ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

Ulster Unionists decide on pact with the Conservatives

Update - It is being reported that the UUP Executive has backed the move as outlined below. We will cover the story and bring you reaction here on ToryDiary in the morning

----------

The Belfast News Letter and BBC Northern Ireland are reporting that tonight the Ulster Unionist Party's executive committee will be meeting to decide on its future relationship with the Conservative Party.

Back in July, UUP leader Sir Reg Empey and David Cameron co-wrote a piece in the Daily Telegraph in which they signalled their desire for closer co-operation between their two parties and discussions have been ongoing ever since as to what form that co-operation will take.

I understand that David Cameron had hoped for a decision to be announced at the Tory conference in Birmingham, but as is ever the case in Northern Ireland politics, negotiations rarely adhere to timetables and so we have been waiting for some time for these talks to come to a conclusion.

The BBC suggests that whilst there will not be a formal merger and the parties will remain separate entities, a new Conservative and Ulster Unionist Joint Committee would be set up so that joint candidates could be fielded for Westminster and European elections. It cites a UUP source as saying that the deal was "95 per cent complete".

Assuming there is not a snap general election in the spring, this would mean that UUP MEP Jim Nicholson would be the first person to seek election under the new arrangement when he stands again for the European Parliament next June.

If a deal is struck, credit will be particularly due on the Tory side to Owen Paterson, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, who has been assiduously visiting the province on a weekly basis and doing much to bring the parties together.

Jonathan Isaby

John Maples apologises over recession comments

At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, one of the pre-prepared quotes Gordon Brown threw at the Opposition was from Tory MP and party deputy chairman, John Maples, who had said in the Commons on Monday:

“The recession has to take its course... bad debts have to be written off, bad investments have to be written off and people and businesses need to repair their balance sheets. The Prime Minister knows that, even if some of his Back Benchers do not. If that does not happen, there will not be a solid base for recovery.”

Paul Waugh of the Evening Standard has picked up on the fact that Maples took the free-for-all opportunity that is Business Questions earlier today to apologise for the remarks.

Here's what he told the Commons:

"I would personally like to explain and apologise for a phrase I used on Monday, which was that the recession must take its course. I realise that may have caused offence to people who are the victims of the recession. I regret that. What I meant, and what I believe, is that the economy cannot recover until levels of private debt have been reduced. I do not believe, and I did not meant to convey the impression, that the government should not help victims of the recession. I fully support borrowing to do that."

The race to 'own' the economic issues

The Independent reports that Labour has found an extra £5bn of savings across Whitehall.  These savings will be used to help justify next week's promise of recession-beating tax cuts and also to blunt the Tory case that there are further big economies to be made.  In a speech yesterday evening Lord (Michael) Forsyth quoted Barack Obama's promise to "go line by line through every item in the federal budget and eliminate programs that don't work and make sure that those that do work, work better and cheaper.”  This is what the Conservatives now need to do, he said.

ConservativeHome's Tuesday afternoon survey of Tory members found strong support for real terms cuts in public spending.  55% said that they supported real terms cuts in spending. 29% supported a real terms freeze.  Only 2% supported matching Labour's planned level of spending growth and another 2% supported even higher spending.

Both main parties now appear to be in a race to get there first with announcements on tax relief, waste reduction and spending restraint.  Daniel Finkelstein - very close to George Osborne - yesterday suggesting that Labour may not keep to its own spending plans.  The clearest gap between Labour and the Conservatives is in the attitude to borrowing with Conservatives saying 'enough is enough' and Labour willing to take Britain further into the red.

We also asked Tory members what recession-related issues they thought would be most important at the next election.  This is the resulting league table for those members identifying an issue as "very important":

• Unemployment: 72%
• Personal incomes: 66%
• Government borrowing: 62%
• House repossessions: 58%
• Mortgage and interest rates: 56%
• Rising severe poverty: 38%
• Behaviour of the banks: 36%
• Inflation: 34%
• The level of the pound: 27%

The Tories are calculating that - should there be an early election - government borrowing will become a much more potent issue.  Many Labour backbenchers also see political opportunity in taking a strong position on behaviour of the (nationalised) banks.

Today we launch our tracker graph of issues, their importance and which political party is most likely to 'own' them.  At this current time we believe that the Tory position on borrowing is our strongest issue and 'policy activism' is Labour's strongest issue.  We will re-release it after next week's PBR.  CLICK ON THE GRAPHIC TO ENLARGE IT.

Tim Montgomerie

Osborne: Britain won't be fooled by Brown's "tax cons"

George Osborne has just spoken to a private meeting of the parliamentary party.  He received a warm reception but one that was "far from ecstatic" according to one source and "conditional" according to another.

He said that the party needed to make it very clear that the economic crisis engulfing Britain was not imported from America but made in Britain.  America was not responsible for Britain's record private and public debt, he said.  America was not responsible for the fact that the UK's recession was likeliest to be the deepest of all major developed economies.

He went on to say that the British people would not be fooled by tax giveaways.  It was vital that the Tories presented the expected tax cuts in next week's Pre Budget Report as "tax cons".  The party needed to be super-disciplined, he said, in relentlessly driving home the message that Brown was - yet again - treating the British people as fools.

Earlier he received significant vindication from the Monetary Policy Committee for his view that fiscal irresponsibility could imperil an expansionary monetary policy.  James Forsyth has blogged that the MPC minutes reveal that deeper rate cuts are dependent upon announcements in the PBR.

One-third of Tory members expect election within six months

Earlier we published the first results of yesterday's afternoon's special survey of Tory members and found overwhelming support for the leadership's stance on tax, spend and debt. We also asked about the timing of the next election:

13% expect an election early in the new year; a fifth think it will coincide with the European elections.  Most members still expect Brown will wait until the very last minute, however.  I've always thought that too but as Iain Dale noted earlier this week, unemployment could be three million by then.  Three million or not, the economic situation is going to be grim, grim, grim.  The 'time for change' message will get stronger and the second Brown bounce will dissipate.

Ladbrokes still have 2010 as the most likely year for the election but next year is now at 13/8.

Tim Montgomerie

MEPs begin preparing the ground to remain in the EPP

Update: In this post on CentreRight, Matt Sinclair has highlighted the reactions of MEPs Roger Helmer and Daniel Hannan on this issue.

---

Just a day after Timothy Kirkhope returned to the leadership of the Tory MEPs and London MEP Charles Tannock has caused something of a stir with this post on CentreRight, in which he suggests that it would be better for Conservative MEPs to remain in the federalist EPP grouping in Brussels rather than to sit outside any group as non-attached members, in the event of a new group not being formed after the 2009 European elections.

It is well known that for quite a number of the Tory MEPs - particularly those on the europhile wing of the party - there is signifcant resistance to leaving the cosiness of the European People's Party and the patronage it has afforded them.

However, not only is leaving the EPP the right thing to do in principle, but it is was a solid promise made by David Cameron during his leadership campaign and one to which he must be held. The fact that it hasn't happened already is a pity, but with all MEP candidates for next June having signed a pledge to sit in the group in which David Cameron wants them to sit, the ground is being laid for it finally to happen, with much work being done behind the scenes on it by shadow Europe minister Mark Francois and others.

As party leader elected by the mass membership, David Cameron has a mandate for taking the MEPs out of the EPP; our MEPs, who were effectively subject to automatic reselection, do not have the same democratic legitimacy and should bear that in mind if they seek to challenge the party leader's authority on this one.

Given that debate is already raging below Charles's piece, there is no comments thread to this post, so that you can comment below Charles's original piece.

Jonathan Isaby

Cameron takes on Brown over the economy at PMQ

Jonathan Isaby's verdict: A far calmer session than last week, and no surprise that David Cameron went on the economy. No knockouts on either side - a score draw in my view.

12.30pm Final question is from Jamie Reed (Lab, Copeland) who merely asks whether the spending plans from the Tories would be bad for the country. The Speaker should have ruled it out of order, but doesn't.

12.29pm Mark Durkan of the SDLP asks about pensioners suffering in these difficult economic times and Brown suggests that extra resources are needed to help them and that the Tories are unwilling to do so.

12.26pm Tory Andrew Selous points out that whilst employment of British workers has reduced by 300,000, employment of migrant workers has gone up by 900,000.   

12.22pm Alistair Burt doesn't hear the Speaker calling him and has to be prompted for a second time to ask his question.

12.21pm Patsy question of the day is from Labour's Anne Begg, who congratulates the PM on the recent announcement on the post office card account.

12.18pm Brown says it is, but Clegg, unconvinced, asks for ways of lending more serious money to businesses.

12.16pm Nick Clegg has had a haircut. He asks if the bank bail-out is working.

12.14pm Brown repeats the suggestion that Labour wants to help people through the economic difficulties and the Conservatives do not. 

12.12pm Brown suggests that Tory plans will hamper people trying to cope in the difficult economic circumstances. Cameron quotes former government economic adviser Derek Scott as having said that it was "drivel" that the recession was not the Government's making.

12.10pm No answer forthcoming from Brown, Cameron tells the House that Brown "loves to lecture on economics, but it's all about the politics". he adds that the Tory plans for spending restraint are the right thing to do.

12.09pm Cameron then suggests that it is clear the Government wants to go on a "borrowing binge". He asks Brown if taxes will have to rise.

12.07pm Brown says he will look into any individual cases of which Cameron has knowledge, but in general will do all he can to help companies get loan capital. Cameron accuses him of not answering his question.

12.05pm Cameron then raises concerns coming from small businesses about being charged exorbitant amounts for overdraft facilities or losing them altogether.

12.03pm David Cameron thanks Brown for giving him the inquiry he asked for into Baby P.

12.01pm In answer to a question from Tory Philip Dunne about the devaluation of the pound, Brown prays in aid the advice of Margaret Thatcher, saying that she said that it was "un-British" to talk down the pound.

---

Last week David Cameron used all six questions on the issue of Baby P and the failures of Haringey children's services.

In the wake of his latest pronouncements on spending and taxation, one might expect him to tackle the economy today.

We'll be live-blogging today's encounter at noon.

Nine out of ten Tory members happy with leadership's approach to tax, spend and debt

Yesterday we hoped that David Cameron's announcement on spending might produce an outbreak of peace in the Conservative Party (at least on economic policy).  We emailed out a quick survey to see if you agreed.  1,092 members answered the survey over the following eight hours. The results are encouraging:

We asked: "How do today's Tory announcements on greater public spending restraint affected your view of the party leadership?"

• 41% replied that "it makes me view them much more positively";
• 42% said "a little more positively";
• 2% said "much more negatively";
• 5% said "a little more negatively";
• 10% said it made no difference or they didn't know.

At least as significantly we found that Tory members were overwhelmingly content with the overall economic policy stance adopted by the leadership.

In a forced choice we asked respondents to say which of the two following statements they most agreed with:

• "Higher borrowing is necessary to pay for a fiscal stimulus to help Britain beat the recession"
• or "Britain cannot afford higher borrowing. Any reduction in taxes must be financed by tighter control of waste and public spending."

92% agreed with the second statement (the Conservative position); just 8% agreed with the first.

The Mail and Telegraph have both reacted very positively to yesterday's news.  Significantly, The Sun, too:

"At last, the Tories seem to be finding their voice. They have decided to put hard-working taxpayers first — and dump their daft promise to match Labour’s bloated spending... Labour seems ready to gamble the entire economy on a “cut now, pay tomorrow” burst of tax reductions financed by ever-higher borrowing. That is the economics of the madhouse."

CCHQ must pounce on mis-reporting of Tory spending plans

Yesterday David Cameron announced that the Conservatives would grow public spending more slowly than Labour. He did not announce cuts. It's not the easiest message to communicate but broadcasters shouldn't be allowed to misreport the Conservative plan. Each time that a normally responsible broadcaster like Sky posts a factually-inaccurate headline like the one captured on the right, CCHQ should be on the phone demanding (polititely) accurate reporting. Peter Mandelson was hardly off the phone in the run up to 1997 (although CCHQ should use persuasion rather than his bullying). The Mirror will talk of cuts - nothing can be done about them - but mainstream braoadcasters should not be reinforcing Labour's narrative.

Special 'Politics of Recession' poll

We've just uploaded a special survey on the politics of recession. Have your say here.

Timothy Kirkhope returns to lead Tory MEPs for European Elections

This is the official release:

"Timothy Kirkhope elected Leader of Conservatives in the European Parliament

Timothy Kirkhope MEP has today been elected to lead British Conservative MEPs - the largest British delegation in the European Parliament.

Mr Kirkhope will succeed Philip Bushill-Matthews MEP, who will stand down from the European Parliament next June. He has appointed Sir Robert Atkins MEP as his Chief Whip and Philip Bradbourn MEP to a new role relating to Parliamentary Activity.

Richard Ashworth MEP was elected as Deputy Leader of the delegation.

Syed Kamall MEP was elected as Treasurer and the two elected members of the Conservative delegation bureau will be David Sumberg MEP and Martin Callanan MEP.

Mr Kirkhope said:

"It is a great honour to be elected to lead Conservative MEPs, and I look forward to building on the excellent work of my predecessor.

"Conservative MEPs are delivering David Cameron's vision of a European Union that focuses on climate change, global poverty and competitiveness, but which also wants to see powers returned to national governments.

"Conservatives have a positive message for EU reform, so that it responds more effectively to the demands of our citizens without interfering in areas where no value is added. I look forward to taking our positive message to the electorate leading up to the European Parliament elections next June.""

A snap for a snap election?

The latest election rumour to sweep Westminster is based on lines of Labour candidates seen being photographed with Gordon Brown.

"Game on"

"Game on" is the expression being used by one senior adviser to David Cameron to describe the new contours of the political landscape.  Although we need a lot more detail from both our frontbench and from Labour, there's a real choice again in British politics (click on the graphic to enlarge it):

There is also a real possibility of unity within the Conservative Party - perhaps the greatest opportunity since the Cameron-Osborne project began.  The fiscal conservatives have retained the integrity of their position by ruling out further borrowing and by insisting on social and budgetary reforms that will start to return order and discipline to the public finances.  But also happier are the more hawkish small government conservatives.  The focus on eliminating waste and controlling spending gives them heart about future possibilities for lower taxation.  Peace may be about to break out in our party.

Tim Montgomerie

Tory lead trimmed to 3%

Events are moving so fast now but MORI has just published an opinion poll lead for the Tories of just 3%.

Compared to one month ago, the Conservatives are down 5% to 40%.  Labour are up 7% to 37%.  The LibDems are down 2% to 12%.  The fieldwork was carried out from 14th to 16th November.  As the CH graphic records, the ConHome Poll of Polls is now back in hung parliament territory:

1.15pm: "Brown’s personal ratings have increased from last month: while half (50%) remain dissatisfied with Gordon Brown, this figure has dropped 9 points from 59% last month and 19 points from 69% in September. In addition, his satisfaction ratings have risen six points to 41% in November. It seems that Brown’s leadership during the current economic situation (both nationally and internationally) has served to improve his personal ratings with the public." (From MORI).

CAMERON: WE WILL NO LONGER MATCH LABOUR'S SPENDING PLANS

Forgive a little self-congratulation but ConHome was the first to campaign against the Tory pledge to match Labour's spending plans, we were the first to predict it would be broken and now it has:

David Cameron has just said that only spending restraint will defuse Labour's borrowing bombshell and afford real, sustainable tax cuts.

11.20am, Key highlights of speech:

The scale of Brown's borrowing bombshell: "Gordon Brown is talking about borrowing an extra £30 billion. That’s a £30 billion Borrowing Bombshell – and let me tell you what it would mean. An eight per cent rise in income tax. Or a six per cent rise in VAT. Spending priorities shifting from new schools to educate our children and more police officers to keep our streets safe to servicing the growing interest on our debt. Gordon Brown knows that borrowing today means higher taxes tomorrow. If he doesn’t tell you that, he is deliberately misleading you."

A borrowing binge may not even work: "It’s not just that embarking on a government borrowing binge to pay for tax cuts or spending increases is dishonest and unfair. There is little evidence that it will actually work. In Japan they continually tried to kick-start their economy by repeatedly pushing through an unfunded fiscal stimulus. Between 1992 and 2002, Japanese government net debt grew by fifty-eight percent of GDP. Yet, over the same period, their economy grew by only nine percent – that’s less than one percent a year. The result was a ‘lost decade’ of stagnation, a crippling debt burden, and a landscape littered with endless – and embarrassing - white elephant public works programmes."

A promise of honesty: “I want to be honest about the problems we face, and how we will overcome them. I have been honest with people about the scale of our social problems – and the long, tough road we have to take to fix them. And now I want to be honest with people about the scale of our economic problems too. This means saying things that are not immediately popular. That we can’t afford a massive tax giveaway paid for by a borrowing binge. That we can’t afford a spending splurge. It means arguing for things that are difficult.  For prudence, not giveaways."

We will no longer match Labour on spending: "taxes will need to rise in the future. Without such restraint, the borrowing bombshell will turn into a tax bombshell. And if Mr Brown cuts taxes now, the bombshell will be even bigger. Senior Labour figures have admitted as much, the truth begins to come out. Tony McNulty said any outstanding balance “may need to be found by taxation”. Peter Mandelson admitted they would have to make some form of “structural adjustment in the years ahead”. And Alistair Darling warned that “at some stage you have to pay for it”. I think this is the wrong course for Britain. We need change – we need change to defuse the borrowing bombshell, to start living within our means, and to set us on the path to permanent tax cuts in the future. So, I can announce today that Labour’s economic mismanagement makes it vital for the long-term health of our economy that we set a new path for restraining the growth of spending. That means for the year 2010-2011, we need change, not more of the same. That means reducing planned government spending growth, and not matching Labour’s spending plans."

The overall message: "Today it is our duty to set out an alternative course for the immediate priority: protecting people from Labour’s recession, and ensuring that the recovery comes as quickly as possible. A vital part of that will be sticking to our commitment to fiscal responsibility. Not spending money we haven’t got. But saving it to help people through tax relief. Not borrowing money on the nation’s credit card. But getting a grip on public spending and making sure Britain starts living within its means. That’s the only responsible way to get our economy back on the path to recovery. And that’s the only long-term, sustainable way that we will reach the low tax, low debt economy that the people of Britain - after years of putting up with Labour - not only demand, but truly deserve.”

The biggest beasts are in the Tory jungle

It is one of the strongest features of Britain's Conservative revival that the biggest beasts are in the Tory jungle.  Putting aside for a moment the frontbench, there's David Davis and his championing of civil liberties.  Boris Johnson - barnstorming in defence of George Osborne this morning.  Ken Clarke.  John Redwood. Chris Patten.  Even John Major is deservedly enjoying something of a comeback following this summer's recognition of what his National Lottery has done for UK sport.  The figure most mentioned by David Cameron is Iain Duncan Smith, however.  Written off when his leadership ended in 2003, the compassionate mission of his Centre for Social Justice is now hugely influential.  And don't take my biased word for it...

Today, The Daily Mail devotes its leader column to IDS' renaissance.  You can read it in full here.

Tim Montgomerie

Michael Gove promises to tie UK exam standards to best international models

Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove will use a speech later today to outline his plans to restore integrity to Britain's exams system.  He will highlight a recent episode when OFQUAL, the new body ostensibly established by Labour to protect qualification standards, instructed AQA, England's biggest exam board, to soften its pass mark in the new science GCSE.  AQA protested the instruction but succumbed.  Mr Gove will describe the episode as "unacceptable" and promises legislation to ensure that it cannot be repeated.

At the heart of Mr Gove's speech will be a pledge to make British exams comparable to international standards:

"We have made it clear that our aim is to ensure once more that our exams are internationally competitive so our country, and our children, can flourish in a much more competitive world. That is why we would legislate to make the fixing of our exam standards to an international benchmark crucial to our programme of radical reform."

He will praise the International Baccalaureate and its protection by a respected, independent exam board in Switzerland:

"The IB is managed beyond the reach of politicians – it cannot be devalued by ministers anxious to manipulate the figures to flatter their record. Indeed the educationalists who have designed and who manage the IB know that it is only by resisting any pressure to devalue that their exam will retain and increase its popularity with parents."

Boris starts Oliver Letwin's savings list with attack on ID cards, national child register and public sector advertisements in The Guardian

London's Mayor has written a barnstorming article for today's Telegraph, complaining at the inflated cost of wine that will greet him and his diminished pounds on his forthcoming skiing holiday in France:

"I will be forced to sip that drink miserably, nursing it in a corner, while all around me hearty red-faced skiers from euroland will be singing shanties and calling for more, slapping their relatively un-devalued banknotes on the counter."

Defending George Osborne, Boris lays the blame for sterling's slide at Gordon Brown's door:

"Why is the pound at a 12-year low against a basket of other OECD currencies? Who is to blame for the cost of my vin chaud? I tell you who: it's you, Gordon. You did it, by running the largest budget deficit in the world, now hanging round all our necks at more than £100 billion. You wasted all that money in the good times, water-cannoning our dosh with so little thought or restraint that only Hungary, Pakistan and Egypt are suffering from comparable indebtedness, and Hungary and Pakistan are already in the hands of the IMF. You weakened the pound, Gordon, because you expanded the public sector without reforming it. You weakened the pound because you bloated the state pay-roll, and then you added the private finance initiative and the nationalisation of the Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, and all the time you somehow believed your own lunatic propaganda that you had personally defied the laws of economic gravity."

And in words which, we hope, will reach the party's new Chief Waste Finder, Oliver Letwin, Boris - who has frozen the Mayor's share of council tax since coming to office - highlights public sector profligacy:

"Why are we still spending hundreds of millions on a new register of every child in the country? Why are we squandering billions on ID cards? Why does the Government still spend £800 million on advertising public sector appointments - very often in the Guardian - when they could be conveniently displayed online?"

Ending public sector advertising in The Guardian should be at the top of the Letwin-Osborne list of public sector economies.

The tide is turning Osborne's way

ConHome has always thought Osborne would survive as Chancellor. We are beginning to believe that he'll succeed too.

Reason one: His weekend performance. His time-to-tell-the-truth interview with Andrew Marr was one of his best performances in recent times. It was also impressive to see colleagues and a former Chancellor coming to his aid over his remarks on sterling. The ex-central banker in me worried about what he told Saturday's Times but 48 hours on, George Osborne has been justified.

Reason two: A desire for unity in the party. The very negative reaction to Ridley Grove's call for Osborne to be moved was striking.

Reason three: The promise of waste-funded tax cuts. The fiscal conservatives and the small state conservatives may both be happy soon - reinforcing reason two. Fiscal conservatives will be happy at George Osborne's insistence that borrowing can't get any bigger. Small government conservatives (and supply-siders) can be encouraged that Oliver Letwin's review suggests a renewed concern about the wastefulness and inefficiency of Labour's bloated state.

Reason four: The growing clarity of the Tories' electoral message. That message has just been delivered very powerfully by David Cameron in the Commons, responding to the PM's statement on the G20 summit...

Three themes stood out:

1. If Britain is so well-prepared why will our economy shrink faster than all our major competitors according to the IMF and the EU? Cameron said that Gordon Brown was beginning to sound "ridiculous" blaming everything on America.
2. Britain he said had a weak currency because it had a weak economy and a weak government.  After using these words David Cameron revealed they were actually Gordon Brown's from the past.
3. Higher taxes are Labour's secret agenda. Labour's borrowing bombshell will become a tax bombshell soon. £30bn of borrowing will become a £1,500 bill in higher income tax in future years. "Tax cuts should be life, not just for Christmas".

There is plenty of material in those three points for some very hard-hitting political campaigning.

Tim Montgomerie

What reckless borrowing does to sterling

Conservative Party researchers have compiled the following selection of quotations from eminent economists and commentators to back up George Osborne's remarks at the weekend...

Waste-funded Tory tax reliefs will deny Gordon Brown the disunity he seeks in our ranks

Yesterday's Sunday Telegraph reported that Oliver Letwin has been asked to draw up a list of public expenditure savings that can be used to fund Tory tax cuts. This is excellent news if those savings are to be appreciable and can pay for tax cuts of real significance. Although Mr Letwin should be able to bring forward some obvious ideas for saving money (taking up, for example, the TaxPayers' Alliance idea of scrapping the ineffective Regional Development Agencies) he should not be tempted to be too precise about savings. The people best-placed to make wise efficiency savings are those closest to the frontline. Rather than shadow ministers deciding that 'project x' or 'project y' should be cut the better approach is for the Tories to announce that certain budgets will be frozen in real terms and that local managers and professionals need to find economies.  After many years in which the the public sector has been awash with money that should not be impossible.  Most households in the nation is facing such choices and they would understand such an approach.

Labour's strategy for political recovery relies upon Tory disunity.  Brown cannot get close to an opinion poll lead without the kind of infighting that would make us unattractive to voters.  Slowly but surely the party is edging towards a position where that scenario will be denied Mr Brown.  The Tory leadership is maintaining its fiscally conservative position on fully funding tax cuts while at the same time realising that a more urgent strategy for stimulating the real economy and slimming down the bloated state is necessary.  That is a recipe for Tory strength and unity.

We can then get on to the front foot - slamming Labour for leaving Britain least well placed to weather the global recession.  Campaigning against the debts that Labour is building up for the next generation should be at the heart of Tory campaigning over the coming winter of discontent.   

Tim Montgomerie

David Davis's Desert Island Discs

Former shadow home secretary David Davis was Kirsty Young's castaway on Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 this morning.

He discussed various aspects of his early family life, the stormy relationship he endured with his stepfather, how he "laid siege" to his future wife Doreen for two years at Warwick University before they became an item - and, of course, his decision to resign from the front bench over the Government's erosion of civil liberties.

The BBC website has some more here, but here is the full list of records he chose:

1. Pachelbel's Canon in D Major
2. Get the Party Started - Pink
3. Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins
4. Ashokan Farewell - Ungar and Mason
5. Un Bel Di from Madame Butterfly - Puccini
6. Stealing my Democracy - Mundy-Turner
7. Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
8. Main Theme from Schindler's List

His luxury was a neverending magic wine cellar and he chose the complete works of Iain Banks as his book. He said that if he could onlt take one record, it would be the Puccini, which he recalled listening to at home the night that Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister.

> LISTEN VIA HERE.

Osborne hits back at critics on Andrew Marr Show

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has hit back at his critics during an assured performance on BBC1's on the sofa with Andrew Marr this morning.

He made a number of points, including:

• It is his job to show the choice the people will face at the next election between a Labour Government which has been fiscally irresponsible and a Tory one which would be fiscally responsible;
• He believes that he and the Conservatives have been proved right in their economic judgments over the last couple of years;
• He is still committed to "sharing the proceeds of growth" over an economic cycle;
• The recent devaluation of sterling has been greater than any other devaluation in the last forty years;
• He highlighted Ken Clarke's statement that there was no convention that shadow chancellors do not comment on sterling;
• He said that (contrary to press reports during the week) he was still working on strategy and election planning, not least because the economy would be such a big election issue.

It is both the right and duty of the Opposition to hold the Government to account

Twice this week the Prime Minister has accused Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition of speaking out inappropriately.

First came the moment during Prime Ministers' Questions when Mr Brown took exception to David Cameron's line of questioning about the failures at the heart of Haringey chidren's services.

And then yesterday, he expressed "disappointment" at George Osborne's "partisan talk" when the shadow chancellor raised perfectly reasonable questions over the dangers of too much borrowing. (By the way, the PM would do well do look at the results of today's Independent on Sunday poll which show the public overwhelmingly supporting a reduction in spending rather than increased borrowing to fund tax cuts)

All of which raises the question, isn't it the role, nay duty, of the Opposition to raise probing questions about the issues of the day and the way the Prime Minister and his Government is running the country?

As Fraser Nelson has rightly pointed out on Coffee House:

"There has never been a greater need for full-blooded, disrespectful, combative, full-on scrutiny of what he [Brown] says."

Amen to that. It would be a dereliction of duty on the part of the Opposition to stand idly by and let the Prime Minister get away with whatever he wants in the name of "doing the right thing by the country".

Mr Brown would obviously take the view that what he is doing is right; but it is absolutely vital that he be held to account, criticised, questioned and condemned as necessary when what he is doing and saying is evidently not the right thing for the country.

Many have expressed concerns at various points over the last few years that the Conservative Party has taken a too consensual approach, not least in its desire to match Labour's spending plans, for instance.

So it's reassuring to see some fire in the Tory belly - and it has clearly rattled the Prime Minister. I look forward to seeing more robust lines of attack from David Cameron, George Osborne et al in the run-up to the general election.

Jonathan Isaby

Ken Clarke adds his heavyweight backing to George Osborne

During the course of Saturday, a number of shadow cabinet figures and others made clear their support for shadow chancellor George Osborne over his outspoken attack on the Government in the Times, in which he stated that too much government borrowing risked a run on the pound.

Perhaps most significantly, the former Chancellor Ken Clarke has now added his voice to unquestionably back Mr Osborne's position - and to pour scorn on the suggestion coming from political opponents that it was breaking a convention for him to speak out in this way.

Here's what Ken Clarke has had to say:

"I have never heard of any convention that Opposition politicians - including the Shadow Chancellor - cannot comment on Sterling. The foreign exchange markets had already made their minds up about the pound, regardless of any political comment.

"Gordon Brown reminds me of Harold Wilson blaming the weakness of sterling on people 'selling the pound short' when it had already been weakened by his government's own policies. The pound has dropped more than 30% from its peak because of concern in the markets about the scale of government borrowing.

"George Osborne has made a perfectly sensible comment that in any analysis of the situation, one must have regard to the possible problems of selling more government bonds, or of a possible fall in the value of sterling if government policy becomes too reckless."