Chicken Saturday cost Labour £1m

Every British taxpayer is familiar with Gordon Brown's wasteful use of their money.  Conservative activists won't be too surprised - or saddened - to read this morning's Guardian exclusive that Mr Brown wasted £1m of Labour's own money on aborted election preparations.

Much of the money, according to David Hencke who unearthed the figures, was spent on polling in marginal seats - undertaken by Opinion Leader Research.  This further undermines the case - if proof was needed - that the PM was being less than honest when he said that opinion polls were not a factor in his decision to call the election off.

The Guardian estimates that the Conservatives only spent one-fifth of Labour's outlay on preparations.  Much of the Tory spend was on reserving advertising hoardings and those hoardings are now going to be used for the party's campaign on the EU Treaty.

Comments

[Chad Noble]

"..going to be used for the party's campaign on the EU Treaty."

What's that, the 'vote for us because we won't give you a referendum either' campaign?

[Patriot]

And Brown says he wasn't preparing for an election......

[James Maskell]

I warn again, we must be very careful not to over-egg the EU pudding. Otherwise we run the tisk of giving the impression we have no other policies.

We need to be using that board space for other campaigns, say on education or health. Something on the family could be useful. Cameron has pledged to broaden Conservative horizons, so do it.

[Chad Noble]

Hague has given Brown a PMQ's get-out clause.

If Cameron brings it up again, Brown need only mention Cameron's own 'cast-iron' guarantee then ask him, as a matter of trust, if he still intends to deliver.

[Tony Makara]

Now we know the price of cowardice, a million pounds. It tells us that Brown is very worried about the marginals and that, more than anything, must focus the Conservative party on having the right strategy and the right candidates in place to win those marginals. The perfect type of candidate is someone like Susan Williams with a proven track record and sharp debating qualities. Its more than obvious that Susan is going to oust Ruth Kelly at the next general election.

[Helen]

Well, indeed, it would be nice to see some Conservative policies on eduction, like vouchers for parents across the whole board and the state relinquishing its fatal grip on it.

[Ali T]

Not sure about the comment by Chad. Clearly he has not read any newspaper, watched TV or listened to the radio when this issue has been discussed because even the Guardian have got the fact that Cameron and Hague have committed our party to a referendum.

Our position is simple - Conservatives are committed to vote on the EU Treaty as per our manifesto, Labour are not, even though Brown backed calls for a plebiscite in their manifesto.

Clearly another example of Brown the Bottler! How would Cameron express this, no strength just weakness.

[Passing Leftie]

What's that, the 'vote for us because we won't give you a referendum either' campaign?

No, it's the "Don't vote for us because we are obsessed with Europe" campaign.

[Moral minority]

""..going to be used for the party's campaign on the EU Treaty."

That is good news. Chad is being unfair on this occasion and should remember that UKIP benefited hugely from the Paul Sykes funded (£2m?) poster campaign during the 2004 Euro elections. Will £200k buy the Tories much hoarding space? Lord Ashcroft should get his chequebook out if necessary.

[Ay Up]

Do you write for Platform 10 Passing Leftie?? They've got a psot up about just that...

[Richard Calhoun]

Delighted to hear the Tories are going to use the Advertising Hoardings to promote the campaign for a Referendum on the EU Treaty.

If a referendum can be forced out of the government and they then go on to lose it they will be irreparably damaged and we will be in a much stronger position to start calling the shots in Europe

[Passing Leftie]

Do you write for Platform 10 Passing Leftie?? They've got a psot up about just that...

No, but thanks for the pointer. I wasn't aware of that site.

I'm just a tad more left wing than the posters there, but I support their goals in the sense that I'd rather see that lot in power than the foaming Europhobe right of your party.

My opinion is that a future Tory government might damage the country, but taking us out of the EU would screw us for good.

[Peter Coe]

Rather than just predicting that leaving the EU would "screw us for good", could you actually give us some vaguely practical examples of how it would do that please, Passing Leftie?

[Passing Leftie]

ther than just predicting that leaving the EU would "screw us for good", could you actually give us some vaguely practical examples of how it would do that please, Passing Leftie?

I'll do it on the next thread where it isn't off-topic. I would say that the onus is on those who wish to leave to prove it's a benefit.

[Bas Man]

There are unconfirmed but reliable reports that Angela Smith who is MP for south Basildon and East Thurrock and also Gordon Browns Parliamentary Private Secretary purchased some 70000 leaflets for an election campaign. Gordon Brown would not let such a close ally spend money which his party doesn’t have if he was not going to hold an election.

[MikeA]

Passing Leftie - I'm truly intrigued. In what way would leaving the EU damage the UK?
Perhaps the Eurobond market, and certainly the market in Carbon Trading would be damaged, but I'm very uncertain about what other UK interests would be damaged.
Wheras on the other side of the balance sheet, the benefits of leaving, er are somewhat larger.
Please let us know your argument....

[John Leonard]

Yet another example of Labour's waste. Hopefully this only affects that dreaful party though. At least they are consistent in their incompetence. In fact it could be described as a proper 'Balls-up' from what is being said. All in all absolutely priceless!

Glad to see that the Conservatives are able to use their outlay. Sounds like they were planning in a sound manner(unlike Labour).

[Chad Noble]

Hi Ali T (11:04),

The Tories have very vocally made the case that this particular EU treaty is so important it demands a referendum.

However, despite the 2005 manifesto pledge, Brown is not going to give us a referendum and will win the vote in Parliament thanks to the Labour majority and the LibDems. The only chance of a referendum on this treaty is if the Tories grant one should they win the general election in the future.

So far, so good.

However, despite (in Cameron's own words) a 'cast-iron' pledge to hold a referendum if he becomes PM, as you will see from the above link (which is also on the conhome main page today), when asked a simple yes or no question on whether the tories will hold a referendum post-ratification if they win an election, Hague did *NOT* answer 'yes'.

Is Hague off-message or are the Tories quietly backtracking from Cameron's 'cast iron' pledge?

This story broke last week, and there still has been no clarification from Cameron or Hague.

Will the Tories offer a referendum on *this* treaty if they win power? It is a simple yes or no question.

However, like James Maskell, I want the Tories to continue to present a balanced agenda, but of course it is equally vital that we are not tricked, and that we actually understand what the Tory position is.

What seemed crystal clear a week ago is now anything but and with tension still simmering over the 'immediate withdrawal' EPP pledge, further silence from Cameron and Hague on this issue will only fuel further anger.

[Conservative Man]

I think the European referendum offers us a great opportunity to break the Labour Party, as well as get the majority of the chattering class media on our side. Yes Labour will say we obsess about it, but the alternative of shutting up, aside from being a betrayal of the country, would be exactly what Labour would like to happen.

Euro fanatics always want the debate to be about the rights or wrongs of any proposed piece of EU legislation. In fact the real argument is about where policies are decided, something that foaming Euro sceptics seem to realise, and euro fanatics seem to utterly discount as a concern. Issues such as human rights are indeed policies well worth discussing, but in Westminster, not Brussels. Euro fanatics need the debate to be about the policy as they know full well they would loose any debate about where the appropriate demos are located.

This issue could be as big as the Iraq war, and quite obviously we are on the right side morally as well as that of public opinion - the others are not. Many Conservatives were regrettably afraid to advance the idea of tax cuts, but look how popular they are. I could not be more happy than to see we are taking a strong position on the referendum.

[Adam in London]

For goodness sake Chad - you can't un-ratify EU Treaties. The only way to do it, sort of, would be a referendum on whether we ought to leave the European Union in light of the Treaty being in force.

Gordon Brown may be in the habit of promising illegal things (British jobs for British workers) but thankfully, David Cameron is not.

[UKIP and proud]

Chad Noble - ex-UKIP member - what party you a member of now Chad? Or formed another one?

[Chad Noble]

Adam In London,

LoL!

So why did Cameron *himself* pledge to do just that, and for clarity, Hague has now suggested he may also consider doing the same?

If they can't undo ratified EU treaties, then that must mean that Hague's suggestion that he will consider a post-ratification referendum as per Cameron's pledge, and the Tories whole 'repatriate powers from Brussels' (i.e. undo ratified treaties) pledge is also complete and utter tosh?

Cameron and Hague are not stupid men, so what are they up to suggesting they will do something that you have clearly explained is not possible?

I think we should be told!

UKIP and Proud,
Not this week! There's enough excitement with the revolving door of leaders of the big 3 parties and plus as we discussed last week, Nigel is still the main man in my book.

[Richard Carey]

Firstly, isn't this just another bit of incompetence? Ramp up an election and spend more money on it yourself than your opponents?

James Maskell: We need to be using that board space for other campaigns, say on education or health. Something on the family could be useful. Cameron has pledged to broaden Conservative horizons, so do it.

I quite agree, James - if we've got media space booked in whatever form, let's use it to promote a broad and balanced agenda. This summer, I suggested that DC needed to push on, and say "you think I'm a different kind of Conservative? You haven't seen anything yet!" Brown's surprised us in the past - let's pull one on him as well.

Chad Noble: with tension still simmering over the 'immediate withdrawal' EPP pledge, further silence from Cameron and Hague on this issue will only fuel further anger.

Among a bunch of single issue nutters like yourself and your fellow UKRAP obsessives, I guess it might, but then I don't think that you should steer policy.

Given that, Nigel is still the main man in [your] book (I have to ask for what, exactly?!), I'm not keen to take too much note of your "anger".

Of course we need to hold Brown to account on the trust issue. Of course we need to uphold democratic decision-making in Goverment. But that means that we need a sensible debate on this where the voices of moderate Conservative euro-sceptics are heard strongly, not to have it devolve into a minority party farce.