat on low-cost easyCouncil

"In this internet age, where people are more used to shopping around and object to being told to like it or lump it, all the assumptions about equal access to public service provision that have held sway in this country almost since the end of the Second World War need to be revisited. The burghers of Barnet are at least trying to come up with some innovative ideas to help save money and keep taxes down. Would that we had an easyGovernment that did the same." - Philip Johnston writing in the Daily Telegraph

> Friday's Local Government post: easyCouncil takes shape

Boris Johnson planning £15m monument for Olympic park - Guardian

Gaddafi apologises for Yvonne Fletcher murder - Daily Telegraph

Weekend Highlights
Two selections in safe seats in Seats and Candidates:

ToryDiary posts:

Mark Wallace in Local government: End national pay bargaining

Melanchthon on CentreRight pens a bleak portrait of the challenges facing a Tory government

WATCH:

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25 Oct 2009 09:06:18

Sunday 25th October 2009

9.45pm ToryDiary: Osborne warns banks that they'll lose state aid if they keep paying big cash bonuses

Picture 7 8.15pm WATCH: Eve Burt tells Channel 4 News that she is ready to go to court to protect her employment as secretary to her husband, Alistair Burt MP

6.45pm Seats and candidates: Rory Stewart selected for Penrith and the Border

6.30pm ToryDiary: Hague, Fox and Osborne top shadow cabinet league table

5.30pm Seats and candidates: Twenty ideas to encourage more women Tory MPs

6a00d83451b31c69e20115715b4fe4970c-200wi3pm Graeme Archer on CentreRight is disappointed to see The Spectator promoting the views of people whose agenda is to suggest that HIV doesn't usually lead to AIDS

3pm WATCH: David Miliband backs Tony Blair to be EU's first permanent President

12.30pm Seats and candidates: The eighty women most likely to be Tory MPs and £15,000 is donated to an Association of Associations to resist All Women Shortlists

Noon CentreRight updates:

UKIPToryDiary:

Alex Fisher on Platform: The public examination system needs urgent reform

Mark Wallace on Local government: End national pay bargaining

Melanchthon on CentreRight pens a bleak portrait of the challenges facing a Tory government: "As unemployment rises above three million next year, and (barring something extraordinary) above four million over the following winter, the Conservative Party will be blamed.  People will say that it's the spending cuts and the public sector redundancies that are the cause.  There will be unprecedented social tensions associated with there being so, so many unemployed.  Given the very low trust there is in politicians and the general scale of nihilism and social decay, the situation could become volatile - in an extreme case, in specific regions, even quasi-revolutionary (of the order of quasi-revolutionary union activities in the early 1970s, but probably not, on this occasion, at the instigation of unions).  I have no idea how the Conservatives intend to deal with that - and, I think, neither does anyone in the Party." 

David Cameron sets out his economic reform plan

CAMERON-SIGNING In addition to banking reform and controlling spending his article for The Sunday Times includes: "Getting Britain working is also about getting people ready for work. This is where some of our most radical reforms come in. We will bust open the state monopoly on education. That will increase competition, raise standards and make sure our children get the education they need to succeed. Our plans for technical schools in our 12 biggest cities and 100,000 new apprenticeships mean we will also develop the engineering and technological skills of the future. And we will radically reform the welfare system so the unemployed get the tailored support they need to get back into work."

Gordon Brown has promised the economy will return to growth by the turn of the year - BBC

More strikes threaten Brown with his own winter of discontent - The Sunday Times

"The Office of National Statistics, like the Bank of England, is proving to be uncomfortably independent for Mr Brown. Rarely have figures played so neatly into the opposition’s hands. Britain, on the basis of these statistics, was first in and will be last out of recession. The prime minister’s boast that the country was uniquely well placed looks as misguided as it was vainglorious. The return of growth was supposed to be the defining event of the autumn. The continued recession defines it in the opposite way." - The Sunday Times leader

UUP-Tory coalition facing internal tension

"The Ulster Unionists' sole MP failed to turn up to her party's conference yesterday, increasing speculation that Lady Sylvia Hermon will stand as an independent in the forthcoming general election." - Observer

All-women shortlists for the Tory party? Rubbish idea, Dave - Euan Ferguson in The Observer

A revolt is brewing among Tory activists against women-only shortlists, but getting more female MPs is a crucial part of rebranding the Conservatives, says Melissa Kite in The Sunday Telegraph

Rebellion grows over move to stop MPs paying relatives

"Whips from all main parties have warned that the family ban, which could make more than 200 people redundant, is the most "provocative" element of the six-month inquiry into the expenses regime. A number of MPs' spouses, some who have worked in Parliament for decades, have already complained about the likely ban. MPs claimed yesterday that at least one of their colleagues is facing a legal challenge from her own partner over the alleged "restriction on trade" that a veto would represent." - Independent on Sunday

Bernard Jenkin wins Cameron's backing for unfair repayment request - Mail on Sunday

Nick Griffin attacked by his own BNP supporters over Question Time

Party's legal officer accuses leader of failing to press home his attack on 'the sanctimonious, hypocritical middle classes' - Observer

Griffin_516_62868a News of the World graphic

Lord Carey has urged Christians to "stand shoulder to shoulder" in rejecting the BNP - News of the World | BBC

The BNP can be dismissed - but their constituency cannot - James Forsyth in The Sunday Telegraph

"The BNP candidate in the Glasgow North East by- election has said he will "go to his grave" wanting his party to remain racist and white only." - Scotland on Sunday

William Rees-Mogg: European leaders would be ignoring British voters again if Blair becomes EU President

BLAIR AND EU STAR "I wish the European Leaders, particularly the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, would pay a smidgin of attention to British public opinion. They seem to think it would recommend the European Union and the Lisbon Treaty to us if we were given Tony Blair as a British President of Europe. The opposite is the truth. We had Blair as Prime Minister for ten years. We never thought we would get him back as an unelected President of Europe. He let us down too often. We do not trust him, we no longer like him, we do not want him." - William Rees-Mogg in the Mail on Sunday

And finally... Gyles Brandreth remembers the time he failed to persuade Ken Clarke to retain Norman Lamont's young adviser, one David Cameron

"“I will do anything to help and serve David Cameron,” he says. “I’m a huge admirer, and one of the joys of keeping a diary is that you’re able to point out that when David Cameron was a political adviser to Norman Lamont, and when Lamont was dropped by John Major, his special advisers were dropped as well. I thought it was a mistake to drop him, so I wrote a memo to the new chancellor, Kenneth Clarke. I said, we mustn’t lose this man, he is gold, and I remember having a conversation with Clarke, who was saying he’s Lamont’s man, very right-wing. I said, no no, he was working for Lamont and therefore reflected Lamont, but I think you’ll find he’s our kind of Conservative, a liberal Conservative. Clarke still dropped him. Wouldn’t be persuaded. Wouldn’t. He went. I failed. But it can’t be taken away from me that I spotted him when people hadn’t even heard of him.”" - Gyles Brandreth interviewed in The Sunday Times

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24 Oct 2009 08:51:50

Saturday 24th October 2009

Picture 2 6.30pm WATCH: A behind-the-scenes Conservative Party video talks to Sayeeda Warsi before and after her Question Time clash with Nick Griffin

1.30pm Seats and candidates: Liz Truss selected for South West Norfolk

12.15pm Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: YouTubers hit back against the climate change scare-mongers

Picture 1411.30am WATCH: Peter Hain blames BBC for 'skyrocketing' BNP membership

ToryDiary: ConHome readers want a bolder Tory leadership

Jamie Murray Wells on Platform: The next Conservative government must follow the examples of Reagan and Thatcher and lessen the burdens on entrepreneurs

Local government:

WATCH: Labour's economic policies have failed to get Britain out of recession, says Cameron

WATCH: Boris Johnson talks to schoolchildren about the 2012 Olympics

'One In Five Voters Now Considering BNP' - Sky News | Yesterday's ToryDiary

'All women shortlists as big as grammar schools'

Picture 12 "A mounting Conservative grassroots backlash against David Cameron’s plans to impose all-women shortlists on the party was revealed in a poll on Friday. More than 85 per cent of Tory activists responding to the survey by the Conservativehome website opposed the party leader’s plan to use all-women shortlists from January, in an attempt to boost the number of female candidates fighting winnable seats... “There’s enormous anger out there. This is as big as grammar schools for the grassroots,” one insider said." - FT

"A survey of 1,900 party members by the ConservativeHome website found that 87 per cent oppose the idea, and only 12 per cent believe the measure is justified. A tiny 0.2 per cent agree that the number of women Tory candidates is an issue for ordinary voters; 97 per cent disagree." - Independent

> Yesterday's ConservativeHome survey on All Women Shortlists

Iain-martin "The word is that the associations are not for being bullied. There is fury. A great many associations are prepared to club together to refuse the order, daring the party leadership to put them into so-called special measures. A figure of more than 100 constituency chairmen prepared to take action unless Cameron reconsiders is being mentioned." - Iain Martin at the Wall Street Journal

"Most voters want the best candidate as their MP, not the best after half the population has been ruled out. It shouldn't matter whether a candidate is black, white, Muslim, Christian, male or female: it should only matter that he or she is good. As the Labour Party found, all-women shortlists lead to some useless women sitting in Parliament, while some very able men go and do something else. Just what we need now." - Simon Heffer in The Telegraph

Peter Oborne urges David Cameron to end Afghanistan war

"Cameron is sticking like a limpet to Obama's strategy and is a stalwart supporter of a cross-party consensus with Labour in support of this foreign war. To his credit, Cameron has often made forceful criticisms of the wretchedly inadequate equipment provided to British troops and has condemned the worrying low calibre of Labour's team of defence ministers. Crucially, though, on matters of overall strategy, there is not a cigarette paper of difference between Cameron, Gordon Brown and Obama." - Daily Mail

Business survey boosts George Osborne

OSBORNE GEORGE PORTRAIT "The number of businessmen who say they are confident in Mr Osborne’s ability jumped from 36 per cent last month to 55 per cent this month. The proportion who think he is “out of his depth” dropped from 46 to 36 per cent, while the number who believe he “lacks experience” fell from 75 to 68 per cent." - Independent

Recession figures hit Brown's election hopes - Guardian

"France and Germany are already out of recession. Hong Kong and Japan are clear of the downturn, while thriving China and India have seized opportunities from the crisis. Here, we are mired in the worst recession since records began. Chancellor Darling's rosy forecast of a return to growth has been blown out of the water." - The Sun

"As a result the UK has now fallen beneath Italy for the first time since the mid-1990s to become the world’s seventh biggest economy. In the third quarter of the year, Britain’s economy generated around £347.5 billion in cash terms. Italy’s economic output in the same period, based on conservative forecasts calculated by Citigroup, was some £350 billion." - Telegraph

Tories under pressure as ratification of Lisbon Treaty comes a step closer - Telegraph

Boris Johnson: I will have Verona Wadley in Arts Council post

JOHNSON-BORIS-BEDRAGGLED "Earlier this month, it emerged that Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, had turned down Veronica Wadley, the former editor of the Evening Standard, who had been selected by the Mayor to run the London Arts Council... Now the Mayor has escalated the row by sending Mr Bradshaw a sternly-worded letter in which he said that he would rerun the selection process but fully anticipated that Miss Wadley would emerge as the winner for a second time." - Telegraph

Charity commission to investigate Atlantic Bridge pressure group’s Tory links - Tribune

Labour wanted mass immigration to make UK more multicultural, says former Blair adviser - Telegraph

The Duke of York has defended bankers' bonuses, saying they are "minute" in the scheme of things - BBC

CDU and FDP agree coalition on back of £22bn tax cut - Reuters

Only one in three Americans think humans are causing climate change - Daily Mail

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