Margaret Thatcher back in Downing Street

After a one-to-one meeting with Gordon Brown, Baroness Thatcher will have a tour of Downing Street before Mrs Brown joins them for tea.

Unbelievable.

4pm: This is how the Downing Street website is covering the visit:

"Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher returned to Downing Street today for private talks with Gordon Brown.  Lady Thatcher was greeted with a warm handshake from the Prime Minister as she arrived outside Number 10 before the two headed off for a private meeting.  During his press conference earlier this week, Mr Brown described Lady Thatcher as a "conviction politician" who "saw the need for change".  Lady Thatcher was Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990."

4.45pm: The day gets more surreal...

Iain Dale phoning in to BBC News 24: "... isn't it great to see her back in Downing Street, back where she belongs?"

Presenter Sally Nugent bringing the conversation to an end: "It is."

Comments

[DavisFan]

I thought I was dreaming about the RETURN of our MOST GLORIOUS AND BLESSED LEADER.

[Jonathan Sheppard]

As I posted on my blog... surely she isnt going to be an adviser to Brown too!

[Tony Makara]

One has to wonder whether Gordon Brown sees this as a great photo opprtunity. It would certainly be interesting to be a fly on the wall. Wonder if the sub-prime crisis will come up?

[Teesbridge]

If Madame is in No 10 then there's clearly something very nasty being smuggled out by the spin doctors this afternoon.

And will That Great Lady get the Mercer/Bercow treatment?

[Radical Tory]

I think she's telling us what she thinks of Cameron. Good for her.

[TomTom]

That's good...it shows there are no hard feelings....but it is so Blair !!

[Donal Blaney]

It warms the heart to see her back inside Number 10, that's for sure! A very clever move by Brown on a day when traditionalist Tories will be feeling knocked sideways by the Quality of Life report. Brown is very, very clever.

[Ken Stevens]

... and I dreamt that Mrs T turned round and went back into No 10, after waving Mr B off home to Kirkcaldy.

I must ease up on Sanatogen consumption.

[Radical Tory]

Donal - Brown is certainly very clever. Though Cameroons always seem to underestimate him. They'll never learn and they'll pay the price of course.

If only Lady Thatcher would come out and tell the country what she thinks of Cameron. I wish she would go for his throat.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Wish she was still there. Very clever of Brown. Cameron won't be best pleased, but hey ho.

[Iain Lindley]

I can only imagine the vitriol that would appear here if Ted Heath had still been alive and done the same thing.

[Traditional Tory]

If Maggie is about to defect to New Labour she could be taking a lot of us with her.

[englandism]

@Donal Blaney

Spot on, Donal. And he has appointed Margaret's very own advertisers, Itchy and Scratchy, to promote the Labour cause.

So what on earth are we doing publishing this facile and vote numbing guff?

Margot and Jerry Leadbetter Present: The Good Life Report.

Conclusion:

Literally: If It Moves Tax It!

I hang my head in despair.

[Gnosis]

I think brown is being very shrewd here,he obviouly thinks that if cameron can pull us to the left then there will be a great hole on the right to be filled and i noticed he is wearing a lot of blue ties lately..also as i said in my recent post it may be Lady T's way of showing her utter contempt of what the cameroons have done to her once mighty project in the conservative party,i am no fan of gordon but he is a very very shrewd operator.

[John Coles]

My cup is filled to overflowing! Oh dear, here come the tears.......

[James Burdett]

Unsurprising, deeply cynical piece of political shenanigans by Brown. The more he keeps this up, the sooner everyone will see him for the manipulative, devious little machine politician that he is.

[Paul Oakley]

Hopefully she'll handbag him into calling a referedum on the EU treaty.

[Adrian Owens]

This won't go down well with the comrades in the West Lancashire Labour party whose loathing of the greatest post-war Prime Minister is limitless.

Indeed, the only claim to fame of our MP, Rosie Cooper has been to ensure that Tony Blair blocked a state funeral for Lady Thatcher.

[Drusilla]

Presumably, even as I type this, the ever trustworthy Matthew D'Ancona is preparing the revelation that the Great Lady offered to snuggle even further 'into the heart of Labour', but was knocked back? And why no headlines at CH about her 'defection', given that she's presumably offering advice to the PM today, rather than just e.g. agreeing with him that fuschia is a flattering colour?

[Radical Tory]

Gnosis - I am certain this is Lady Thatcher's way of showing her anger at Cameron. She agreed to do this at the time of this stupid report and in front of the cameras. Why else would she do it in this way? The timing tells us so much.

I'm now more certain than ever that Cameron simply must be stopped. I will be considering running as an anti-Cameron conservative come the next general election in a target seat of course. I hope others do like wise.

[Donal Blaney]

Lady T will not attack DC publicly, and nor should she. There are many aspects of what the party is doing that she will support. But by going to No 10 today she certainly sends a signal to us.

I am no fan of Brown whatsoever. But as a political observer and activist, I sure do admire his chutzpah. I really do.

[Steve]

"I can only imagine the vitriol that would appear here if Ted Heath had still been alive and done the same thing."

Wouldn't have been likely though Iain. Doubt GB would have wanted to be associated with such a Europe loving U turner! Lol.

[Donal Blaney]

To be fair Iain, Ted Heath was such an appalling Prime Minister no one WANTED his advice!

[jorgen]

I think that tells us everything we need to know about Cameron and his experiment. Get rid of him before the electorate sends the same message.

She is great!

[Chris Heathcote]

What a stupid thing to do. Proving once again that the biggest obstacle to us winning office again.... is ourselves. Why can't she just grow old gracefully?

[Moral minority]

"And will That Great Lady get the Mercer/Bercow treatment?"

No - because she has not accepted an invitation to formally advise Brown. I expect that she will have lobbied Brown to hold a referendum on the EU constitutional treaty.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

I wonder if this picture has just won Labour the next GE?

[chrisblore]

Hell has frozen over!

A sad, sad day for the Conservative Party and yet another nail in David Cameron's coffin, I fear. I have supported his moves to broaden the party's appeal and have put up with a number of gaffs and snubs, including the grammar schools debacle. This is the last straw though, and with Brown being allowed to steal the day again with what will be seen as almost an "approval" along with the Saatchi deal, I fear we may have lost the battle before it has begun. Prepare for an election sooner rather than later, folks!

[Radical Tory]

Chris Heathcote - the biggest obstacle to winning office is crazy policies from out of touch eco-socialists. Cameron is void of substance, thats a big problem NOT Lady Thatcher.

Cameroons can't pass the buck when everything goes wrong. Stop making excuses in preparation fo defeat.

[Moral minority]

No Justin. Cameroon green taxes, attacks on grammar schools and trashing Thatcherism did that!

[Helen]

Is there some reason why she is not wearing blue?

[James Burdett]

"I wonder if this picture has just won Labour the next GE?"

Only if Conservatives take the bait.

[Radical Tory]

By the way this seems to be dominating BBC News 24. Cameron will be angry...

[Andrew Woodman]

What are Labour Party supporters going to make of this? Short term it may be clever, but once Brown is on the ropes, what will his Thatcher hating party activists and voters do when they see this photo. I don't see why this will increase Labour's vote!

[Tony Sharp]

Much wailing and gnashing of teeth here. All this does is make Brown look devious and hypocritical. Any time the media care to bother they find reams of contradictions and buried stories that reveal Brown in his true light. The man in the street is going to look at Brown carrying out this charade and think "what a prat". Far from being clever, I think he is starting to believe his own spin.

[Radical Tory]

Tony Sharp - I think it makes Brown look like a statesman in contrast to DC who looks like a little boy playing at politics. Brown looks like a good operator and this emphasies that Brown is not some crazy leftie as some would like to make out. It also shows how angry many people feel in the Conservative party towards the Cameroons. Thatcher is speaking for us by her actions.

Good day for Brown, bad day for Cameron.

[Gnosis]

Rad Tory...I think its a very good idea as i am prepared to lose the next election if it rids us of this buffoon we have as a leader now before he sends this party to our grave.
This report is like reading the words of a left wing socialist think tank and i never joined this party for that,we can only engineer our way out of polution on this planet that is what human kind has always done,tax is not the answer and i think i private Lady T must be fuming.I am just sorry DD didn't put a better case for leadership now.

[a-tracy]

Oh my! ;-)

Perhaps she's giving him advice about handling the unions now he's got no more ££'s to throw their way.

[Watchdog]

Yippee! I'm now off to collect my winnings from the bookies. I did bet last year that Maggie had more chance of being back in 10 Downing Street long before Dave (sunshine) Cameron ever would.

[MrB]

The cleverest thing Brown is doing at the moment is politically cross-dressing so much that a lot of the "Traditionalists" on here sound quite attracted to him...You are Labour's puppets.

Anyone with any sense can plainly see Cameron is far more right-wing than Brown. Lady Thatcher would know that. Yet a lot of you spend so much time looking for things to attack DC over, no attention is paid to the amount of spin and incompetance that comes from the other side. Then it seems he can win you over with ridiculous posturing such as invitng Lady Thatcer over for tea! Madness!

Traditional Tory and Radical Tory, try joining the Labour Party then and see how happy you are when the new Consitution comes rolling in...

[michael]

I must say, they both look delighted.

Labour's activist base is already hollowed out. Here in the North their membership has collapsed and their workers stopped pounding the pavements long ago.

This stunt won't help Labour.

[Iain]

"Any time the media care to bother they find reams of contradictions and buried stories that reveal Brown in his true light"

Only if the momentum takes them that way, but that would require the Cameron and the Shadow Cabinet to be out there savaging Labour's record and putting Labour on the back foot, for the media hunts in packs and goes for wounded victims. Unfortunately that seems to be beyond Cameron's conservatives, for as yet they haven't laid a glove on Brown, even though Labour are supplying them with abundant ammunition, they seem to specialise in squandering the opportunities.

As I point out in another post, today Darling has sought to duck the responsibility they have for the indebtedness the country finds its self in, blaming it on the banks. George Osborne and the Shadow Treasury team should be out there making damned sure people know where the blame lies. But where are they? Nowhere!

[William Norton]

Jonathan Sheppard:...surely she isnt going to be an adviser to Brown too!

Well at least we've had some practice at how to respond to this sort of thing with the earlier thread on Bercow and Mercer. So: who wants to be the first to suggest Maggie should be expelled?

Or perhaps this is a selfless maneouvre from our former leader to bury the Gummer-Goldsmith report?

Bit heartless of Gordon to use Maggie's belt for a tie, though.

[Moral minority]

COMMENT OVERWRITTEN BY THE EDITOR.

[James Burdett]

This is schoolboy stuff, it's pure poison designed to get Conservatives bashing each other. To that end large numbers of commentators on this thread are falling for the trap and doing exactly what Gordon wants.

[Bill]

Yes: while I do not like Brown, having Maggie to Number 10 will only aid positioning him as a statesman.

The Cameroons have smugly considered themselves so clever and 21st century. Some even wanted to position Cameron as the heir to Blair when the rest of us couldn't wait to see the back of him. Project Cameron has been so full of itself it has failed to see the world has changed and we have all moved on. Meanwhile Brown has almost completely out-manoeuvered them. I am so thoroughly sick of Project Cameron, and I have such a jaundiced view of just about everything the Tories come out with, that if I can't vote for a real Tory I might just vote Labour.

[Andy D]

The idea that five more years of Gordon Brown is anything other than horrific is quite extraordinary.

One has to marvel at that anyone claiming to be a Conservative could possibly consider otherwise.

[Bill]

Re "no attention is paid to the amount of spin and incompetance that comes from the other side." Wrong. Who talked about an end to Punch and Judy politics. It is the Conservative parliamentary party that appeared to taken a ten year sabbatical from opposition. They have been so relaxed they were almost horizontal. Trad Tories on the other hand have been made to feel there was something wrong with the views they have supported for years.

[Mike Thomas (215cu)]

Erm, well that's most of Labour's core vote pretty much apoletic with rage with Brown inviting the Devil incarnate to tea.

As for the rest of you nay-sayers and end-is-nighers.

What's the betting she's going to say something about Mr. Brown if he overeggs the pudding?

Do remember Mr. Brown has never been anything other than hostile to Lady Thatcher until now.

A few words from Mrs. T would go down a storm.

[MrB]

Bill, like I said: If you really want to vote for a party that will preside over unprecidented European dominance, let thousands of prisoners out on early release, continue to flood Britain with immigrants, keep the foxhunting contryside population oppressed and ensure your tax bills keep rising then PLEASE vote for Labour.

Otherwise, wake up and stop swallowing Brown's blatant spin.

[Donal Blaney]

I wonder if he'll give Lady Thatcher a signed copy of his book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Theres-Greed-Margaret-Thatcher/dp/1851582339/ref=sr_1_1/026-6274866-8102832?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189694996&sr=8-1

"Where There's Greed: Margaret Thatcher and the Betrayal of Britain's Future" - Gordon Brown (1989)

[Bill]

I wonder if the Cameroons factored in the possibility that disenchanted Tories might actually vote Labour?

[Matt]

Don't you realise that Brown will want this to upset and divide the Conservative party. ConHome is on the media radar, the press will be lapping up some of your comments.

Let's take this for what it is... Brown playing political games with us. Stand firm, pull together and get a backbone. Bring on the GE!

Anyone would think many of you want another 10 years of New Labour !

Think of the reaction if Cameron invited Blair to his place for a cup of tea and made a photo-op out of it ?...

Rank and file Labour members and supporters will be beside themselves with anger at Brown, so let's see how this pans out.

This is being done to undermine the Conservatives. Simple as that. Don't let him win.

Matt.

[Scotty]

Interest rates up, F&M , charities highlighting Brown's failure to take care of our armed forces but not ConHom.
I come on to this site to see all guns facing Zac Goldsmith and David Cameron, while the usual suspects are gloating over Brown using an elderly and frail former PM for cheap political point scoring, as long as it undermines our present leader!
This latest policy report never stood a chance of a fair and balanced debate on this site.
And not one of you can see that this is the type of behaviour which has cost us so dear electorally, what is the point!!!!

[alan]

What an absolutely barnstormer by Brown! Nothing on Sky or BBC ceefax etc about Cameron! Lots about Mrs Thatcher returning to Downing Street.

If Mrs T endorses Brown! then he will have my vote. Cameron must remember he is not in the Eton Debating Society anymore. I just do not think he understands ordinary people, like myself.

Cameron to lose.

[BJW]

What a load of hysterical rubbish people are writing on here. Get a life along with a bit of perspective, a touch of valium might do some good as well.

Its not exactly the first time a former PM has gone to no 10 and it wont be the last time either.

Politically it is meaningless. Gordon Brown though has had exactly the reaction he wants from certain excitable individuals who should know better.

[Radical Tory]

I doubt I'll vote Labour, that will only take one vote away from the Cameroons. Best to stand as an anti-Cameron tory and take quite a few votes from the Cameron candidates (especially target Goldsmith). If enough real tories do this in the targets we could stop Cameron.

[Michael Davidson]

Just seen this now. OH. MY. GOD.

You've got to hand it to Brown - he's as shrewd and as ruthless as you can possibly get.

[JP]

I see Traditional Troll et all look ready to line themselves up as Gordons "useful idiots".

Brown's only hope of staying in power is to destroy the Conservatives, and the best way he can do this is by sowing discord amongst the grass roots, hence these stunts, knowing full well that Trad Tory and his like will swallow them hook, line and sinker.

Get over it - this will be tomorrow's chip paper, just more spin from Brown. The more of these games he plays the more he will come across as a cynical opportunist in the eyes of the electorate.

[Jack Stone]

At the end of the day all this amounts to is a ruthless politican using an old lady who`s health as deminished her previous capabilities for his own political ends. Frankly it stinks!

[malcolm]

My thoughts exactly Scotty. What is the point?

[Iain]

"it's pure poison designed to get Conservatives bashing each other"

A poison which only works because of a failure of leadership within the Conservative Party. For you to pick up on this zeros in on the real problem. I am pretty sure if there was some sense of purpose and direction from Cameron we wouldn't be seeing this fraying off of support. Unfortunately when Cameron should have been attacking Labour's policies, we find him agreeing with them. When he should be finding issues to connect with people who should be his supporters, he's attacking them. Can anyone be surprised there is this discontent?

[Moral minority]

What is the point when the Leader of the Conservative Party welcomes a report that recommends a series of socialist policies that will wreck many household budgets and harm the economy?

The Taxpayers' Alliance's critical response, see separate thread, is spot on.

[MrB]

"If Mrs T endorses Brown! then he will have my vote"

You know it's time to stop listening to the anti-cameron brigade when they're willing to take the lead from a frail, octogenerian former PM with a failing memory.

As if she will anyway.

[Stephen Warrick]

Just who are these tory-boy idiots who write on here?

So Thatcher is meeting Brown in Downing Street? BIG DEAL......She met Phoney Tony within his first few weeks in office too, 10 years ago.

He is a current serving Prime Minister, and she a former PM, and one should always extend courtesy to the other.

That Stalin-Brown Propaganda team will use a frail old lady for a bit of cheap news management, is simply to their detriment.

But why oh why, oh why does EVERY SINGLE TOPIC now have to be turned into an anti-Cameron diatribe?????

Seriously this site should be re-named Anti-Cameron Home, home of loons and Tory Boy Nerds alike.

[4micah]

Would she mind extending her stay to several years?

[chrisblore]

Did anyone notice Brown appeared rather too anxious to put Lady Thatcher into her car before she said anything? Meanwhile, she was waving furiously to the cameras and looked to be on good form. I hope she gave him a good wake-up call and for that matter, that she will do the same to Dave!

[Jomo]

Game set and match!!!

[Traditional Tory]

I see Traditional Troll et all look ready to line themselves up as Gordons "useful idiots".

Sorry to disappoint you but my threat to join New Labour was strictly tongue-in-cheek. Still, I really have to take my hat off to Brown for this coup.

an old lady who`s health as deminished

Jack. I fear that's not all that is 'deminishing'

[Radical Tory]

JP - you are confusing supporting Cameron with being a Conservative. We are Conservatives, Cameron is not. I don't think you realise how angry many conservatives are with Cameron. Many of us would put up with 5 more years of labour if it meant having a conservative leading our party.

John Gummer was just on BBC News 24 - someone asked him why he wanted to hurt the poor. He started his response by insulting the questioner (a member of the public not a journalist) saying he hadn't read the report. Pathetic. These are the type of people who have hijacked our party. Gummer says he wants this report to be the basis for the manifesto. Total madness.

[Bill]

Why shouldn't Maggie visit Number 10. Who after all gave Blair a standing ovation?

[ACT]

If that photo has made me do one thing, it's that I now realise Steve Hilton is right. You don't always have to vote Conservative it turns out.

[Deputy Editor]

Good line on this taken by Liam Fox and later John Gummer, both on News 24: he needs all the advice he can get at the moment.

All the visit will achieve is agitating the base of both parties, we would do well to rise above it.

[jorgen]

"You know it's time to stop listening to the anti-cameron brigade when they're willing to take the lead from a frail, octogenerian former PM with a failing memory."

He, good of you to confirm that it really, really, really hurt! As it should.

[Londoner]

Those claiming it must be some sort of deliberate snubbing of the green report must be pretty wide of the mark: Mrs Thatcher, was, after all, the first senior politician in any party who signalled her deep concern about global warming. That was back in 1988.

And yes, of course, she's obviously equally on Brown's side against Cameron on the European Referendum...

People should grow up. Whilst it's probable that Brown is mischief making, we shouldn't fall into his trap by assuming that Mrs Thatcher, perhaps on account of her Methodist background, has become a raving Scottish Presbyterian socialist (or that Brown has become a latter-day Thatcherite). It's far from clear, actually, whether this will help Brown as I don't imagine it will help lure the left-wing deserters of Blair back from abstention or voting Lib Dem.

She was invited back for a chat, a cup of tea, and perhaps the opportunity to give her advice; and, as a former PM in many ways above party politics, she was polite enough to accept the invitation. I am sure when the election comes that there will be some pithy words of support from her for young Mr Cameron.

I must say, however, that I do look forward to the next cover of Private Eye.

[jorgen]

Bill: "Why shouldn't Maggie visit Number 10. Who after all gave Blair a standing ovation?"

Good one, Bill! Wish I had thought of that one!

[Radical Tory]

Stephen Warrick - firstly stop all the personal attacks. It makes the Cameroons look scared and desperate.

The timing is what is important. She choose to do this on the day of the Quality of Life Report and she agreed to stand and have photos taken. It's important - it makes Brown look like a statesman and Cameron looks like he's lost control.

Cameron looks weaker than ever. If I was a tory MP I'd be ready to defect just on the eve of conference. I wonder if Bercow will?

[Londoner]

"Indeed, the only claim to fame of our MP, Rosie Cooper has been to ensure that Tony Blair blocked a state funeral for Lady Thatcher."

Doesn't look as though that claim will last long does it? Expect a leak of another "Blair snubbing" U turn from Brown sometime soon...

Maybe the meeting was really about discussing her preferences for the detailed arrangements, but it would be tactless for the purpose to be announced. My betting is that she will want to find an excuse for her coffin to go, like Churchill's, via Waterloo, with a requirement that Jacques Delors acts as an escort...

[Simon Denis]

A number of points must be made clear. First, Lady Thatcher, as a former PM of acknowledged stature, has transcended party politics and is now in a position to give her successor but one the benefit of her advice. It will probably be of a diplomatic character, since foreign policy is more often consensual than partisan. Second, it is an exaggeration to say that she dislikes or opposes Cameron. I daresay she is quite simply unimpressed. Like the rest of us, it would seem that she has written off his chances at the next election. No self-denying ordinance on her part could possibly save him or his doomed, copy-cat "project". As for Brown, of course he's exploiting the situation. He calculates that the disarray this meeting causes among tories will more than compensate for the disgust aroused among socialists. It is Mr Cameron's fault that Brown has been handed such an opportunity. The issues of tax, selection and immigration have been grossly mishandled by a cowardly and treacherous conservative leadership. Instead of grasping the nettle and setting out exactly what is wrong with today's Britain, they have havered and dithered and sold the pass. The idle expedient of sending away trouble makers to write reports has led to endless damaging announcements, such as the recent appalling proposals for air travel and plasma TVs. No instinctual conservative has been remotely convinced by the green agenda and yet these are the people which the tory party should be wooing. Instead, it focuses on the notoriously touchy and untrustworthy centrist vote.

History will view the election of Cameron as the day the new left establishment got its tentacles around the conservative party. It will see it as the day the tory party finally broke. And it will see in this collapse a terrible irony - that a little more persistence might well have led to triumph.

[Bill]

Hi Jorgen

I consider it an honour to have met Maggie. She was Prime Minister at the time. Today's Conservative Party seems to be in a parallel universe.

[Iain Dale]

16.28 Moral Minority. Perhaps if you would reveal who you are I might know what you are on about. But then again, people delight in hiding behind on anonymity on this site (and indeed my own) so they can make unfounded personal criticism of individuals. Feel free to email me privately and describe what I am supposed to have done. I'm not holding my breath.

[TomTom]

What was that about Brown's handwriting, George ?

[PETER]

At least One Great Conservative, Margaret Thatcher knew how to disengage the BBC from tearing shreds out of Cameron and his happy clappy Planet Ideas.
Re Radical Tory @ 15.42, I understand that Thatcherite Candidates are planned to stand in four seats in Cornwall if an early election is planned.
I must say Cameron has introduced Conservative Socialism into Political Thought this week and effectively cheesed decent conservatives off. Maggie is a breath of fresh air.

[David]

we would do well to rise above it.

Posted by: Deputy Editor | September 13, 2007 at 17:28

How long have you been Deputy Editor?......

[Ash]

COMMENT OVERWRITTEN BY THE EDITOR.

[Rachel Joyce]

I seem to remember a post about Gordon Brown's dark side and how the public don't like it.
This is just more of the same. It will upset Labour traditionalists in the North and the waiverers in the South will see through it - even if it is in retrospect.
A cynical piece of spin that will be seen for what it is. Afterall, that is all he has done since he became PM - except mess up the foot and mouth problem.

[Radical Tory]

COMMENT OVERWRITTEN BY THE EDITOR.

[Jennifer Wells]

Brown has done Cameron a huge favour by knocking the green taxes report off the top of the news bulletins. Perhaps Andy Coulson arranged it!?

:-)

[Edison Smith]

The BBC coverage was positively orgasmic.

Nick Robinson looked like he was going have one of his own as he embelished how this would embarrass Cameron.

The BBC and the Left, after years of hating the woman, now love her because she's having a photo taken with our beloved Socialist PM.

Absolutely bizarre.

Meanwhile, Foot and Mouth continues to ruin the livelihoods of farmers in Surrey - it being indirectly the government's fault, and they're getting away scott free.

We've become a one party state...

[MH]

Back where she belongs and David Cameron will never live or work.

[jorgen]

Bill:"Today's Conservative Party seems to be in a parallel universe."

They must be as there is no global warming - manmade or otherwise - in the universe I am in. :)

[voreas06]

I think Tom Bradby summed it up best. To paraphrase he said something like This is a transparent stunt by Brown and nobody is going to be fooled. In fact he sneered it.

I think it is great that Gordon keeps showing what he is good at. He is indeed the master of spin. The only problem is the voters want someone who is going to solve their problems not someone who is going to spend his whole time trying to manipulate the other parties. Still I can't see him learning he is far too arrogant for that. Roll on the next bit of Brown trickery.

By the way can the newly arrived Radical "Tory" etc bugger off back to Miliband's blog or something, it is just totally transparent you and chums trolls and it is getting a little embarrassing.

[Radical Tory]

Voreas06 - why do you wish to get personal? Mr Editor - can people not please focus on issues? Cameroons always go personal when things get tough. It shows they are worried.

Why can't you just accept that some tory members are furious with Cameron? Wake up, the party is very much divided. I have been a Conservative member for 4 years and have stood for the conservatives in local elections.

You need to realise that many of us are unhappy with the direction the party is going in. Alternatively you can cover your ears and wait for defeat.

''The only problem is the voters want someone who is going to solve their problems '' - well we are in big trouble because Cameron sure can't.

[jorgen]

Warrick: "He is a current serving Prime Minister, and she a former PM, and one should always extend courtesy to the other."

Of course and this will be confirmed when Brown invites John Major to tea tomorrow.

[Alistair]

I can't stand Thatcher and I'm in two minds about whether our Prime Minister should have invited her back to No 10.

But on balance the enjoyable spectacle of Thatcherites running round like headless chickens at the prospect makes it worthwhile.

[Dr Barry Moyse]

People always used to say, "Love her or hate her, you always knew where you were with her." As the only working class Tory from a comprehensive school in my hall of residence in London during the miner's strike I loved her. I remember sobbing tears of pure joy that night in 1979 when some mole at Radio4 played "Land of Hope & Glory" between the all night election coverage finishing and "Today" starting. That was then. This is now. Move on. The country has.

[Jon Gale]

After reading these comments I was very depressed at the self-destructive state of the Tory Party, then I had a closer look:

36 anti-Cameron/pro-Brown comments so far, 18 (50%) are from 'Radical Tory', 'Jorgen' and 'Bill'.

Maybe not that many were fooled by Brown after all.

[Ash]

During the 1997 General Election Diana Abbot turned her phones off and refused to speak to the media. Later, when asked why, she said she was afraid that if she said the 'wrong thing' - didn't sound "New Labour" and if the Labour lost the election, some people might say that Labour lost because of her.

10 years in the political wilderness, the absence of uniform condemnation of Patrick Mercer, John Bercow and Thatcher suggest Tories don’t have the same level of desire to win power. I am saddened.

[Ash]

During the 1997 General Election Diana Abbot turned her phones off and refused to speak to the media. Later, when asked why, she said she was afraid that if she said the 'wrong thing' - didn't sound "New Labour" - and if Labour lost the election, some people might say that Labour lost because of her.

10 years in the political wilderness, the absence of uniform condemnation of Patrick Mercer, John Bercow and Thatcher suggest Tories don’t have the same level of desire to win power.

[hovedan]

i think all you tories are getting over excited - its perfectly normal for PMs to invite former PMs - she was a formidable leader, albeit wrong about so much, and GB will want to learn from her - and according to Mr Dale they have known each for 25 years when MT noticed a young man of talent!! funny old world.

oh by the way please stop going on about bbc anti tory bias - we know that Nick Robinson was a tory at uni, and the newsreader was gushing at the sight of Lady T back in No10!