ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

Nadine Dorries campaigns for 'a woman's right to know'

Abortion will be on the Commons' agenda today as Tory MP Nadine Dorries MP introduces a Ten Minute Rule Bill concerning terminations of pregnancy (BBC and Nadine's own blog).

The Conservative backbencher declares herself to be in favour of a woman's right to choose but wants a reduction in the number of abortions.  The TMRB has no chance of becoming law but Nadine Dorries is committed to using other parliamentary opportunities, including Westminster Hall debates, to draw public attention to the issue as part of a concerted, long-term campaign. 

Today's TMRB enjoys the support of former Tory leaders Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard.  It has three components:

1. A reduction in the abortion time limit from 24 to 21 weeks.  The 21 week limit reflects the latest scientific evidence on foetal sentience (the unborn child's response to pain and sound) rather than viability (the unborn child's likelihood of surviving outside of the womb).  The image on the right is of an unborn child of 24 weeks.  More images and a movie can be seen here via the orange/ brown link on the Create Health website.
2. A full-informed consent to abortion after a cooling-off period - 'a woman's right to know'.  Nadine Dorries: "Such a cooling-off period is necessary, because the decision to terminate a pregnancy or not is one with which the woman concerned will have to live for the rest of her life. It is imperative that this decision is fully considered, and that all the necessary help and advice is available for her to make an informed decision. This part of the bill is designed to enforce a woman’s right to know.  There is no pressure on a woman to decide either way. The woman does indeed have the right to choose. The cooling-off period gives her this time to reflect on her decision. It is also a time when parents, partners, boyfriends etc will have to stand back and give the woman time to reflect."  This is at the heart of the TMRB and where introduced in other parts of the world has produced significant reductions in the number of terminations.
3. Timely access to abortion once a woman has made a "fully informed and empowered decision" to terminate her pregnancy.

Download brief PDF guide_to_Nadine_Dorries'_TMRB.

Endnote: 187 to 108 MPs reject Nadine Dorries' attempt to amend abortion laws - BBC

England expects every man will do his duty

David Cameron today used this famous Horatio Nelson quote (albeit substituting England for Britain and adding "and woman") in a speech to launch the Young Adult Trust today. He advocated lowering certain age restrictions for young people who have demonstrated that they are responsible citizens by participating in a voluntary civilian version of National Service. The ages at which you can bear criminal responsibility and vote were examples he sensibly gave of age limits that would be excluded.

The YAT - headed up by Paul Oginsky, co-founder of Weston Spirit - launched officially today and released this research document about the transition to adulthood. It will run two week courses for selected teenageers, where they will look at concepts like identity, community work and teamwork. Cameron hopes they could become some kind of rite of passage into adulthood, and its associated rights.

The speech isn't on the Party website yet but you click here to download the draft. Here is an extract:

"In too many ways we’ve become the walk-on-by society. Walk-on-by suffering. Walk-on-by an opportunity, and an obligation, to help. I want us, as a society, to be far firmer about what we expect of ourselves – and of our fellow citizens. It’s not enough just to pay your taxes and obey the law. More, much more than this is expected. Our whole society – our peace and our wealth – rests on values which we all have a responsibility to uphold. Trust. Treating others as you wish to be treated. Compassion. The sense that we’re all in this together. These are the underpinnings of a successful economy and a healthy society. We simply cannot continue to allow young people to grow up with so little knowledge of, and respect for, the values of citizenship."

Cameron has also written in this evening's Evening Standard on the subject (click on the image below to enlarge it).

Deputy Editor

Caroline Spelman leads protests at use of Big Brother computers to drive new council tax rises

Caroline Spelman has reacted angrily to Labour plans to use 'Big Brother snooping technology' - being modelled in Northern Ireland - to make people living in desirable areas pay more and more council tax:

"There is growing alarm about the Labour Government's use of Big Brother computers to hike taxes.  First, they want to log and record every feature of your home, from double glazing to the number of bedrooms. Next, they want clip-board wielding bureaucrats to have the right to inspect your home.  Now, Labour intends to tax you not just for every home improvement, but also the neighbourhood you live in.  This is the hallmark of an oppressive and greedy government finding every more stealthy ways to tax working families and pensioners and trampling over privacy when it suits them."

Not today's news

This morning The Treasury isn't unveiling a report detailing the likely impact on international energy prices of Iran becoming a nuclear power with the potential to hold the world to ransom.  There is no sub-section of any report detailing the economic and ecological impact of Iran firing a battlefield nuclear weapon against Israel.

Former US Vice Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman isn't being appointed as an adviser to the British Government with a responsibility to convince the American people that the United Nations is too morally compromised to do anything about North Korea's nuclear build-up.

Yesterday's Mail on Sunday did not report a leaked
memo from Des Browne to Gordon Brown calling for investment in a missile defence shield that might defend the western democracies from rogue states armed with nuclear weapons.

BBC reporters did not conduct any breathless interviews with scientists about the impact on world economies of a nuclear attack.

The Conservative Party did not issue the following statement: "The problem of climate change is serious but nuclear proliferation is a more imminent danger that demands the world's urgent attention."

Related link: Tory members rank global competition and terror as the greatest international challenges facing Britain today.

How David Cameron sparked Labour's faith schools muddle

There have been a number of accounts in the press about Alan Johnson's humiliating U-turn on faith schools and how it has hurt his leadership ambitions.  One in The Observer mentions that 39 concerned Labour MPs met the Education Secretary last Thursday and some warned that their seats were at risk from unhappy Catholic parents.

Since I posted about the issue yesterday I have received some contact from our own parliamentary party and have a few observations to add to the public record.

ConservativeHome's account begins with David Cameron's Party Conference speech and these words from it:

"The Cantle Report recommended that faith schools admit a proportion of pupils from other faiths.  Only this week the Church of England said it would implement this recommendation in all new church schools it creates… admitting a quarter of pupils from non-Anglican backgrounds.  That is a great example of what I mean by social responsibility.  The Church deciding to take responsibility for community cohesion.  Society - not the state.  I believe the time has come for other faith groups to show similar social responsibility."

These words apparently panicked Lord Adonis, Johnson's Blairite Lords spokesman.  Adonis feared that the Tories were about to get behind Lord Baker's quota plan and that Labour might be defeated in defending the status quo.  Adonis talked to one of the Tories' spokesmen in the Lords - Baroness (Peta) Buscombe - and appeared reassured that there could be more Cameroonian-Blairite bipartisanship on education if Labour embraced something like Baker.

The new high taxation consensus (otherwise known as 'saving the planet')

Leader-writers at the Independent on Sunday are excited.  They warmly welcome the pressure that David Cameron has brought to bear on global warming and the fact that Labour are now joining the Tories and the LibDems in devising 'a new menu of eco-taxes'.

This morning's Mail on Sunday publishes the secret Miliband-to-Brown memo recommending new taxes that will be imposed on families to 'save the planet' (full story here).

The taxes include:

• A Chelsea tractor tax that would see the annual road tax disc on a Toyota landcruiser, for example, raised from £210 to £630;
• A new mechanism whereby any reduction in the price of oil won't feed through to the petrol pumps but will produce more revenue for the Exchequer;
• A new 1p to 2p per mile pay-as-you-drive tax;
• VAT on EU airline fares that "would increase the typical £500 bill for family of four to fly on holiday to the Mediterranean to £587.50";
• New levies on inefficient white goods - washing machines etc - and a £1.50 levy on old-fashioned, energy inefficient light bulbs.

Reflecting on these taxes the blogger 'Dizzy Thinks' writes: "It's not so much a stick as a baseball bat, and there is no carrot."  Tory environment spokesman Peter Ainsworth is quoted in the MoS as calling for green taxation to be executed in "an upfront way instead of bringing in stealth taxes by the back door."  There's certainly no Tory opposition to green taxation.  The 'clear blue water' between the Tory attitude to green taxation and Labour's attitude is that Tories will deliver offsetting cuts in business taxation.  The LibDems are promising compensatory cuts in personal taxation.  Labour has yet to make it clear whether it will use green taxes to raise total revenue or it will act to neutralise the effect on lower income families who will pay most heavily if these plans were enacted.

The Mail on Sunday is certainly unimpressed with Labour's green tax plans that could cost families with an average car £750 and some families could pay £1,300:

"The proposals we report today for wide-ranging new tolls and tariffs on everything from air and road travel to household appliances will have a negligible impact on the environment.  What they will unquestionably do is add a further burden to a country overtaxed and overburdened by petty regulation."

Fraser Nelson in his unmissable News of the World column is even more unimpressed:

"Brace yourself for a tide of green guff next week as Westminster gets all pious about climate change.  Talk to the Indians and Chinese guys... the UK generates just 2% of world green house tax emissions.  Taxing Britain's poor out of the sky won't change anything."

Fraser is surely right about the limited usefulness of unilateral UK action on global warming but there are benefits for Britain's energy security - regardless of the climate change issues - of weaning ourselves off dependence on Iranian and Saudi oil and Russian gas (see here).  The danger of arming Iran via the petrol pump worries some of us a little more than the longer-term danger of global warming but perhaps we end up at similar place in terms of policy action?

Lord Baker persists with quota plan for new faith schools

According to reports in today's newspapers (including The Telegraph) former Tory Chairman Kenneth Baker is determined to press ahead with his plans for new faith schools to be obliged to take up to 25% of pupils from outside their designated religion.  Only on Thursday did Education Secretary Alan Johnson perform, according to Lord Baker, the "fastest U-turn in British political history" by abandoning similar plans.  Lord Baker has warned of educational ghettoes if something like his plans are not introduced.

The Tory frontbench has largely been absent from the battlefield during this debate.  At one stage there was some talk of Tories resisting the initial Labour plans for 25% quotas but allowing local authorities to decide quota arrangements with faith schools.  Empowering local authorities in such a way would have producing very inhospitable environments for many faith schools.  Talking to today's Telegraph Nick Gibb MP, shadow schools minister, distanced the party leadership from the Baker plan, saying:

"It has always been our view that these issues are matters for schools to decide. It is a matter of social responsibility rather than a matter for central Government and legislation."

The Gibb view is much closer to a truly liberal worldview than that set out by Lord Baker.  The attack on all church schools hides, of course, the real worry - Muslim schools that live outside of British social norms.  As Vincent Nichols, Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, writes in this week's Tablet newspaper, the assumption behind the quota idea is that Catholic schools are socially divisive when the evidence suggests otherwise.  In an article for today's Times, Matthew Parris has to admit that faith schools usually deliver better academic results.

The Archbishop (who also wrote an influential article earlier this week in The Telegraph) is worried that Britain might be drifting towards a new, less tolerant form of secularism.  His Tablet article quotes Ben Rogers of the Institute for Public Policy Research:

"As reported last weekend, Ben Rogers, associate director of the Institute for Public Policy Research wrote: "Very crudely, there are two sorts of secularism. One attempts to marginalise religious belief - holding that it is all just a private matter, shouldn't be discussed in the public realm and should be kept strictly out of politics and education. That breeds resentment. The other sort allows public expression of religious identities, while publicly affirming the supremacy of basic liberal democratic values like freedom of expression, equality of women and human rights ... that I am completely in favour of."  This second style of "secularism" is the one to which we are accustomed. Partnerships between the Government and the Churches are long-established and fruitful. They have given rise to excellent schools and a long tradition of voluntary work, motivated by faith. I see no reason why this model should not be continued and extended to new partners. This is no time to lose nerve. The disciplines of such partnerships are real. Through them Churches and faith communities must be open to public accountability and inspection; the Government must respect the integrity of religious faith and not seek to manipulate it. These are the foundations of partnerships. Negotiation is the way forward."

Related link: Tory peer wants Muslim schools to accept 33% non-Muslim pupils

'Neither the guts to rule Iraq, nor the guts to quit'

The headline of this post - or something very like it - appeared on the front page of The Guardian, earlier this week.  'Neither the guts to rule nor the guts to quit' captures the current policy of Bush and Blair in Iraq.  We're caught in some sort of no-man's land between doing something to reverse the escalating violence (partition and/ or extra troops, for example, as recommended by John McCain) or we should admit that we were never serious about Iraq and bring our troops home.

In today's Philip Geddes Memorial Lecture Matthew d'Ancona attempts to remind us all of the nature of our enemy - 20th century Islamic terrorism:

"At its heart is a terrible mutation of a great world religion: a ferocious system of ideas that seeks theocracy at any price, regards mass murder as divinely ordained and wills not only the destruction of Israel but the overthrow of modern Western society. As V.S. Naipaul warned before 9/11, in some parts of the world, “religion has been tuned by some into a kind of nihilism” by people who “are enraged at the world and wish to pull it down”. By definition, those who adhere to such ideas cannot be appeased."

D'Ancona goes on to argue that increasingly consumerist western democracies lack both the patience and resolve to see that our enemy has guessed that we don't have the stomach for the long fight that is necessary for victory.  Here are some key extracts of the speech:

The time-frame of our enemy: "I was told recently by a source who has had access to intercepted secret Hamas documents, that they deal in timeframes of 50 and 100 years, measuring their objectives in generations, not months or years."

The time-frame of the western democracies: "That phrase [eye-catching initiatives], you will recall, was first used in the hideously embarrassing Blair memo leaked six years ago. That was a gruesome insight into the overwhelmingly tactical nature of much that modern Government does – its quest for what Bill Clinton’s former pollster, Dick Morris, calls the “daily mandate”... Truly, we now live in Warhol’s world: it is no longer just people who enjoy 15 minutes of fame, but Government initiatives, too."

Update on 'MEPs vote for Euro' story

ConservativeHome's exclusive yesterday that Tory MEPs had been whipped to vote for a report that included support for British membership of the euro has created something of a storm on this site and in other corners of the blogosphere.

Some additional information...

These MEPs obeyed the whip: Richard Ashworth, Christopher Beazley, John Bowis, Malcolm Harbour, Tim Kirkhope, Neil Parish, John Purvis, Struan Stevenson.

Statement from Nirj Deva MEP: "I note that some of my friends were surprised that my name was not among those of my friends Heaton Harris, Hannan, Callanan et al.  The reason that I did not vote against this appalling legislation is that I was NOT PRESENT at the vote as I was travelling back to the UK to attend an event in South West Surrey in honour of the constituency party's outgoing Chairman. Had I been present in Strasbourg I would have voted a resounding "NO".  Keep fighting and every good wish."

46% to 33% prefer Cameron to Brown

The ConservativeHome poll of polls and a new survey for The Daily Telegraph from YouGov both give the Tories a 7% lead over Labour.

The most encouraging finding for David Cameron's office, however, is YouGov's discovery that 46% of voters would prefer a government led by David Cameron to 33% preferring a government led by Gordon Brown.

Friday morning (8.45am) update
New Telegraph Editor tilts newspaper towards David Cameron

A fortnight or so ago ConservativeHome speculated as to whether the new Editor of The Daily Telegraph would tilt the newspaper's attitude towards David Cameron in a more friendly direction.  It appears that the answer to that question is 'yes'.  Back in July The Telegraph/ YouGov poll had the Tories 5% ahead and The Telegraph chose a 'Support for Cameron begins to cool' headline.  Today - with the Tories 7% ahead - the newspaper chooses a 'Tory leader surges ahead of Brown as voters' choice' headline for its front page.  Last week The Telegraph was quite gentle with the Tories on tax.  Today's Telegraph leading article still thinks David Cameron has more to do but contrast today with July's assessment by Anthony King, the newspaper's polling expert:

KING IN JULY: "The Conservative Party increasingly resembles a tired runner panting along in sweltering heat. He is ahead in the race but only because his main rival is even more exhausted.  According to YouGov's latest monthly survey for The Daily Telegraph, 38 per cent of voters now say they would back the Conservatives in an early general election. That represents a decline of one point since last month and only a modest improvement - five points - since the Tories' poor showing in the general election last year.  The Conservatives have been shuffling along with between 32 and 38 per cent support for most of the past three years. They have occasionally attained 40 per cent but it is more than a decade since they last exceeded 40 per cent.  The Tories today are no better off than they were under William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard.  David Cameron's election as Tory leader last December has so far made remarkably little difference. An initial tick upwards has been followed by several ticks downwards.  Voters still seem not to know who the Tories are or what they stand for."  Today Professor King is preferring to emphasise that the Conservative lead (although virtually identical) has been sustained.

THE TELEGRAPH LEADER TODAY: "As for Mr Cameron, he has put the Tories back in the game. For the first time since Black Wednesday in 1992, they have opened a consistent — if hardly convincing — opinion poll lead. Now comes the tough part. Mr Cameron must turn his party into a ruthlessly effective opposition — for, when Mr Brown finally take the reins, he will strain every sinew to demonstrate that it is not just Tony Blair who can hammer the Tories. It promises to be quite a fight."

Tory MEPs vote for Euro membership

ConservativeHome recently noted how Tory MEPs voted in favour of a greater European dimension to education.  Today they voted for a report on the European Central Bank which  included these words (paragraph 9, page 6):

"Supports the introduction of the Euro by all the member states."

The decision to whip Tory MEPs in favour of the report appears to have been taken after pressure from the EPP.

Five Tory MEPs resisted the whip and rejected the report: Martin Callanan, Daniel Hannan, Roger Helmer, Chris Heaton-Harris and Syed Kamall.

ConservativeHome's sources inside the European Parliament will continue to report on these votes and bring a little bit of accountability to our MEPs.

Related link: Conservative members must retain right to rank MEPs

Let's roll forward the frontiers of society

A couple of weeks ago ConservativeHome noted David Miliband's unimpressive attempt to mount an intellectual attack on 'Cameronism'.  Antonia Cox was also underwhelmed on Monday's Platform.  Oliver Letwin, Tory policy chief, has responded to Mr Miliband's critique in this week's Spectator.

First of all, Mr Letwin defends the force of the whole idea of social responsibility:

"Cameron’s ‘social responsibility’ is indeed a big idea. It is one of the biggest ideas that human beings have ever had — a deep part of our intellectual heritage. It is the idea that between government and the individual citizen there lies the multitude of relationships, from the family and friendship outwards, that forms the fabric of our lives. The power of these relationships and of the culture they embody vastly exceeds the power of government. A government that wishes effectively to guide a nation towards social justice and wellbeing must therefore do so in and through civil society."

Other conservatives have attempted to draw a distinction between the feed-and-forget welfare state and the holistic care of the welfare society.  They not only provide different kinds of care they are also competitors.  A growing welfare state - because of the taxes it consumes and the moralities it spawns - can undermine the welfare society.  Oliver Letwin uses his piece to unpick Miliband's words and then concludes with this flourish:

"Thatcher wanted to roll back the frontiers of the state. Brown wants to roll forward the frontiers of the state. Cameron wants to roll forward the frontiers of society."

 That's clever.  Conservatives know that a big, feed-and-forget welfare state doesn't offer the relational care that every human being needs.  Voters know that the institutions of society - from the family to the church to forms of mutual aid - are currently too weak to take on the inadequately-discharged responsibilities of the welfare state.  That's why they won't support a Thatcherite, all-guns-blazing cutback of the state.  What is needed is a steady increase of the agencies of society so that can rescue more and more vulnerable people from the embrace of the state.

The crucial question is: Can government help society to grow?

The more libertarian conservatives think that the best thing government can do is get out of the way.  I'm in favour of government being more proactive.  I favour, for example, elimination of the marriage penalty, investment in voluntary groups that provide relationship education, fair funding of faith-based charities and voucherisation of public services.

'Rolling forward the frontiers of society' isn't an expression that will work on the doorstep but it's the best intellectual conceptualisation of Project Cameron so far.

Related link: What is social growth? 

Greg Barker MP leaves wife and kids for man

Today's Daily Mirror is reporting that, over the summer, Tory environment spokesman Greg Barker MP left his wife and two children because of a relationship with another man.  Mr Barker has issued a statement confirming his separation from his wife but asserting that he is "not in a current relationship."

The Mirror suggests that there might be hypocrisy in Mr Barker's behaviour.  The left-wing newspaper reports:

"Political website The Public Whip, which evaluates the voting record of individual MPs, has given Barker a pro-gay score of just 30.2% compared to an anti-gay rating of 60.1%."

This is obviously a personal tragedy for Mrs Barker and her two children.  That is the most important aspect of this news.

Politically it will remind many voters of the 'Back to Basics' chapter of the Major government when the private failings of individual MPs were exposed at the same time that John Major was represented as advocating a return to 'traditional values'.

The key challenge for David Cameron is to continue to assert the pro-marriage agenda that characterised his party conference speech and not allow the media to say that the failure of individuals to live up to their public vows undermines the vital social importance of the institution of marriage.  Britain desperately needs a political party that has the courage to build healthy marriages and not another one that surrenders in the face of family breakdown and the misery it causes.

Related link: The public interest in private vices

Richard Ottaway, Graham Stuart and John Whittingdale elected to Party Board

This is good news for the right of the party who had hoped to see Whittingdale elected.  It is also some confirmation for Richard Ottaway's hopes to succeed Sir Michael Spicer as Chairman of the 1922 Committee.  Christopher Chope's failure to win a seat is a similarly significant knock to his 1922 ambitions.

For background see this Guardian story.

Cameron: Britain is not safe under Labour

David Cameron highlighted crime during today's PMQs:

"The Chancellor told us he was going to freeze the assets of terrorists. He couldn't even stop Abu Hamza buying a house while he was in prison.  The youth justice system is in meltdown. The prison system can't cope.  Dangerous prisoners are released early. No proper border controls. Isn't this the truth.  It doesn't matter who's in charge - Blair/Brown, Brown/Blair - this country isn't safe under Labour."

Tony Blair's response:

"Under the last Tory government crime doubled. Under this Government crime has fallen.  We've introduced tougher measures that, it's true, have put more people into prison. But every one of those tough measures you opposed. So there's no point you coming to the despatch box now and saying why aren't we taking tougher action on crime.  Every time we've tried to take tougher action, you've opposed it. The truth is you talk tough but vote soft."

Council tax inspectors?

As Caroline Spelman warned last year, it appears the Government is using Northern Ireland to roll out plans to give a new army of Council tax inspectors the right to enter homes and value them.

There will be heavy fines for non-compliance - up to £1000 with £200 per day after that.

Caroline, the Conservative Party's local government spokesman, has today attacked the plans from a libertarian perspective:

"For all of Labour's talk of human rights, these new 'Article 38' powers are the footprint of an oppressive and greedy government. Conservatives will resist these new authoritarian powers, and will stand up for people's property, privacy and liberty."

The Party has also used YouTube to publicise a video-guide of America's "Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal" inspection scheme for valuing homes. It shows an inspector snooping around a house and is hoped to make people wary of the idea.

Deputy Editor

Tory lead up to 10% as Labour collapses to 29%

"Support for Labour has dropped to its lowest level for almost 20 years, according to an opinion poll.  The ICM poll for Wednesday's edition of The Guardian puts Labour on 29%, 10 points behind the Tories on 39%, with the Liberal Democrats on 22%.  Labour's support equals a previous record low for the party in an ICM/Guardian poll recorded in May 1987." - Sky News

1am, 25/10 update:

The new Guardian/ ICM numbers have been put into CH's poll of polls (and MORI's numbers have been dropped because of their volatility) and they produce a Tory average lead of 5.2%.  This lead is consistent with yesterday's Communicate Research poll for The Independent which recorded a 6% lead.   Communicate Research is also excluded from the CH Poll of Polls but because of its irregularity rather than its volatility.

I'm £100 poorer

Some time ago, when I was very confident that David Cameron would deliver his EPP pledge in a timely way, I agreed to a £100 wager with Mr Chad Noble.  I promised to pay The TaxPayers' Alliance £100 if the Tories failed to leave the federalist grouping by the end of the year.  Chad promised to pay £100 into CCHQ coffers if Tory MEPs were out of the EPP by 31st December 2006.

History, of course, proved Chad right on this particular issue and earlier today I cycled to the TPA's offices and handed over my £100 cheque.  The TPA is such a good cause so I am very happy to see my money go to help their fight for taxpayer value.

Another upside is that Chad has promised to stop commenting on ConservativeHome now my debt has been settled.  Goodbye Chad.  Hopefully our threads are now a little safer from being constantly sidetracked into 'Vote UKIP' debates.

Cameron commends 'Kirklees model' where young pay for older residents' council tax rises

In his speech (a pdf of which is here) yesterday to Age Corncern the Tory leader highlighted a scheme run by Tory-run Kirklees council that shifts the burden of rising council tax from pensioners to younger residents. 

For next year's budget Kirklees Council of West Yorkshire plans to levy only a 1% increase on pensioners but a 5% 3% (correction at 11.42am) increase for other council taxpayers.  Mr Cameron praised the Kirklees scheme as as "a great example of civic responsibility":

"The whole point is that it is a local idea... Kirklees council has decided to use its powers to introduce a lower council tax for pensioners. They register and will get a guaranteed small fixed increase of no more than one per cent.  The burden of doing this falls on other households, but the registration scheme helps the council ensure that more older people get the benefits they are entitled to. That's just the sort of initiative I believe in."

Mr Cameron's speech also suggested that grandparents might be paid up to £175 per week to look after grandchildren (in order to "restore the relationship between the generations") and that house design should change to make it easier for older people to delay going into formal care.

Related link: Cameron bids to woo 'grey vote'

English Constitutional Convention is established

A letter to this morning's Telegraph announces the establishment, today, of an English Constitutional Convention (more here).  The Convention "has the aim of promoting debate and raising public awareness of England's democratic deficit".  The signatories - who include Iain Dale and John Horam MP - want "the question of the establishment of an English parliament... considered and the option placed in front of the electorate".

For the campaigners the key issues are:

• The over-representation of Scotland and Wales in the House of Commons;
• The fact that Scottish and Welsh MPs can vote on laws affecting England but MPs from England cannot vote on many Scottish laws;
• The English is unfairly served by the current formula by which public spending is distributed across the UK;
• The division of England into regional assemblies is not a solution and not popular.

A leader in The Telegraph welcomes the ECC's establishment and warns that action must be taken soon if England's place in the post-devolution settlement isn't to become a "toxic" issue.  The newspapers falls short of endorsing an English Parliament but does recommend English votes for English laws.

Christine Constable of the English Democrats Party will be part of a discussion about the virtues of an English Parliament at 9pm tonight on 18 Doughty Street Talk TV.

Related links: Portillo declines to defend The Union and Priscilla Cullen argues 'There isn't enough concern about asymmetrical devolution' on YourPlatform.

Strathclyde derides Straw's 'yes-men' Lords scheme

The LibDem leader in the House of Lords may have welcomed Jack Straw's reform plan but the leader of the Tory peers, Lord Stratchlyde, gives it a thumbs down in tonight's London Evening Standard (not online).

Jack Straw has proposed that the current 741-member Lords be reduced to 450 members - half-elected and half-appointed.  All elections would be conducted via proportional representation and no member would be permitted to serve more than twelve years.

Lord Strathclyde sets "some unimpeachable tests" for reform:

1. Will reform improve the way the House works?;
2. Will it increase the powers of the upper chamber?;
3. Will it improve legitimacy and credibility?

He is particularly concerned that Straw's model of reform will hand more power to political elites in two main ways:

"Party managers will produce lists of candidates.  Experience suggests these will include people who couldn't be bothered to fight a general election seat or who would be rejected by voters if they did.  Another pointer is that the super-loyal, the most likely never to ask a difficult question, might well be the most favoured to get the selector's nod."

And, secondly, the appointees won't be much better, either:

"Traditionally, life peers have been of great distinction: senior members of the armed forces; former Cabinet ministers, authors and scholars, heads of universities and leading figures from business and science - people with "real lives" who have made vital contributions to our country.  Apparently, not much longer.  Under the Government plans, most appointed members will be yet more politicians.  The number of independents would be slashed by half.  And new appointees will have to be "approved" by the unelected magic circle, making selections not only by ability, but by quotas."

Tories favour an elected Lords with more powers.

Overtaxed Britons still need to be persuaded of case for relief

A YouGov poll for The Daily Telegraph provides comfort for the Conservative Party's tax-cutters and for the more cautious leadership team.

By 45% to 36% voters tend to believe that it would not be possible to cut taxes by £21bn (the sum of relief recommended by the Forsyth Commission) without damaging the quality of Britain's public services.  [Given that no party has been making the case for tax cuts that is actually quite an encouragingly small margin for the taxcutters to overcome].  People will be more inclined to believe that tax relief is affordable if they understood the extent of waste in the public sector.  Also in today's Telegraph is news that the NHS is wasting more than £2bn every year and many would regard that as a conservative estimate.

Other YouGov findings are ammunition for those who believe that there there is a bedrock appetite for lower taxation:

• More voters (28% to 14%) would be inclined to vote for a tax-cutting Tory party than would be less inclined (although it wouldn't make any difference to half of voters);
• 69% of voters think the tax system is unfair;
• 61% think they pay too much in tax.

Taxpayers' Alliance reaction to this poll: "Low-tax campaigns have to focus on how tax cuts benefit ordinary families, not concepts like "the economy" and certainly not businesses. The TPA's recent opinion research programme showed clearly that the best argument in favour of lower taxes was the one that stressed how lower taxes would give people more money to spend on their own priorities. The research also showed that the tax cuts people were most in favour of were those which focused on ordinary families - raising the threshold at which people start paying top rate tax, abolishing / reforming inheritance tax etc."

Volatile MORI finds falling approval levels for Cameron

An Ipsos MORI survey for the Financial Times will not make encouraging reading for the Tory leader.  The survey gives Labour a 2% lead and also suggests that David Cameron's overall rating has become slightly negative.  14% more voters approved of the Conservative leader in January than disapproved but ten months into Mr Cameron's leadership the disapprovers very slightly outnumber the approvers.

MORI has been very volatile in recent times.  PoliticalBetting.com notes the extent of that volatility this morning:

"Mori has a reputation for volatility. In the same poll a year ago it reported Labour 6% ahead, followed by a 10% margin in November which was suddenly turned round to a 9% Tory lead three weeks later."

Because no other mainstream pollster is finding such volatility ConservativeHome has dropped MORI from its poll of polls.  Ipsos - since it purchased MORI - has begun to overhaul polling operations in a bid to tackle this volatility problem.  ConservativeHome.com will restore MORI to its poll of polls when that overhaul is complete.

The FT article does not provide a figure for the LibDems.

PS A Times/ Populus poll appearing to suggest that swing voters are 51% to 24% inclined to Brown does not contain Tory/ LibDem waverers and is analysed expertly by Anthony Wells at UK Polling Report.

ConservativeHome Awards ceremony, 6pm, 13th November

At 6pm until 7.30pm on Monday 13th November - in central London - ConservativeHome.com will host the first Conservative Movement Awards ceremony to recognise individuals and groups that are advancing small 'c' conservative ideas.

All of the shortlisted nominees are listed at the bottom of this post and winners were chosen by 'voters' in the ConservativeHome Members' Panel.

George Osborne MP, Shadow Chancellor, will address the ceremony and will speak about the value of groups beyond the Tory party campaigning for conservative ideas.

To reserve your place you need to make a £10 payment via the PayPal button below.  Alternatively please send a £10 cheque made payable to 'ConservativeHome.com' to ConservativeHome, 18 Doughty Street, London WC1N.

After the awards ceremony Tim Montgomerie and Sam Coates of the ConservativeHome team will be hosting a reception and will present a ten minute guide to ConservativeHome's next steps.

Prescott and EU conspire to form new transnational regional assembly

Last week at UK taxpayers' expense there was the first Transnational Regional Assembly meeting for the Arc Manche region of southern England, northern France and west Belgium.

In a CCHQ press release Eric Pickles MP, Shadow Minister for Local Government, said:

“This is the political equivalent of Frankenstein’s monster, a hybrid creation of John Prescott and European Union bureaucrats. Taxpayers will be alarmed that their hard-earned cash is now being spent on literally wiping England off the map and handing power to foreign politicians who they never elected.  This Labour-EU project needs to be stopped before these transnational regions grab real power and funding. I fear that John Prescott’s legacy of unelected and unaccountable regional assemblies in England will be the blueprint for a new masterplan - further undermining England’s cherished local and national identities, and creating a European super-state via the back door.”

Download pdf of full CCHQ press release and see related ToryDiary entry: Cartographic conspiracy.