ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

Bow Group proposes 1% simplifier tax on homes

According to reports in The Times and Guardian the Tory-aligned Bow Group is proposing a 1% annual levy on the value of all homes to replace four existing taxes - council tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax on house sales and the BBC's licence fee.

The Bow Group's Mark Wadsworth's 'progressive' proposal would see the first £70,000 of a house's value go untaxed.  Thereafter the 1% annual levy would kick in.  The average homeowner in the north would pay £509.  This is based on the £129,000 price tag for the average northern home.  With average house prices in London at £307,000, however, the average London homeowner would pay nearly five times as much - £2,370pa.

11.45am update: MARK WADSWORTH HAS NOW POSTED ON YOURPLATFORM - DEVELOPING HIS ARGUMENTS AND RESPONDING TO THE COMMENTS BELOW.

Andrew Mitchell wants free trade zone for Africa

Later today Shadow International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell will partly pre-empt Peter Lilley's policy group on global poverty by proposing an Africa-wide free trade zone.  Mr Mitchell will highlight the walls of protectionism that divide one African economy from another - often making it harder for them to trade with each other than with western nations:

"While North America and Europe have been getting richer through trade, Africa has been left standing at the touchline.  The world has lifted more people out of poverty in the past fifty years that at any point in human history - but Africa is the continent that is being left behind.  The lack of intra-African trade is a missed opportunity. Africa's barriers are seriously undermining the continent's prospects for development.  They are preventing specialisation between African nations, hindering productivity growth, and clogging up Africa's wealth creation engine."

According to ePolitix.com Mr Mitchell will note that average sub-Saharan tariffs stand at 17.7% compared to an OECD average of just 3.9%.  He will describe tariffs that some African nations impose on medicines as "killer tariffs".

During the leadership election David Cameron called for a focus on tackling killer diseases and protecting property rights within international development policy.  More recently the Tory leader spoke to Oxfam.  In addition to confirming the Tory aspiration to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid by 2013, Mr Cameron promised 'aid vouchers' that would ensure poor communities could bypass corrupt governments and transact directly with development agencies.

The free trade idea that Mr Mitchell will advance today is in tune with the vision of the influential Globalisation Institute.  GI's Director General Alex Singleton has written about the need for an intellectual revolution in Conservative development policy.  Mr Singleton has highlighted the importance of microcredits and an infrastructure that is more accommodating to entrepreneurs.

It will be interesting to see what Bob Geldof makes of the new Tory emphasis...

5.15pm updates: PDF of Andrew Mitchell's speech and World Trade Organisation talks collapse (BBC).

Labour are still stealing Tory policies (and implementing them badly)

BBC Online reports that John Reid is planning a "uniformed border-control force" at Britain's air and seaports.  Earlier this week the Home Secretary had announced 8,000 new prison places to deal with overcrowding in UK jails.

A borders police force and more prisons places are settled Tory policy and John Reid's catch-up interventions are further proof of NuLabour's magpie tendencies.

ConservativeHome has described Labour's inclination to adopt Tory policies as enabling us to "govern by proxy".  A host of Tory ideas have been stolen by Labour over the last decade.  The great problem is that they are invariably implemented ineptly or half-heartedly - discrediting the value of the original ideas. 

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis thinks the same pattern is likely with John Reid's borders announcement:

"This is not just about uniform, it's about powers and whether we use all the people: the immigration officers, the customs officers, and the special branch who currently work in the ports as a part of that force; or whether it is just about uniforms. If it's just about uniforms, that's just window dressing... What is necessary is a properly constituted and powerful border control police making use of all possible manpower to maximum effect to protect our borders and with it public safety."

Tory criticism of Israel is another step towards European worldview

The article is more subtle than the headline but William Hague's piece for today's Sunday Telegraph [Telegraph site is down at time of posting] hardens the hint of criticism of Israel that was evident on Thursday.  Matthew d'Ancona - writing on the page opposite to Mr Hague - describes the former Tory leader's words as "astonishing".  The Spectator's Editor  (who believes Iran is the greatest foreign policy test of our age) speculates that Mr Hague's advisers are responsible for this "wobble".

The Hague article is also another sign of the Shadow Foreign Secretary's determination to wrench the Conservative Party away from its once inseparable relationship with America:

"In some instances, such as attacks on the Lebanese army or on parts of the civil infrastructure, Israeli actions have been disproportionate, and our Foreign Office should not be afraid to say so: our position in international affairs may often be linked to that of the United States but it does not have to be identical to it."

Earlier this year William Hague, in a trip to Washington DC, spoke of America's moral authority "bleeding away".  Hague 2006 is certainly striking a different pose than Hague 2003.  This is backbencher Hague during the Commons debate ahead of the Iraq war:

"Our national interest is wide ranging, given that ours is the fourth largest economy in the world, our trade extends across the world and our citizens may be found throughout the world. However, it is also part of our national interest to act in concert with the United States of America in matters of world peace and stability, and that is what the Government are seeking to do. Every serious attempt to advance peace in the middle east has been advanced under the auspices of the United States of America. Every successful attempt to clean up the Balkans has been undertaken only with the support of the United States of America. Those who will not venture out when a criminal is coming down the street should not complain when someone acts as the policeman. The reason why the USA takes on so many responsibilities in the world is that others shirk those responsibilities, as they have done in the Security Council in the past few weeks."

Editor's comment: "The British Conservative Party's willingness to criticise an Israel besieged by terrorist enemies - during a time of conflict - is only the latest example of where Team Cameron is following a more European worldview.  The embrace of the Kyoto approach to global warming (rather than the Asian-Pacific Partnership's technological approach), an acceptance of European levels of taxation and a more 'understanding' approach to crime are three manifestations of this trend.  It is a trend rather than a full-scale conversion but Cameron's Tories are increasingly looking more Christian Democrat and less like the successful conservative parties of the Anglosphere."

A day on Dave Force One

The main points of Jasper Gerard's Sunday Times report on his time helicoptering around the country with David Cameron:

• Not all spin, has a real personality.
• Is charming, has a wry humour.
• Gets cross at the suggestion that he is seeing how far he can push traditional Tories: "They voted for change, I want to lead on my terms".
• Hits the right buttons to connect with Gen X.
• Seems sincere when talking about work/life balance.
• Has some core Conservative beliefs but offers gentler justifications for them.
• Said he would face down Zac Goldsmith on nuclear power - a power source he said was a last resort (Francis Maude was non-committal on this issue at Cardiff's Built to Last).
• He floats the idea of basing school classes on ability rather than age, Jasper notes that he has substance not just style on education policy (expectedly)
• Does your move to the centre imply you, not Gordon Brown, are the heir to Blair? "I find that impossible to answer", and later: "I will never be as good at attacking Blair as Brown is".
• Says the Conservatives have been an effective opposition that has shredded the Government's programme in the last seven months, with the exception of the education bill which he got through.
• Jasper comments in an aside that "many criticisms of Tone by Dave" can be turned on Dave by Tone.
• He vows to veto any proposals to exempt unions from a limit on party donations (which he wants to be set at £50,000).
• Wants to establish a commission to investigate corruption in football.
• He says he is fully geared for a snap election

Jasper ends his generally positive article by calling Cameron a class act, but ends on a surprisingly cynical note:

"But it is surely an act — isn’t it? And can he wing it all the way to Downing Street?"

Deputy Editor

Loan woes are not an excuse

The police investigations into party funding are getting increasingly serious:

"The Tories are facing the threat of prosecution over allegations that they secretly banked a “soft” loan provided below bank rates in breach of electoral laws. The party also received loans from other supporters who did not expect them to be repaid as they would be converted into donations — another potential breach of the law." - The Sunday Times

The Conservatives have received up to 150 loans, and most of the people the police have interviewed so far have been Conservatives. A CCHQ spokesman blamed conflicting advice about what constitutes a commercial loan.

The pressure is increasing on Labour too, as it is revealed that they haven't paid back £436,000 worth of interest to Levy's secret donors:

"The police are expected to open a new front in the "cash-for-peerages" affair and to ask why the party has failed to repay the interest it owes to lenders, who include several millionaires personally nominated by Tony Blair for seats in the Lords." - Independent on Sunday

The prospect of political parties being funded much more by taxpayers will seem increasingly tempting as a way to move on from this quagmire. David Cameron has reiterated his interest in more state funding again in an interview with Jasper Gerard of the Sunday Times.

If you have any ideas on how to counter the emerging self-serving consensus on state funding comment here.

Deputy Editor

Murdoch's mixed signals about Cameron

A few weeks ago we reported on an interview The Australian had with Rupert Murdoch, in which he warned Gordon Brown against holding a snap election, for the sake of dynamism in British politics (and perhaps so he could have an easier choice at the next general election). He has reiterated that position, as well as saying he likes Brown very much on a personal level. He is, however, sounding less keen on "very bright" David Cameron, the FT reports -->

June 28th

Australian interview: "Can you see yourself supporting David Cameron?"

Murdoch: "Oh yes."

July 21st

American interview: "What do you think of David Cameron?"

Murdoch: "Not much."

YouGov's daily tracking has recorded a slight dip in support for Cameron since the hug-a-hoodie speech, Desmond Swayne's leaked emails and the delay on the EPP. These things might have been on News Corp CEO's mind when he went on to say:

"He's totally inexperienced. He's going around the country making speeches which...must be hugely upsetting to a lot of his older followers."

It seems clear Murdoch is deciding to be undecided. He is criticising Cameron for upsetting his "older followers" - presumably a reference to the "Thatcherites" - whilst remaining positive about our high-tax chancellor.

Deputy Editor

Most political bloggers are "soundly Right-wing and anti-establishment"

So welcomes a leader in today's Daily Telegraph, pointing to ConservativeHome and Guido Fawkes as examples of a phenomenon that:

"democratises news and comment and gives expression to a range of opinion which often escapes the mainstream, metropolitan media."

The editorial team went on to recognise blogging as a "growing and influential pursuit" taken up by half of all under-25s. The paper with the most elderly of readerships has been trying to develop its online presence with more blogging correspondents, podcasts, and a sleaker website design.

The role of political bloggers has been a hot topic recently amongst, well, political bloggers. A general article on blogging in the same paper reports that:

"The most visited blogs are devoted to political gossip and comment. Once regarded as the home of amateur, "wannabe" journalists, they are increasingly setting the political agenda."

We are increasingly recognised by the "old media" as more than merely a medium for rehashing their news and commentary, with the more influential and specialist blogs often reversing that cycle. It's very encouraging that the Right people are at the vanguard of this movement.

Deputy Editor

William Norton's Summer TV Guide

With Parliament in recess there's suddenly a gap in our television schedules where Nick Robinson used to provide his incisive, agenda-setting, ahead-of-the-curve investigative restaurant reviews political comment and analysis.  Simply nothing important is going to happen for months (other than the Third World War breaking out in the Middle East, but the BBC won't be covering that once the Premiership kicks off again).  How is Aunty Beeb going to solve this problem?

Well, they're going to revive some old favourites, that's how - and you lucky people are privileged to get a sneak preview together with the traditional not-very-good publicity photos.

THE PRISONER

An important man is kidnapped from his residence in Central London and imprisoned among a gang of weirdos, misfits, rebels, turncoats and traitors in a bizarre place cut off from the real world (The Westminster Village).  His tormentors will keep him there until he answers the one question they keep on repeating: Why hasn't Number Ten resigned yet?

Each week a special guest star will have a go at being Number Two, with the responsibility for devising ever more complicated and ludicrous cock-ups to force Number Ten to resign.  At the start of the series, John is Number Two - but it's clear that despite wrecking the transport system, destroying local democracy and cunningly pretending to be living on a Wild West ranch he's not hanging around much longer.  Lined up to replace him in later episodes are Peter, Harriet, Alan, David......

This surreal and thought-provoking programme will have you arguing in the pubs all night: what does the mysterious symbolism really mean?  who is Number One?  why does the fourth largest economy in the world tolerate such a pack of frauds and morons as their government?

What's happening to the economy?

Growth: "UK GDP grew by 0.8% between April and June, compared to the previous quarter. Growth of 0.7% had been expected.  This takes the growth rate up to 2.6% and boosts chances that the Bank of England will raise interest rates soon." (BBC)

Inflation: "Consumer Price Index inflation rose to 2.5% from 2.2% in May, well above the government's 2% target." (BBC)

Unemployment: "UK unemployment has hit its highest level for six years, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.  There were 1.65 million people classed as unemployed in the three months to May, an increase of 90,000 on the previous quarter, the ONS said." (BBC)

Trade: "The UK trade gap with the rest of the world hit £6.8bn ($12.41bn), from April's revised number of £5.6bn.  Oil imports rose sharply amid falling production in the UK and moves to increase oil stocks, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said." (BBC)

Manufacturing: "The UK's manufacturing sector has seen its worst fall in output for more than six months, official figures show.  A decline in production of paper and electrical goods contributed to April's manufacturing output slipping by 0.2%." (BBC)

Consumer borrowing: "Mortgage debt has gone through the £1 trillion level, according to figures from the Bank of England (BOE)... According to the Nationwide, the average house now costs nearly £166,000 with mortgage repayments absorbing 42% of average take home pay.  The BOE figures show that Britons have a further £192bn outstanding on credit cards and other loans, so total personal debt now amounts to £1.199 trillion." (BBC)

Public borrowing: "UK public finances suffered their worst June on record, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.  Government borrowing rose to £7.3bn in June from £6.2bn during the same month last year - significantly higher than analysts' forecasts of £6.5bn." (BBC)

Tory foreign policy should begin with UN reform

There have been quite a few articles in recent days bemoaning the fact that neither the Government nor the Conservative Party has a serious foreign policy.  The most 'unserious' aspect of current foreign policy is the reverence for the UN.  I've written about the UN's failures before but this, from Jonah Goldberg, says it particularly well on TownHall.com today:

"Once again the "international community" is clamoring for the United Nations to fix things in the Middle East. It's reminiscent of an episode of "The Simpsons" in which Homer is in dire straits. In a panic, he yells heavenward, "I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman!" For some fetishists of multilateralism, the U.N. seems to fill this odd space in their brains once reserved for God, providence, the czar or even the Man of Steel - whatever force of good that can save civilization from evil. If religion is the opiate of the masses, then the United Nations is the opiate of the elites."

It's odd that Tories - who so understand the weaknesses of the EU - should feed support for this talking shop where dictatorships have as much power as democracies.

The UN is always at the mercy of the slowest Security Council member in any convoy to action.  In the absence of any consensus amongst UN members for its reform Conservatives should be arguing for a 'coalitions of the willing' multilateralism.  Such 'coalitions of the willing' include NATO, the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and the coalition of nations that organised relief for the Indian Ocean region after 2004's tsunami.  What has been called "multi-multilateralism" is a more promising route to both avoiding dangerous unilateralism and also to ensuring that there is some sort of response to international dangers.

Anyone mind paying for Cherie's haircuts?

We know that political parties are in the red and we know that they waste money.  These are some of the other things we know...

• Only 25% of voters support greater state funding of political parties but all three of the main political leaders are open to greater state funding...
• 81% of Tory members oppose state funding but David Cameron and Tony Blair have had private talks to potentially release millions of taxpayers' pounds into the coffers of their parties...
• State funding has corrupted European politics but we are considering it for Britain...

What can we do to oppose state funding?  Please use the thread below to suggest ideas (and objections) and, in particular, suggestions for a Chameleon Army-style campaign we might be able to run against the emerging consensus at Westminster...

The TaxPayers' Alliance has an excellent post offering five reasons for opposing taxpayer-funded political parties.  Also see this on Guido Fawkes.

Hague on the Middle East situation

William Hague has spoken in today's Commons debate on the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.  A pdf of his full speech is here.  The following extract is worth highlighting, however:

"The right of Israel to defend itself is clear and its desire severely to damage the ability of Hezbollah to attack the Israeli civilian population is wholly understandable. Calling for an unconditional ceasefire on the part of Israel, as the Prime Minister pointed out yesterday, is futile – there is clearly going to be no ceasefire unless kidnapped soldiers are returned, rocket attacks on Haifa and other locations ceased and some hope provided that the international community will assist Lebanon to have a stable future and one without the presence of armed militias inside its borders. But it is not clear that it is in the interests of Israel, let alone anyone else, to delay for one moment the effort to bring about a ceasefire with these and other conditions. Criticism of the proportionality of the Israeli response, including attacks on Lebanese army units and such enormous damage to the capacity of the Lebanese government, damages the Israeli cause in the long term. And it is by no means clear that a continued bombardment of Hezbollah areas will result in military success from Israel’s point of view. The idea therefore that it is somehow in the interests of Israel or of a longer term solution to these matters for the fighting to go on for several more weeks may prove to be woefully misguided."

I can't quite work out what our Shadow Foreign Secretary is trying to say.  All the hedging suggests he's not saying very much.  But in mentioning the "criticism of the proportionality of the Israeli response" I think he may - in very diplomatic language - be disagreeing with Israel's tactics.

Cameron's approval rating is on the slide

Click to enlarge >>>

YouGov's latest daily tracking of public opinion has detected a marked drop in approval for David Cameron.  As ConservativeHome reported at the time, YouGov's daily tracking found that the Tory leader's rating benefited from Labour's triple whammy Wednesday and from the 'halo effect' of May 4th's local elections.  His positive approval rating increased from +13 (at the time of the chauffeur-follows-the-bicycle embarassment) to +28.  His rating has now dropped back to +12, however.  The drop has occured since the badly-spun hug-a-hoodie speech, Desmond Swayne's leaked emails and the broken/ delayed/ fulfilled (depending on your point of view) pledge on the EPP.

This has to be put in context, however: David Cameron remains much more popular than Tony Blair (-34) and Sir Ming Campbell (-15) but the party is struggling to breakthrough despite all of Labour's sins.

Editor's comment: ConservativeHome's advice to David Cameron remains consistent - 'Protect your right flank and move into centre ground territory at the same time'.   This will give Project Cameron two vital ingredients - authenticity and breadth.

Labour's five deadly sins

This morning's newspapers are full of stories that cover almost every aspect of the fall and fall of this Labour government:

Disunity: "The New Statesman magazine will today question how long Mr Blair can last at No 10, with police planning to present a report to the Crown Prosecution Service on the eve of the Labour conference.  "Party officials talk openly about a second conspiracy: a plot to oust Blair before the end of the year led by the Parliamentary Labour Party, or even elements within the cabinet," the magazine claims." (Telegraph)

Ineffectiveness: "A rise in young people carrying mobile phones and MP3 players is being blamed for street robberies and muggings jumping by 8% last year.  The latest crime figures include a 10% rise in gunpoint robberies." (BBC) and "Ministers have expressed "disappointment" at statistics showing fewer young people from poor backgrounds are going to university... The data for 2004/05 showed that while the total number of students from all groups rose, the proportion from poorer backgrounds fell from 28.6 to 28.2 per cent." (ePolitix.com)

Sleaze: "Lord Levy was last night facing fresh pressure over the peerages row after it emerged that he personally nominated his former secretary for an MBE.  MPs from across the political spectrum called for a probe into whether Jean Cobb deserved to receive the prestigious honour in 2002 for her 'services' to charity." (Daily Mail) and "John Prescott is facing a mild rebuke from the Parliamentary standards watchdog for failing to register his stay at the Colorado ranch of an American gambling tycoon and the gift of an elaborate cowboy outfit." (The Telegraph) 

Flip-floppery: A leader in The Telegraph lists some recent Government U-turns... on immigration, prison-building, automatic sentence reduction for guilty pleas, home information packs, marching yobs to cashpoints, no referendum on the EU Constitution, scrapping GP fundholding... we could all think of plenty more!

Weakness: "Why the shock over Tony Blair supporting Sinn Fein while at Oxford?  Surely making heroes of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness while prime minister is more serious." - Daily Mail.

Vote Tory to get rid of Labour

A LibDem councillor in East Hampshire has just defected to the Tories.  See 'Alton (Herald) Today' here. District councillor Chris Graham said:

“I have a family, and I wasn’t particularly happy about the Winchester MP. I feel he should have resigned. “I’m happy to join the Conservatives. That’s the way forward. They are good value for money. I still adhere to one or two of the Liberal Democrat policies, but there is momentum behind the Conservatives, and they have a very good chance of winning the next general election and getting rid of the government we’ve got at the moment."

That line is worth repeating - 'Getting rid of the government we've got at the moment'.

In terms of unseating the LibDems across the south of England that may be an important insight.  As dislike of Labour grows we need to persuade natural Tory voters that there is only one sure way of ridding the country of Labour and that is to vote Conservative.  We used to say that a 'Liberal vote is a wasted vote'.  What is the equivalent slogan for today?  One that will tell people that a LibDem vote may end up electing a LibDem MP who will then prop up a minority Labour government.  Ming's ambition, after all, is "a 21st century dominated by the Left".

Ming: I'm a lefty

Three 'Mingsights' emerge from an interview that the LibDem leader has given to The Spectator's Fraser Nelson (not yet online):

1. Britain's political heartbeat is on the left: "I have always thought that the natural heartbeat of Britain is in the centre Left." Sir Ming bemoans the fact that the left has been divided: "That was one of Tony Blair’s great propositions: that if the Left was not joined up, but at least in association, you can create a 21st century dominated by the Left in the way the Right dominated in the 20th century.’" Fraser Nelson's conclusion: "Conservatives relying on his co-operation in a hung parliament had better start thinking of a Plan B."  Unless, of course, David Cameron offers him a bigger position in the Cabinet!

2. Gordon Brown may cut and run in 18 months:  "I have put our troops on standby for an election in October 2007.  If Gordon Brown becomes leader next autumn, and gets an opinion poll bounce, he may well be tempted to seek his own mandate immediately."  David Gauke MP has raised the same possibility.  In The Spectator's political column it is revealed that Alastair Campbell told Boris Johnson that Tony Blair will go in "a year and a bit".   

3. All the parties are agreed on Britain's high tax burden: When challenged on failing to offer any reduction to Gordon Brown's record tax burden, the LibDem leader says: "George Osborne is supporting these very high levels of tax... Maybe it’s not quite Butskellism. But there has emerged a kind of consensus that no one is going to cut the overall tax burden. So we have been the first party to say “right, within that there should be different priorities”.

PMQs: It is left to Ming to raise Middle East crisis

In the last PMQs before the summer recess, David Cameron first asked about the Government's climbdown on Home Information Packs.  He then went on to list a series of other Labour policy reversals including police mergers, planning reform and laws to protect public servants.

A feisty Tony Blair responded by listing the Tory leader's own policy forays: the British Bill of Rights proposal, English votes for English laws, 'hug-a-hoodie', the delayed exit from the EPP and obfuscation on nuclear energy.  None had gone well, he suggested.

David Cameron looked angry when he said that the Prime Minister should answer questions - not keep raising his own questions.  In the best line of PMQs he said to the Prime Minister - 'I know he doesn't like being interrogated but the way things are going at Scotland Yard he better get used to it!'

Ming Campbell raised the topic that David Cameron should have raised - the crisis in the Middle East.  The LibDem leader invited the Prime Minister to attack Israel's "disproportionate" response to the attacks from Hezbollah.  The Prime Minister disagreed with the premise of the question and defended Israel's right to eliminate the terrorist bases that were being used to rocket attack its own citizens.

John Redwood asked why the economy of Ireland had grown four times faster than the economy of Scotland since 1997.  The Chancellor wasn't only guilty of disloyalty, Mr Redwood concluded - he was also incompetent.

PS Sat alongside Tony Blair for the second week in a row was Home Secretary John Reid.  The Daily Politics Show calculated that he nodded more than 200 times last week as the Prime Minister spoke.  It gives new meaning to the expression 'yes man'.

Alice Thomson: Some policy ideas that will appeal to Essex and Notting Hill

Alice Thomson, in this morning's Telegraph, is pretty sure that the Tories are making progress:

"The fact that Irvine Welsh says he is now a Cameroon shows how far the Tory leader has come in re-positioning his party. Welsh, you may recall, was the man who wrote Trainspotting - one of the most devastating attacks on Thatcherism.  So, Mr Cameron's touchy-feely politics are working. His party is no longer seen as the enemy of single/working mothers, immigrants and the young. When he talks about Middle England, he makes it sound like a group that he knows and likes rather than something out of Tolkein. He seems sincere - which is why Labour's attempts to brand him first as a chameleon and now as a dodgy estate agent have backfired."

Where Mr Cameron is vulnerable, Ms Thomson thinks, is in a lack of policy - particularly thought-out policy.  She suggests a number of ideas that will appeal to Essex and Notting Hill (as she puts it).  I summarise:

• A simplified tax and benefits system with "Mr Brown's patronising and inefficient tax credits" scrapped;
• "A transferable tax allowance to help one-earner couples with children so that mothers have a greater choice about whether to return to the workplace";
• Secondary school selection by academic, sporting, dramatic and linguistic talent;
• No more mainstreaming of special needs children;
• Accept the need for nuclear power;
• Tougher regulation of the privatised utilities and (gulp) renationalisation of the railways;
• Scrapping of the taxpayers' subsidy for Scotland;
• Sheltered communities for vulnerable adults because 'care in the community' has failed.

"No policies need to be announced yet," writes The Telegraph columnist but this is the kind of manifesto Alice Thomson thinks will please the striving classes and Curtisland.

Cameron: Coal mining closures still hurt Tories in north

Today's Yorkshire Post reports that David Cameron believes that Tory fortunes in the north are still blighted by "difficult decisions that had to be taken... in the 1980s" - particularly with regard to the mining industry.  Speaking to a lunch of regional political editors the Tory leader admitted that the party had still got a lot more to do to win back northern seats.  "These things take time," he said.

He argued that his top shadow cabinet team is very northern-focused:

"I wake up every morning and have a meeting in my office with two Yorkshire MPs, one on the left, one on the right – David Davis and William Hague. So there's a very good North-South balance in the Shadow Cabinet."

His shadow chancellor also represents a northern seat - Tatton, in the north west.  None of these seats are urban, however.  That is one of the reasons why the party leadership has appointed a whole series of 'shadow ministers for the cities'.

Twenty Conservative MPs are also embarking on a programme of 'immersion' in community projects serving inner city or other disadvantaged communities.  Iain Duncan Smith is spending this week in Bradford with a project working with excluded children.

Related links: The Tories' northern challenge and It's the north, stupid.

When will Ian Blair go?

The media have upped the ante on Ian Blair's departure again..

Oliver Kamm, a blogger taken on by The Times for opinion pieces, said today:

"It is not a witch-hunt, but a response to a man lacking a sense of public duty, to demand that restitution to the de Menezes family start with Sir Ian’s dismissal."

And as he points out, he is hardly a civil liberty headbanger.

The Times and Telegraph editorial teams also turn up the heat:

"Sir Ian will no doubt be relieved at the lawyers’ inability to frame charges of criminal negligence. He should feel, nevertheless, a huge moral weight on his shoulders. There remain very real questions about the conduct of senior police officers in this affair." - Times leader

"The Home Secretary, to whom the Commissioner is ultimately answerable, must see to it that Sir Ian is made to answer for the actions of his force." - Telegraph leader

Who will replace him?

Deputy Editor

Shadow Ministers adopt cities

All major cities are to be "adopted" by Shadow Ministers so that they have a connection to the highest levels of the Conservative Party. The Yorkshire Post revealed the Yorkshire appointments a month ago. There are some more English cities to be confirmed shortly but here are the appointments so far:

Minister for Birmingham
Andrew Mitchell

Minister for Bristol
Liam Fox

Minister for Coventry
Caroline Spelman

Minister for Edinburgh
Lord Strathclyde

Minister for Glasgow
David Mundell

Ministers for Leeds and Bradford
William Hague and Eric Pickles

Minister for Liverpool
Chris Grayling

Minister for Manchester
George Osborne

Minister for Newcastle
Alan Duncan

Minister for Wolverhampton
Francis Maude

Some of these cities don't have any Conservative councillors or MPs, on the whole these appointments seem sensible choices and will hopefully help to ensure urban issues are considered carefully within the party's strategy.

Deputy Editor

Son of Gordon

Gordon Brown's second son has just been safely born and ConservativeHome sends him and his wife Sarah warm congratulations. 

There are rumours that 'Brown child number two' might be named Gordon!

Any suggestions for a better name...?

Anything TOO naughty will be deleted.

George Osborne: Gordon Brown swapped prudence for promiscuity

George Osborne is about to stand up at the Policy Exchange think tank and give a speech on Gordon Brown's spending record.  A pdf of the full speech is here but here are some key extracts:

A massive increase in spending and taxes: "Labour has spent four trillion pounds over the last nine years.  Spending in real terms will, by 2008, have risen by 40%.  The share of the nation’s income consumed by the state has risen by a staggering 5 percentage points to 42% of GDP... And, of course, taxes have risen dramatically to pay for that spending and are to set to rise still further – making our economy steadily less competitive in a more and more competitive world."

Little trend improvement that could justify the spending splurge: George Osborne concedes that things have improved in Britain's schools and hospitals but have they improved in rough proportion to the extra spending?  He concludes 'no' and points to the fact that there has been no marked shifts in the already existing trends in performance improvement.

Conflicting targets: The Shadow Chancellor blames Labour's targets culture for much of the wastefulness: "A staggering 700 Public Service Agreement targets were imposed by the Chancellor, far too many to be monitored and all too often in conflict with each other.  Each target then spawned dozens more micro-targets within departments.  But having so many targets is effectively the same as having no targets at all... The Home Office alone has now had over 100 different targets imposed on it by the Treasury.  When John Reid says it is “not fit for purpose” it is not clear if the government knows what that purpose should be."

Review of the rail industry to be launched

In one of the biggest "we were wrongs" for a while, David Cameron and Chris Grayling will announce today that they want to reverse John Major's division of responsibility for trains and railways. They will say that companies that manage both wheel and rail would be more efficient and require less subsidy.

As pointed out in the Homepage comments today, the details on how this would comply with this 1991 EU directive are as yet unclear.

Network Rail has a very poor reputation after Potters Bar and other incidents but will do its best to preserve its monopoly. Grayling will continue the theme of being positive about the public sector however:

"We regard the people who work on our railways as skilled professionals, responsible for the safety, operation, logistics and customer service of our network."

The railway review will lead into a Strategy Paper that will rival the Government's own review in 2007. It will focus on integrating the network whilst keeping fares and overcrowding down, and take these points as givens:

• Any new integrated organisations will work under franchise-type arrangements

• More scope for long-term investment decisions is needed

• Any new structure must protect the interests of freight users and smaller train operators.

• Rail workers should have a share in the future financial success of the railways (in order to discourage strikes)

Deputy Editor