ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

Reports from Rwanda

Brushing off the "non-story" of a few MPs expressing no-confidence in him, Cameron pointed to the Rwanda trip as more representative of the spirit of the Party at the moment:

"I think the spirit of the Conservative Party is embodied by the Members of Parliament; Conservative activists, including doctors and electricians and lawyers who are out here in Rwanda, learning about this country, learning about delivering aid effectively, learning about how we help sub-Saharan Africa get richer."

Those of us not in the sub-Saharan desert can keep track of how things are going by checking out a few blogs that are being updated each day:

• Iain Dale's there with an 18 Doughty Street camera girl, and is writing detailed daily dairy entries about his experience visiting the various projects: see Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.
• Candidate and blogger Vicky Ford is writing about her project at a school, after some difficulties getting there via Nairobi.
• David Mundell MP has written over a dozen posts about his trip so far, with particular focus on the aftermath of the genocide (the photo above is one of his).

It's a shame Cameron could only stay one night, but the message that Conservatives care about development issues - and see mileage in being seen to care - is encouraging. The forty, don't forget, paid their own way to do this and are doing a lot of graft off-camera. Meeting victims of poverty and genocide face-to-face will no doubt have a profound effect on them, and that's worth a lot more than cynical comments about it being just a PR stunt.

Deputy Editor

Immigration and security concern voters most

Yesterday we published the headline 6% Labour lead suggested by Ipsos-MORI.  Ipsos-MORI have just published some more detail of their survey of 954 adults.  Answers to Questions 7 and 8 show that 'race relations and immigration' remains the most important issue for 23% of respondents.  The same percentage agree that defence, foreign affairs and international terrorism are the most important issues facing Britain today.  That would also be ConservativeHome's top issue.  Crime comes next (12%) for voters, then the NHS (7%), then housing (6%) then education (5%).

Economic issues figure low on voters' concerns in this poll.  2% say the economy is the most important issue facing Britain today (7% say it is an important issue); 2% identify unemployment (7%) and 1% tax (7%).

Europe hardly registers either.  Only 1% think it the most important issue.  3% think it an important issue.

The core vote issues of crime, Europe, immigration and tax are often lumped together but crime and immigration appear to be significantly more salient as issues.

Pollution and the environment (3%/ 9%) are not near the top of voters' concerns but some political strategists regard it as a 'permission issue'.  Only when a political party crosses a minimum ethical threshold - on issues like concern for vulnerable people and for the environment - does it, the theory goes, become a voting option for certain values-orientated voters.

Cameron: There'll be no "retreat to the comfort zone"

Interviewed on Sky News David Cameron said: "This is the Conservative Party, but what we are not going to do is retreat to the comfort zone.  I made changes to and with the Conservative Party over the last 18 months for a very clear purpose, to get us back into the centre ground, to get us into a position where people listen to what we were saying, where we are more in touch with Britain as it is today."

Watch the full interview by clicking here.

Editor's comment: "The above quotation gets to the heart of the problem with Project Cameron. He describes the move to the centre ground as essential to ensure that voters listen to the Tories again. That's a political strategist talking - not a conviction politician. He should be explaining that his deepest beliefs are the reasons for the changes the party is making. He should be connecting everything he has done - not to some political marketing plan - but to his commitment to the family, the NHS and to a Britain able to govern itself."

Talk of ousting Cameron is crazy

A report in the Sunday Telegraph suggests that two - perhaps even six - Tory MPs have called for a vote of no confidence in David Cameron.  The MPs have, it seems, written to Sir Michael Spicer, Chairman of the 1922 Committee, requesting the initiation of the procedures that ousted Iain Duncan Smith in 2003.  An unnamed MP tells The Sunday Telegraph: "I felt I had to register my deep-seated dissatisfaction. I am not the only one and I know there are a number of others who are thinking of writing."

Are these MPs mad?  Do they really believe that the Conservative Party needs another change of leader?  Do they really want to replace the man who led the party to more than 900 gains in May's local elections?  Do they think Brown will delay the possible September/ October General Election until we've completed a leadership switch?

David Cameron was elected by nearly 70% of Tory members just 18 months ago.  Talk of replacing him is crazy.  He is the only show in town as one more sensible MP said yesterday.  There are certainly problems with Tory strategy and tactics but David Cameron deserves the time to complete his programme of party renewal.

None of this is to suggest that all is well.  It clearly isn't.  We're up to 7% behind in the polls and talk of an autumn election needs to be taken very seriously.  Over recent days, weeks and months ConservativeHome has recommended a number of 'course corrections' to Project Cameron.  Here is a summary of some of the most important ones:

'Let Cameron Be Cameron': It will soon be too late to correct the increasingly popular idea that David Cameron is nothing but a PR man.  The things that are true and real about David Cameron must come to the fore.  We have suggested his love of the family, his commitment to the NHS and his Euroscepticism.  Brown is looking more like the antidote to the superficiality of Blair at the moment.  That's dangerous.

Rally the base: Ann Widdecombe tells today's Mail on Sunday that David Cameron must spend more time presenting clear policies on law and order and immigration.  Monmouth MP David Davies offers essentially the same message: "We must also ensure that people know we are the party that still believes in strong policies on crime, immigration and the creeping takeover of Britain by Brussels."  Cameron should task his three leading right-wingers with this job.  David Davis, most importantly of all, must spend the summer campaigning against Labour's failures on crime, immigration and homeland security.  He shouldn't be off the nation's TV screens.  William Hague must focus on Brown's broken promise to give the British people a referendum.  Liam Fox must be given budgetary freedom by George Osborne to plot a path to an end to the overstretch in our armed forces.  At the same time there must be no retreat from the greener, gentler conservatism that David Cameron has advocated.  We're proud that Iain Duncan Smith's passion for social justice has put the Tories at the heart of the debate about mending Britain's broken society.  We're proud that Tories are currently in Rwanda - making a practical difference to that damaged corner of Africa (Iain Dale, David Mundell and Vicky Ford are blogging from there).  We're optimistic that Peter Lilley's report on globalisation and poverty will provide the policies to substantiate the Tories' commitment to social justice. 

Improve the press operation. This still isn't working properly.  I noted on Friday my horror that CCHQ is not in regular and personal contact with the nation's leading political journalists.  Team Brown is outflanking us in the service they are providing to the media.

Accelerate candidate selection. As we report on Seats & Candidates today, selections are being postponed - allegedly because not enough women are applying.  This is unacceptable.  The Burrowes/ Shapps analysis - 'Pick Em Early, Pick Em Local' - needs to be taken to heart - especially given the increased likelihood of an early poll.

Explain, explain, explain.  Team Cameron has been too closed.  Too many MPs don't feel that they understand the leadership's mission.  Too many frontbenchers aren't included in policy annoucements that affect their briefs.  There'll be a lot less panic in the Tory ranks if more people feel part of the plan.

That's enough advice from us for now!  We'd be grateful for your constructive suggestions.

MORI suggests Labour 6% lead

Yesterday evening we reported a YouGov survey that appeared to confirm last Sunday's ICM poll and a 7% Labour lead.  Another poll in The Observer - by Ipsos-MORI - puts Labour 6% ahead.

The Observer reports that Brown will make other announcements later this week - including a new counter-terrorism strategy.

Another 7% Labour lead

A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times puts Labour on 40%, the Conservatives 33% and the LibDems 15%. An ICM poll last weekend also put Labour ahead by 7%.

A majority of respondents to this poll, 54%, said Brown should call an election within a few months. Only 32% said he shouldn't.

The 1700 respondents were consulted before the by-election results. They also gave Brown a strong lead on "sticking to his beliefs", 44% to Cameron's 12%, and on being perceived as strong, 35% to 8%.

Deputy Editor

The papers on the Ealing result

The Telegraph points out that the week before polling "the Cameron high command insisted the party was on course for victory" in Ealing. Perhaps this misplaced confidence is the source of David Cameron's woes today. Many people were led to believe that victory was possible, even likely, so our third place was a bitter, and unexpected, disappointment.

The Daily Mail and Simon Heffer in the Telegraph blame CCHQ's selection of Tony Lit, Heffer saying "Short of being a lesbian heading a one-parent family, Tony Lit, the very defeated candidate in the Ealing by-election, had everything Dave has always wanted for "his" Conservatives."   

Other papers were focussing on concerns over the direction of Project Cameron. The Telegraph leader is supportive of "changes in the Conservative Party that will enhance its prospects of getting elected" but warns "rebranding and re-energising should not mean neglecting to oppose bad policies." It says:

"The party urgently needs to reset its co-ordinates, even at the price of fierce internal debate; and the only person who can do that is its leader. The instinct that told Mr Cameron - correctly - that the Tories were projecting themselves to the nation as moralistic bigots should now inform him that they are coming across as soft and complacent, just at a time when we are attracted to Mr Brown for his lack of glib style."

This theme is picked up by Matthew Parris in the Times who argues, as ConservativeHome has done, for the need for authenticity. We must hope that the "instinct" that the Telegraph refers to will lead David Cameron in this direction.

***

For those who were thinking that the by-elections were only bad news for us Martin Kettle in the Guardian suggests Brown will be paying particularly close attention to the Sedgefield result which showed that the Labour vote is not (yet) coming home.

Fox brings Giuliani to London

Samuel Coates and I are currently in New York.  It's part of a four week fact-finding tour of the English-speaking world that will include time in Canada and Australia.  Sam is also going on to New Zealand.  At the end of the four weeks we will be writing a number of essays on the health of conservatism in the Anglosphere.

We spent some time today with the Giuliani campaign.  ConservativeHome readers recently voted the former New York Mayor as their overwhelming favourite to be the next US President.  Listed at the bottom of this note are his twelve key commitments to the American people.

Giuliani will speak to a London event in early September as a guest of Liam Fox's Atlantic Bridge.  Margaret Thatcher will also be present.  It's quite a coup for Dr Fox and follows Fred Thompson's visit to London last month.  A visit to Lady Thatcher now appears to be an essential component of any Republican hopeful's campaign.

George Bridges resigns

Other blogs have noted George Bridges' decision to resign from his senior campaign post at CCHQ.  As Ben Brogan points out, it was only recently reported that he had been tasked with 'bomb-proofing' the policy review process.  The conspiracy theorists will, no doubt, be out in force.  It may be true that, as Ben Brogan writes, the increasingly influential Lord Ashcroft was not a big admirer of George but my understanding is that he decided to quit because he's getting married.  Simple as that.  He didn't want to spend the first months and years of married life juggling a political position that often needs 24/7 attention.

While we were on the subject of CCHQ I learnt out one thing earlier today that horrified me.  I was speaking to a very senior political journalist and they told me that days go by without a call from Team Cameron's press operation.  Hours don't go by, this journalist told me, without a call from Team Brown.  Over to you Andy Coulson...

The Evening Standard on the Ealing result

Although the Evening Standard headlines its coverage of the Ealing Southall By-election with "Body blow for Cameron at the polls" its editorial is less dramatic. It calls the result "a big disappointment for the Conservatives" but says "This has to be considered a negative verdict on the Tories's controversial candidate Tony Lit" noting that the "photograph of him with a smiling Tony Blair cannot have impressed Southall voters".

The Standard highlights the disappointment of the Lib Dems who have failed, for the first time since 1990, to win a seat in a by-election where they started in second place after the governing party.

But it says the lessons are for the Conservative Party:

"Discontented activists will treat the result as a negative verdict on Mr Cameron's approach and put pressure on him to return to the traditional Right-wing territory of crime and immigration. But it is not clear that such an approach would have helped in one of Britain's most diverse constituencies, where about half the population is of Asian origin, along with all the major party candidates. Mr Cameron must hold his nerve and resist siren calls from traditionalists."

No charges over cash for honours

Carmen Dowd of the CPS has confirmed that there will be no charges over the cash for honours scandal because of "insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction". She praised the police for their "diligence and professionalism."

Update: Lord Levy has made a statement saying he is "sincerely delighted and relieved to put this all behind me." He also said he wouldn't comment on the police handling of the investigation, saying that others are better placed to do so, but did say he had "been disappointed by the constant leaks to the media", without saying who he thought to be responsible.

The Ealing gamble

Without adequate involvement of the local Association, CCHQ imposed Tony Lit as the party's Ealing Southall candidate.  ConservativeHome received a number of complaints from local Tories at the time about CCHQ's gamble of embracing someone with little connection to the Conservative Party in the hope that it would end Brown's honeymoon.  We did not realise how slight Mr Lit's connection with the Conservative Party was until last Sunday when that day's newspaper's were filled with pictures of him and stories of his £4,800 corporate gift to Tony Blair.  I did not want to jeopardise our chances in the election and chose not to editorialise at the time.  In the interests of the party I hoped that CCHQ knew what it was doing.  When a number of Labour councillors defected one week earlier the Lit gamble had looked promising.  Today the only silver lining of the Ealing result is that LibDem MPs have not got a ready excuse to oust Menzies Campbell.

The Ealing gamble failed.  What of the bigger gamble at the heart of Project Cameron?

Again and again many traditional supporters believe that David Cameron has gambled with our party's values.  I think of the quota-based A-list.  The stop on more grammar schools.  Green taxes.  An effective withdrawal of support for nuclear power.  The ending of any serious commitment to NHS reform.  The downgrading of the transatlantic alliance.  The installation of a community cohesion spokesman with highly questionable views.  Most Conservatives were willing to swallow these things in the hope of them delivering victory at the next election.  With that victory would come the opportunity to introduce the many good things that a Cameron government would bring.  A borders police force.  Support for marriage.  More prisons.  A referendum on the EU Treaty.  More localism.

One question must now be uppermost in Team Cameron's thinking:

Are the headline changes associated with Project Cameron encouraging voters to see the party as more moderate and more in tune with the times (Team Cameron's hope) or are voters seeing the Project as open to embracing any person or idea in the pursuit of electoral advantage? 

I have said before that authenticity is now the number one issue for the party.  We need to prove that David Cameron is strong, serious and substantial.  That he is more than a politician with good PR skills.  That he shares the values of ordinary people.  That he most certainly isn't the 'Sham Cam' that he was dubbed in last week's News of the World.

Live blog on Sedgefield and Ealing Southall by-election results

3.45am: CCHQ statement: "It is usual for the party that starts in third place to end up being squeezed out of contention but in Ealing Southall, not only did Tony Lit maintain our proportion of the vote, he increased it too. During the campaign, five Labour Councillors recognised that the Conservative Party is the Party that represents modern Britain and opted to join us, meaning we now have a solid base in Southall for the first time since the 1920s. Labour’s majority in Ealing Southall has been cut in half and this is the first time the Liberal Democrats have failed to win at a Parliamentary by-election from starting in second place since 1989."

2.40am: Tories confirmed as third-placed in Ealing by the BBC: "Thursday's by-election saw Labour take 15,188 votes, the Lib Dems 10,118 and the Conservatives 8,230."

2am: Labour hold Sedgefield and LibDems overtake Tories to win second place - BBC

11.50pm: LibDems are claiming that the Tories are third in both by-elections. LibDem campaign manager Chris Rennard told PA: "It looks as though Tories are third in both Sedgefield and Ealing Southall. We are confident they are in third place. That is abject humiliation for David Cameron's Conservatives. In Ealing they have made no progress on the last election and in Sedgefield they have slipped into third place."

Summer campaign to "keep the heat" on Brown

George Osborne is to announce a campaign against Gordon Brown in case there is an election in the autumn:

"With Westminster gripped by speculation that the Prime Minister is considering a snap election to take advantage of a "bounce" in the opinion polls, the Conservatives are planning to go on the attack. George Osborne, the shadow chancellor and Tory election co-ordinator, said last night the party intended to show Mr Brown that they were ready for an early election. "We intend to take the fight to Labour and show that we have the money to campaign hard. We are going to keep the summer heat on Brown," he said. Tory strategists hope their campaign will check Mr Brown's rise in the polls and dampen Labour's enthusiasm for an early election by showing that a well-financed Conservative Party can mount a hard-hitting campaign."

An election in the autumn is seen as increasingly likely in Westminster. At least one Conservative MP has cancelled their September holiday because of the prospect of an election in that month and a few Shadow Cabinet members are privately convinced of it.

Conventional wisdom is that an early election favours the incumbent as MPs, unlike their opposing candidates, already have a profile in the constituency. The Party's "war book" is already thick however, and it is clearly up to the challenge should Brown take the risk.

Deputy Editor

Another black day for the BBC

Conservatives have long worried about the BBC and this year has provided new evidence for the BBC's unreliability:

• The internal seminar revealed that the Corporation itself admitted serious biases;
• There was the BBC's staggering and arrogant refusal to grant one serious interview to Robin Aitken after the 25-years-BBC-journalist exposed Corporation bias in his authoritative book;
• Then came the internal report that confirmed the nature of institutional bias;
• Last week we had the mistreatment of Her Majesty The Queen.

Today we have substantial evidence of faked phone-ins including for the Comic Relief programme.

Our new Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt MP has issued an appropriately strong statement:

“This is a grim day for the BBC.  Mark Thompson has uncovered a hornet’s nest of deception at what was Britain’s most trusted broadcaster.  The most worrying thing is the impact it will have on charitable giving, as many of the fake winners were in programmes raising money for good causes.  Tough words are fine but the proof of the pudding is what actually changes.  At stake is not just standards of BBC broadcasting but also the new governance arrangements, which the BBC has assured us will be more effective than the old cosy arrangements with the BBC Governors.  The bottom line is not just can we trust the Beeb, but can we trust the Trust?”

I'm hoping for an equally robust answer from Jeremy on my recent question about BBC reform.  Hoping.  Not necessarily expecting!

Open thread on PMQs

12.23pm: Julian Lewis MP asks for a commitment that the number of Royal Navy frigates would not fall below 25.  GB gave no such guarantee and taunted the Tories by saying that George Osborne was unwilling to make any commitments to increased defence spending.

12.16pm: Ann Widdecombe asks if the Prime Minister is aware that Britain - in 9 hours - is about to deport a Christian lady to Iran who is under a death threat.  GB promises to look at the issue urgently.

12.15pm: Ming asked about the Rowntree report and the growing gap between the rich and poor.

12.11pm: At the end of his questions - to loud Tory cheers - DC listed Labour's failures on prisons and said that the country was witnessing the same old broken promises, the same old incompetence and the same old Labour.  Expect those lines of attack - broken promises, incompetence and no real change - to be key themes from the Conservative leader.

12.06pm: DC says that violent offenders were released early.  He alleges that prison and probation staff had objected to certain releases of violent prisoners and they had been over-ruled.  When GB said that he would ask the Justice Minister to write to DC about the 'over-rulings', DC attacked the Prime Minister for not  knowing that these over-rulings had taken place.  He accused GB of not knowing what was going on in the prisons and asked for a guarantee that early releases would not happen again.  GB countered that releases were an exceptional measure and said that the Conservatives had twice undertaken early releases.  He said that the Tories were unwilling to invest in the extra prison places and neighbourhood policing.

12.04pm: David Cameron asks about early prisoner releases.  GB says that noone serving for a serious violent offence was released early and noone was released more than 18 days early.

12.02pm: In answer to a question from a Labour backbencher on drug policy, GB promised a review of policy and hinted that cannabis might be classified more tightly as a result.

11.23am: This is Cameron's third clash with Prime Minister Brown.

Chairman Maude's legacy

On a number of previous occasions ConservativeHome has reviewed the failures of CCHQ under Francis Maude but there were many successes, too.  Here is a list of some of them:

The reinvigoration of Conservatives Abroad under Gary Streeter MP.  Serious money has been raised to promote the ‘don’t leave your vote at home’ campaign.  This campaign could make a real difference in marginal seats.

A new party conference organisation unit has been established. Although the manner in which this was done was not as transparent as might have been ideal, it will almost certainly increase the party's share of Conference revenues.

The Northern Board has been established under William Hague. It has yet to deliver much but Michael Bates - its effective CEO - has the capacity and skills to succeed if he is properly resourced.  All money raised in a region now stays within the region. Yorkshire has, for example, already doubled its fundraising rate because the reward-to-effort link has been restored.  The nationwide Party Board now meets outside of London at least twice a year. Bolton, Leeds, Coleshill and Nottingham have all hosted meetings in recent times.

The establishment of the Shadow City Ministers concept where shadow cabinet members 'look after' specific cities to help advance the party's campaigning and profile in areas where the Tories have been absent for too long.  Alan Duncan, Newcastle and Chris Grayling, Liverpool as well as Francis himself, Wolverhampton have been particularly energetic in their shadowing roles.  The moves of the annual Party Conference to Manchester and to Birmingham are part of his new urban focus (although I'll personally miss Bournemouth!).

There has been a professionalisation of CCHQ management.  A new Finance Director and a first Procurement Director have produced much greater budgetary discipline and many savings. All staff now have uniform contracts.

The bad old CCHQ habits of large redundancy payments for unwanted staff have been ended.  In 2005 over £400,000 was, I understand, paid out in redundancies.  That figure dropped to well below £50,000 last year.  A drop is normal in an non-election year but this is a big improvement over recent times.  The completion of the sale of 32 Smith Square has also stabilised party finances.

The decision to scrap the Chairman’s car and driver will fund two regional press officers.

I also hear good things about the party's by-election operation.  In 36 to 48 hours we'll have a better idea as to whether those good things are real or not.

Francis Maude and his very able Chief of Staff, James McGrath, deserve real credit for all of these gains.  My personal hope is that the party will find a way of keeping James within its ranks.  He has political intelligence and experience the party needs.  The pain of the A-list process, in particular, and persistent unpopularity among many sections of the grassroots mean that David Cameron was right to move Francis Maude but his accomplishments are a good inheritance for Caroline Spelman.

Progress in the wrong direction

Whilst warming up to an attack on the price of train sandwiches in his Times column this morning, Michael Gove lamented how Euro-integrationists close down debate with travel metaphors which focus on the speed of travel rather than the direction:

"Perhaps the single lamest canard to be dragged into the euro-debate was the single, transferable, travel metaphor. The integrationist ultras would use a succession of figures of speech in which travel towards a particular political destination (in their case the surrender of yet further powers without any quid pro quo), was seen as an inevitable journey from which there could be no rational deviation. So Europe was described, variously, as a bicycle (you had to carry on moving forward or you’d fall off), a motorway (did we want to be motoring ahead with the really impressive big countries in the fast lane or left behind in the slow lane?), and a train (if you didn’t get on now you’d be left behind, perpetually incapable of catching up)."

At a press conference with Bertie Ahern yesterday (who unlike Gordon Brown freely admits that the EU Reform Treaty is mostly the same as the rejected constitution and, unlike Brown, is putting it to a vote anyway) Brown said that they had discussed:

"the European Constitution and how that can move forward over the next few months".

The CCHQ press office saw this as significant enough to press release a screenshot of the online transcript. By "moving forward" Brown means what he said when with Angela Merkel yesterday:

"We will not require a referendum on this. It is something that can be worked on closely by Parliament. I think we can make progress quickly on this."

Shame on those democrats and Eurosceptics for wanting to regress quickly.

Deputy Editor

John Bercow

On Saturday I posted a piece about the possibility of John Bercow defecting to Labour.  Although the three sources who provoked the feature are reliable - and although I highlighted the post's speculative nature - I now regret that post.  I had a long conversation with John Bercow yesterday and he assured me that he has no intention of defecting.  My contacts still worry about John Bercow's intentions but I am happy to take him at his word.  100%.

Although ConservativeHome has published more than 3,500 posts over the last two years the post on Saturday is the first to cause me real regret.  I had attempted to contact John Bercow before writing the piece but should have waited until my efforts were successful before writing what I did.

John Bercow promises to remain a Conservative MP. I look forward to applauding his championing of international justice issues but also to disagreeing with the positions he is now taking on issues like the family and on tax.

Members divided on tax allowance for same sex couples

Only 564 members answered this question compared to the 1,417 who answered the questions highlighted earlier today.  The question was added to the survey a number of hours after the survey had gone live - following David Cameron's suggestion on Channel 4 News that any married couples' allowance would also benefit same sex couples who had entered civil partnerships.

37% of the respondents agreed with David Cameron that any allowance should benefit such same sex couples but 49% did not agree that gay couples should receive the allowance.  A further 10% of this population of 564 disagreed with any tax allowance for married or same sex couples.

Grassroots welcome IDS' recommendations with one notable exception...

Over the last four days 1,417 Tory members have given their opinions on twelve of the main recommendations of IDS' social justice report.  Ten of the twelve recommendations secured clear and supportive majorities.  The most popular recommendation - with 95% support - was action to eliminate unfairness to two-parent families within the benefits system.  The controversial proposal of higher taxation of alcohol was rejected by 59% of those surveyed.  The only other recommendation to fall short of a majority was the proposal to give the option of frontloading child benefit.  Although 49% agreed with the proposal, 30% disagreed.

ConservativeHome intends to poll members on the main recommendations of all of the policy groups.

Later today we will publish members' views on extending the married couples' tax allowance to gay couples.

Noisy Zulu warriors greet the return of the quiet man

Good week: Iain Duncan Smith. The former Tory leader's 188 recommendation report into tackling the problems of 'broken Britain' was well received by most observers - including the centre right press.  What was an eventful week for the Centre for Social Justice was summarised yesterday by our new Saturday columnist, Cameron Watt.  The ConservativeHome video below captures two minutes of a performance by God's Golden Acre - a charity awarded at the CSJ's third annual awards evening on Wednesday night.  Iain's week ended with an after dinner speech to Grantham and Stamford Conservatives.  IDS was due to celebrate twenty years of Quentin Davies' time as an MP.  Instead the event became a fundraiser for the local party.

The Tory campaign in Ealing Southall also had a good week.  Today's two Tonies photo about our candidate being photographed with Mr Blair was unhelpful for momentum but is unlikely to prevent a good result.  The likelihood of an encouraging result was given a big boost at the start of the week by the defection to the blue corner of five Ealing Labour councillors.

Bad week: The gambling industry.  Reacting to the family-friendly Tories' successful wooing of The Daily Mail, Gordon Brown fought for a foothold on the moral high ground by overturning Tony Blair's supercasino plans. More here.  Brown will fight hard to prevent the Tories' newly-arrived communications supremo, Andy Coulson, from building a good relationship with Paul Dacre's newspaper.

Roundabout week: The transatlantic relationship. Earlier in the week Labour ministers Douglas Alexander and Mark Malloch Brown appeared to suggest that the UK-US relationship would be downplayed and institutions like the United Nations would become more important.  Gordon Brown instructed his chief of staff to write to all Cabinet ministers to tell them that there would be no downplaying.  David Miliband went further in today's News of the World - promising "no change" in the special relationship.

Non-event of the week: The LibDems' publication of their tax plans. Menzies Campbell simply isn't box office.  The next week may see a leadership challenge get underway.  One journalist who had been ringing LibDem MPs for criticisms of their leader kept being told to call back after Thursday's by-elections.  If the LDs do badly in Ealing and Sedgefield expect Operation Clegg to get underway.

Davis and Chakrabarti slam "internment" suggestion

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis has joined Liberty's Shami Chakrabarti in condemning a police chief's call for  "as long as it takes" detention of terror suspects.  The head of the Association of Police Chief Officers Ken Jones told The Observer the head of the Association of Police Chief Officers:

"We are now arguing for judicially supervised detention for as long as it takes. We are up against the buffers on the 28-day limit. We understand people will be concerned and nervous, but we need to create a system with sufficient judicial checks and balances which holds people, but no longer than a day [more than] necessary.  We need to go there [unlimited detention] and I think that politicians of all parties and the public have great faith in the judiciary to make sure that's used in the most proportionate way possible."

Ms Chakrabarti said that Jones was campaigning for internment.  Mr Davis was also vigorous in his opposition to the ACPO intervention:

“All the evidence shows that when the police tried to claim the need for 90 day detention without charge they were wrong and parliament’s decision on 28 days was right.  If 90 days was wrong, indefinite detention is even more wrong.  The argument that this should be under judicial supervision is facile in the extreme. The current 28 day limit is already under judicial supervision.  What is more, since the 28 day limit was introduced neither the police or security services have produced one shred of evidence to demonstrate the need for extension, either in public or in confidential briefings.”

Matthew d'Ancona is unwilling to attack Ken Jones' intervention.  Over at The Spectator blog he writes:

"It is clear beyond doubt that many modern terrorist cases involve forensic problems of unprecedented complexity - codes, languages, international connections - and that the police will increasingly require longer than they used to in order to sift through the evidence. It will not always be possible to charge a detainee. So why not make it possible for the police to continue detention indefinitely, but only if they can persuade a judge that it is necessary to ensure public safety?"

Gordon Brown will have the backing of the bulk of his parliamentary party if he chooses to legislate for a longer period of detention without trial.  Most Tory MPs do not see the need for any change.

Stand Up, Speak Up is launched

The Conservative Party has this morning launched its Stand Up, Speak Up website.  It gives members of the public the chance to read the reports of the policy groups and then vote on their key conclusions and then debate them.  David Cameron introduces the concept here.  The debate starts with discussion of the social justice policy group and a pretty uncontroversial question: "Should we be doing more to help people off benefits and into work?" Participants are promised an opportunity to win a one-to-one discussion with the Conservative leader.

Related link: Can the Tories become Britain's first online party?

1pm: EML, in the comments, points out that conservatives.com has a new look, too.

5pm: This video appears on the SUSU website:

The couple who are 'better off' living apart

If you want a real life example of how Gordon Brown's tax and benefits system is corrupting morality you need look no further than today's News of the World.  Reporter Philip Whiteside profiles the example of a couple that have chosen to split up because they are £878 a month better off as a result.  This is the problem that Iain Duncan Smith's social justice report was attempting to begin to address.  Read the full story here.

The Sunday Telegraph has a poll that shows a clear majority believing that it is right for Government to support marriage (57% to 35%) but a smaller majority in favour of using tax allowances to do so (49% to 44%).