ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

Happy 2009!

This is our last post of 2008.  For those who aren't partying you might like to take another look at ConHome's first of the year in which we said that George Osborne was the Conservative politician to watch in 2008.  Our New Year Editorial for the coming twelve months will be published in the morning.  Until then a very happy 2009 to all readers.

Gaffe of 2008

Our final 'picks' of the year. Over the last 48 hours we have picked our Backbenchers, Frontbenchers, Moments and Speeches of 2008 and Ones to Watch in 2009.

Jonathan Isaby's pick: I am making my award not for one particular gaffe, but rather am presenting it to 2008's gaffemaker-in-chief, Nick Clegg, who has managed to put his foot in it on three memorable occasions during the year. First there was that GQ interview with Piers Morgan, in which the Lib Dem leader admitted to having slept with "no more than thirty" women. This earned him the tabloid nickname Nick Cleggover and has made him open to mockery in the Commons ever since. Then there was the moment when he appeared on a television phone-in programme during his party conference and was asked the level of the weekly state pension. "I think it's about thirty quid now, isn't it?" he said - only to be told it was actually more than three times that amount. And most recently he was daft enough to spend an entire 90-minute plane journey from Gatwick to Inverness discussing the shortcomings of his frontbench team with his chief of staff, Danny Alexander - in full earshot of a Mirror journalist. The hack took copious notes and helpfully shared all Clegg's opinions with the paper's readers, leaving Clegg to spend an uncomfortable day on the phone apologising to his colleagues.

Tim Montgomerie's pick: It has to be Brown's 'we not only saved the world' gaffe at PMQs. CrownBlog had it up on YouTube within minutes. It was funny, of course, but it also pointed to the fact that Brown seemed to be the only person in Britain (excepting debt collectors) who was enjoying the worst recession in the developed world - a point made musically by this ConHome video. During 2009 we'll learn that Red Gordon couldn't even save Britain, let alone the world.

Ones to Watch in 2009

Our fifth 'picks'. Already picked are our Backbenchers, Frontbenchers, Moments and Speeches of 2008.

Jonathan Isaby's pick: 2009 is the year when the pledge made by David Cameron during the 2005 leadership election to pull Conservative MEPs out of the federalist European Peoples' Party faction in Brussels should finally come to fruition. The man who has been doing the most behind the scenes to seek new alliance partners across Europe is Mark Francois, the shadow Europe minister. There's another six months' work to be done on this before the European elections, after which we will discover which political parties from across the continent are willing to sign up to a new grouping. European Parliament rules have been designed to frustrate the project - but if Mark can pull it off, he will attain folk hero status among Tory eurosceptics.

Tim Montgomerie's pick: I was tempted to choose Barack Obama for this category. He's certainly the one to watch on the international stage but he could also have a dramatic impact on UK politics.  If he undertakes far-reaching economic intervention he may boost Gordon Brown.  On the other hand his freshness and sense of change may boost David Cameron.  But, on balance, I've plumped for a domestic choice and my one to watch for 2009 is Boris Johnson.  He has already made a terrific start as Mayor - certainly exceeding my expectations.  I think of him freezing the Mayor's contribution to council tax.  Ousting Ian Blair.  Banning alcohol on the tube.  Stopping the extension of the congestion charge.  Introducing crime mapping.  ConHome surveys show that he's the most popular Tory amongst the grassroots - more popular than William Hague or David Cameron.  What will he do with the Mayoralty in 2009?  He has the opportunity to be a trailblazer for many Tory ideas although with his ideas on a new London airport and an immigration amnesty he has made it clear that he's his own man

Who would you pick out as the one to watch in 2009?

Speech of 2008

Our fourth 'picks'. Already picked are our Backbenchers, Frontbenchers and Moments of 2008.

Jonathan Isaby's pick: "The speech of the year for me was given by a man whose gift for rhetoric, comic timing and ability to command the attention of the House of Commons are all legendary. I refer, of course, to William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, and in particular, to his brilliant Despatch Box performance during the Second Reading debate of the Bill to approve the Lisbon Treaty back in January. Particularly memorable was the passage in which he imagined the reaction of Gordon Brown to Tony Blair becoming EU President. Relive it here."

Tim Montgomerie's pick: "David Cameron's speech to the Birmingham Conference was his best since becoming leader of the Conservative Party.  It didn't contain big policy announcements but it offered a sweeping statement of his conservatism.  At its heart was compassionate conservatism and a beautiful passage about the true causes of crime.  I was particularly glad that he defined himself as a conservative rather than a libertarian: "Freedom can too easily turn into the idea that we all have the right to do whatever we want, regardless of the effect on others. That is libertarian, not Conservative - and it is certainly not me." After hearing the speech The Sun declared David Cameron ready to be Prime Minister."

What was your speech of 2008?

Moment of 2008

Our third 'picks'. Already picked are our Backbenchers and Frontbenchers of 2008.

Jonathan Isaby's pick: "Unable to choose between them, I have picked two moments of the year - both of which I was privileged to witness at first hand. Firstly, there was the victory for Boris Johnson at the London mayoral election at the beginning of May.  He reclaimed the capital for the Conservative Party, confounding all those who thought that Ken Livingstone was unbeatable, and I thought it was such a good story that I wrote a book about it!  My other moment, just three weeks later, was another historic Conservative election win. Edward Timpson's gaining of Crewe and Nantwich - marked the first Tory gain at a by-election since I was in nappies and showed just how vulnerable Labour had become. As David Cameron declared in Crewe's Market Square the following morning, New Labour died on the streets of Crewe and Nantwich."  (Picture credit: News Biscuit).

Tim Montgomerie's pick: "My moment was the one hundred and eighteen billion pound moment.  The moment that Alistair Darling told the House of Commons that Britain was up to its neck in Labour's debts (and would be for years to come).  George Osborne's response to Mr Darling's PBR announcement was outstanding and was 'remixed' by ToryBear in this terrific YouTube.  George's 'Labour didn't fix the roof while the sun was shining' soundbite doesn't capture half of the outrage we should feel at what Labour has done to Britain.  In years of economic plenty - years we may not see again for a long, long time - we saw dependency increase dramatically.  The public services and welfare went unreformed.  Our energy and transport infrastructure went unrenewed.  Many years of very tough decisions lie ahead because of the Brown-Blair years of spin and squander.  Brown deserves a trouncing at the next election."      

What was your moment?

Frontbencher of 2008

The second of our picks of the year.  Earlier today we each chose our Backbencher of 2008.

Jonathan Isaby's pick: My choice for frontbencher of the year will come as no surprise to anyone who read this piece - in which I wrote about the man in question a little over a month ago. As Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson would not expect to enjoy the highest of media profiles, but he deserves this accolade in recognition of all the work he has put in this year towards creating a new political force in Northern Ireland through an alliance between the Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionists. He quietly beavered away on the project for most of the year, spending at least one day a week in the province, and the deal was finally sealed in mid-November. Owen should rightly feel proud of this achievement.

Tim Montgomerie's pick: Hardworking. Friendly. A master of his brief. Always in the media. The opposite of the Tory stereotype. The public face of a great team. I am, of course, talking about Eric Pickles MP.  After his role in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election campaign - following a successful masterminding of our local government advances - Eric shot to near the top of our regular shadow cabinet league table of members' satisfaction.  These memorable images captured his 'maestro' role on local elections night 2008.  Some jealous Cameroons briefed against him but he has deservedly retained the affection of colleagues and members.  My hope is that he'll become Party Chairman in 2009.

Who is your Frontbencher of the Year?

David Cameron's New Year message

Just released by CCHQ and published in full below. In his message the Conservative leader promises that he won't drop his green, social justice and international responsibility agendas but will "step up the pace" on them.  He accuses Labour of losing its moral compass and of being "corrupted by power".  Boris' message is also pasted at the end of the post.

“In my New Year message three years ago, I said that I wanted the modern Conservative Party to be a voice for change, optimism and hope.  What was true in the good times is even truer now that times are tough, and getting tougher.  People are looking to us for hope in these dark days, and we must be ready to offer it: hard-edged hope, built on a clear-sighted analysis of what has gone wrong and how we can put it right.

That provides this Party with three important tasks for 2009.  First, we must show that we have learned the lessons of Labour’s Debt Crisis and will never let it happen again.  Second, we must offer constructive and positive ideas to help keep people in work and in their homes, and make sure the recession is as short, shallow and painless as possible.  But third and perhaps most important of all, we must set out our positive vision of change: to describe the new economy and the new society that we want to build once the recession is over and the recovery underway.

Backbencher of 2008

Over the new year period we will be presenting some end-of-year awards; starting with our personal choices for BackBencher Of The Year:

Jonathan Isaby's pick: "My selection for backbencher of the year goes to someone who could equally have been nominated for the frontbencher award - as he was a member of the shadow cabinet for the first half of the year. But the decision by David Davis to resign from Parliament and fight a by-election in his Haltemprice and Howden constituency - was always going to consign him to the backbenches, quitting as he did in protest at the Government's attempt to lock up terrorist suspects without charge for 42 days. He could have expected a serious Cabinet job in a David Cameron government but sacrificed those career prospects on a point of principle - a rare act in politics these days. SInce his re-election at the by-election - during which he assembled an impressive coalition of support to attack this increasingly authoritarian Government - he has remained an articulate and doughty defender of civil liberties and arch-critic of the Government."

Tim Montgomerie's pick: "My pick is Iain Duncan Smith.  It's a very biased choice as I also regard Iain as a close friend but the steady transformation of his reputation has been extraordinary.  His reputation was in tatters (unfairly) when his leadership of the Conservative Party ended but he now enjoys respect across the political spectrum and more importantly - as far as he is concerned - from the poverty-fighting groups that he pledged to champion when he was Tory leader and on the night he lost the leadership.  He is now used as a general commentator on social breakdown with media organisations using him to respond to stories that only have a loose political dimension.  But it is the ground-breaking work of his Centre for Social Justice that gives his work such credibility.  Always rooted in the wisdom of frontline poverty-fighters this year's published research includes the importance of the earliest years for child development, the breakdown of systems for children-in-care, Britain's asylum shambles, social housing and welfare reform.  No wonder, according to BBC research, David Cameron makes more mention of Iain Duncan Smith than any other Tory colleague."

Who would you have chosen as Backbencher of the Year?

Hague calls for Israel to stop its action against Hamas

After his call for "restraint" on Saturday, the Shadow Foreign Secretary has just issued this second statement:

“I am gravely concerned about the continuing violence in Gaza and the numbers of civilians killed and injured. The crisis is exacting a terrible human toll on both sides and it is imperative that further loss of life is avoided. I join the Security Council’s call for an immediate ceasefire and call on Arab countries to use their influence to urge Hamas to end rocket attacks on Israel. I also call on Israel to work with the international community so that the humanitarian relief so desperately needed in Gaza can be provided. The British Government must work with the United States and other members of the Middle East Quartet to secure an early return to negotiations in 2009. The only long-term solution is a negotiated two-state agreement that achieves a viable and secure Palestinian state living alongside a secure Israel with her right to live in peace and security recognised by all her neighbours. The world looks to the new President of the United States to place these negotiations at the top of his foreign policy agenda and to pursue them with vigour and determination from the very outset.”

> Robert Halfon on CentreRight: "If we want an enduring peace in the Middle East, then Israel must be allowed to defeat Hamas in Gaza"

> Iain Dale on Hague's call for a ceasefire: "The trouble is that any Hamas backed ceasefire isn't worth the paper it is written on. If we have learned nothing from recent history, surely we have learned that."

3.45pm: I've just received the best briefing so far on the Gaza situation (by Tom Gross, former Jerusalem correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph).  It contains a quotation from Barack Obama that suggests he might be a lot steelier than Mr Hague:

“If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing”

- Barack Obama, in July, while visiting Israel as a U.S. presidential candidate

Tim Montgomerie

Public expenditure control (not tax) is now the number one challenge for George Osborne

It's funny really. Just as I'd given up any expectation of lower taxation from the Conservatives, George Osborne hints at a trio of "funded" tax reliefs.

I'm clearly not the only Tory member who had come to believe that the scale of Labour's borrowings meant that early hopes for tax relief were over.  These are two stand-out results from the 22-28th December survey of more than 1,800 Tory members:

Two-thirds of Tory members believe that higher taxation is inevitable but nine-tenths fear that it will only create a new 'brain drain' of talent.

Everything must now be done to avoid higher taxation and the consequences for our economy.  A whopping 89% of Tory members agreed that "The next Conservative government should cut public expenditure if necessary before contemplating increases in taxation."

We put a range of public expenditure measures to the ConHome Members' Panel and all enjoyed majority support:

• 94% supported "An end to ID cards".
• 90% supported the "Scrapping of projects such as the New Deal and Regional Development Agencies".
• 88% supported "Real cuts in most budgets to force public sector management to reduce waste".
• 86% supported the "Negotiation of a rebate from the EU".
• 82% would welcome "An end to supercomputer projects as in the NHS".
• 81% agreed with "A recruitment freeze across the public sector".
• 70% agreed with "A reduction in the transfer of money from England to other parts of the UK".

At the moment there is not enough clear blue water between the Tories and Labour on public expenditure.  Polling suggests voters are tired of Labour's bloated state and will embrace a Conservative Party that restores balance between the public and private sectors.  That is George Osborne's number one challenge for 2009.

Tim Montgomerie

Grassroots want the 'big beasts' in the shadow cabinet

According to the Daily Mail "senior Tory sources" have refused to deny that Ken Clarke is about to return to the shadow cabinet; possibly opposite Peter Mandelson.  An article in yesterday's Sunday Telegraph got the speculation going again.  Most Tory members would be glad to see the former Chancellor and three-times-rejected leadership candidate back on the frontbench.  But in our survey of 1,816 party members there was even more support for David Davis returning - and support for George Osborne continuing as Shadow Chancellor:

Conservative Friends of Israel's briefing on action against Hamas

ConHome has published four posts on the situation in Gaza:

• William Hague's statement calling for restraint.
• Video of David Cameron calling the situation "horrific"
• Plus CentreRight posts from Alex Deane and Ridley Grove.

Pasted below is a briefing just emailed out to supporters of Conservative Friends of Israel (of which I am one).

Tim Montgomerie

Cameron's attacks on Labour excess supported by chorus of bishops

Christmas quiz time. Three of the following quotations are from an article by David Cameron in The Sunday Telegraph and three from Church of England Bishops.  Can you guess which are which?

1. “Labour made a lot of promises, but a lot of them have vanished into thin air.  We have not seen a raising of aspirations in the last 13 years, but instead there is a sense of hopelessness."
2. "If "Iraq" is the word that Tony Blair's famous "hand of history" chisels on his political tombstone, then for Gordon Brown the words "Debt Crisis" will serve as a suitable epitaph."
3. "It is not Labour's turbo‑capitalism we need, where a blind eye is turned to every corporate excess."
4. “The Government isn’t telling people who are already deep in debt to stop overextending themselves, but instead is urging us to spend more. That is morally suspect and morally feeble. It is unfair and irresponsible of the Government to put pressure on the public to spend in order to revive the economy.”
5. "If it is right to demand personal responsibility from the welfare claimant, the absent father or the career criminal then it is right to expect corporate responsibility from the chief executive, the hedge‑fund manager and the City fraudster, too."
6. "It is ironic that under a Labour government we have the poor feeling they have been betrayed and the gap is getting ever greater."

George Osborne hints at trio of tax cuts

Within an interview for The Sunday Times George Osborne hints at a trio of tax cut pledges in the new year.  The Sunday Times' Jonathan Oliver summarises them here but they appear to be tax measures for pensioners (the subject of a Telegraph campaign), savers and also a commitment to reverse Labour's 1% NI increase.  Mr Osborne promises that the tax cuts will be paid for by a combination of spending restraint and other tax rises - not by extra borrowing.

Hague calls for restraint from Israel as 155 die in Gaza air raids

Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for restraint from Israel after it launched massive air strikes against terrorist targets in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas missile attacks on Israel:

"We deeply regret the loss of civilian life in Gaza today.  We call on the Israeli government to show restraint. At the same time we call on Hamas to stop the rocket attacks which are an unacceptable threat to Israel's security, so that the ceasefire, which Hamas failed to renew, can be urgently restored".

Sunday morning: Video including David Cameron's response to crisis

Edward Leigh MP as you've never seen him before

We thought you might like these images of Edward Leigh MP at the Christmas Day swim at The Serpentine. Respect!

Theresa Villiers deserves to stay in the shadow cabinet

ConservativeHome may have been resting for most of the last 72 hours but today's listing of newslinks shows that the Conservative frontbench was far from inactive:

• There's Jeremy Hunt proposing a UK schools 'Olympics'...
• Edward Garnier proposing a tribunal to govern foxhunting once the Hunting With Dogs Act has been repealed...
• Nick Herbert attacking Labour's soft record on foreign prisoners...
• [Eric Pickles warning of a council take hike for 'nice neighbourhoods' (added 11.45am)...]
• David Cameron spending Christmas in Yorkshire and ensuing good coverage in regional media...
• And, just before Christmas, Grant Shapps' homelessness initiative.

The best story was, I thought, the thoroughly sensible suggestion by Shadow Transport Minister Stephen Hammond that rail services should be provided on Boxing Day (see good related blog from Alex Singleton).  This is Mr Hammond quoted in The Independent:

"Boxing Day is a traditional sporting fixture across the country for many sports, not just football. Huge numbers of fans will be heading to games, enjoying the day out with their families. From just the Premier League and Championship (the top two football divisions) there are an expected 45,000 away fans travelling to games. While engineering work should be carried out in quiet periods for travel, Boxing Day can hardly be seen as a quiet period. Families and football fans will be given no choice but to get into their cars, pump more CO2 into the atmosphere and put up with potentially eye-watering levels of congestion because the railways remain shut."

There's been a lot of criticism of Theresa Villiers - including on these threads - but she leads a team that is beginning to make headlines.  I'm personally in favour of a third runway at Heathrow but I recognise that the position adopted by Ms Villiers is now the Conservative Party's flagship green policy (and, not coincidentally, is crucial in the battle to win many seats under Heathrow's flightpath).  It won't be a policy that changes if Ms Villiers is moved on.  I also welcome her support for the ending of the BAA monopoly, her scepticism about Boris' Thames Estuary airport plan and her plan for a new hi-speed rail link (although it's too slow in starting).

To be thrown into the shadow cabinet before any other member of the 2005 intake when she had been an MP for less than six months was a huge test for Ms Villiers.  Most observers agree that she struggled in her first role as Shadow Chief Secretary but she is now making her mark and deserves more time to complete the work she has begun.

Tim Montgomerie

Happy Christmas!

Jonathan and I would like to wish all ConservativeHome readers a very, very Happy Christmas.  Thank you for all of your support during 2008.  So far this year the website has received more than 8.6 million hits.  We're signing off until the morning of 27th December.  We'll be back then with our 'awards of the year' and the first results of our final survey of 2008.  If you haven't voted yet please do so here.

In the meantime this is Winchester Cathedral Choir (1986) singing In The Bleak Midwinter:

Tim Montgomerie

A timely announcement from Grant Shapps on homelessness

As we think of those less fortunate than ourselves at this time of year, shadow housing spokesman Grant Shapps is today launching the Conservative blueprint to tackle homelessness.

This time last year, he spent a night sleeping rough and recorded his experience here on ConservativeHome.

The blueprint being launched today aims to go beyond dealing with homelessness purely as a problem of housing, but instead accepting the multi-faceted nature of homelessness. One key point which it aims to address is the way in which some released prisoners quickly re-offend because jail provides a roof over their heads.

Among the measures being proposed by the party, according to today's newspapers, are:

• Criminals being made to save part of their prison pay to fund accommodation on their release;
• Ensuring that troops returning from the frontline are not put at the bottom of waiting lists for housing;
• Making rough sleeping statistics more accurate;
• Reforming benefits to make sure people were better off by getting a job.

This is how the Telegraph explains the scheme being proposed for prisoners:

"Under his proposal, most pay for prison work would go into a fund for victims, some kept for purchases behind bars and the rest put in a "trust". That money would partly be used to secure accommodation - probably in the private rented sector."

Mr Shapps was also keen to stress his aim to look after "heroic servicemen" who have served overseas:

"When people have put their lives at risk for the sake of our security it is a national disgrace that they can return from service with no certainty about their living conditions."

I'll add a link to the more detailed proposals when they are published later this morning.

Update: You can now download the pdf document by clicking here or look at it and other documents about homelessness at Grant Shapps' website. As Grant points out, there has been a cross-departmental approach on this document, so the sections relating to prisoners, for example, have involved Nick Herbert and the Justice team - some of whose ideas were put forward in their Prisons with a Purpose policy paper.

Jonathan Isaby

Hague threatened to quit if outside interests were banned

Further to Jonathan's post earlier today, the Daily Mail is reporting that "William Hague threatened to lead a Shadow Cabinet walk-out if David Cameron forced his frontbench to give up high-earning second jobs."  Two other resignations were also possible, reports the Mail's Benedict Brogan.

In many ways Mr Hague is proof that it is possible to combine outside interests and a high profile portfolio.  Although he actively pursues outside interests - earning an additional £230,000 last year - he regularly tops the satisfaction league when ConservativeHome asks party members to judge shadow cabinet performance.  His net satisfaction rating was +85% in the most recent survey.

His critics would, however, point to an under-developed Conservative foreign policy and his reported opposition to becoming Shadow Chancellor should a vacancy arise.  Steve Hilton, a key adviser to Mr Cameron, has been critical of Mr Hague's reluctance to undertake more media for the party.

Alan Duncan, Shadow Business Secretary, is most vulnerable in the next reshuffle.  His outside interests have been a growing concern to Team Cameron although it is reported that he is cutting back on them.

Tim Montgomerie

Shadow cabinet to retain outside interests after all

It was being suggested at the beginning of November that David Cameron intended putting an end to members of the Shadow Cabinet retaining lucrative outside interests.

However, the FT is now reporting that he has been forced to backtrack amid a potential rebellion from within the ranks.

It cites one anonymous shadow cabinet member as blaming the previous report on "kite-flying" by the well-paid strategist Steve Hilton:

“Even if no one quit, this would have created real unhappiness and why sour things now? You’d get people calling on the party to pay their tax bills for next year and asking why Andy Coulson [Mr Cameron’s press chief] is paid so much more than them."

Shadow business secretary, Alan Duncan, was typically robust in his defence of senior shadow ministers retaining outside interests:

“Better to be part-time wise than full-time ignorant.”

I am sympathetic to the view that a blanket ban on all outside jobs would be wrong and that there is only a problem if any outside interests are adversely affecting an individual's ability to carry out his front bench duties.

However, in order to be taken as a serious government-in-waiting, politics has to come first and I was somewhat concerned recently to hear the following story about a member of the shadow cabinet: he had apparently already told David Cameron that he didn't want a higher profile post than that which he currently holds in advance of the general election, because he didn't want to give up other interests on account of time commitments or potential conflicts of interest involved in a different post.

Such an attitude at this juncture is unacceptable.

Jonathan Isaby

Tory lead would increase to 17% if spending restraint became the issue

Yesterday evening we blogged the latest ComRes poll and its finding that the Tory lead had grown to 5%.

Within the detail of its poll The Independent finds that the Conservative lead would grow markedly if voters focused on the Tory policy of using public expenditure restraint to try and avoid higher taxes:

"Asked how they would vote if the Tories committed themselves to a lower level of public spending than Labour and to try not to raise taxes – Mr Cameron's current policy – 49% said Tory, 32% Labour and 11% the Liberal Democrats. There was a similar result when people were asked how they would vote if Labour committed itself to higher public spending than the Tories and admitted it was likely to mean an increase in some personal taxes – Mr Brown's current position. The figures were: Tory 48%, Labour 30%, Liberal Democrats 13%."

Proof - if further proof was needed - that the public mood on tax and spending has flipped since 1997.

Tim Montgomerie

ComRes brings Christmas cheer for David Cameron

ComRes had been the pollster showing the narrowest Conservative lead - just 1% in the last two polls - but another survey from ComRes for tomorrow's Independent shows the Tory lead up to 5%.  Probably not enough to say - as Andrew Grice does - that "The Brown bounce is over" but welcome news nonetheless.

This survey will certainly further dampen election speculation.  Ben Brogan has already said that there'll be no election in the first half of 2009.  But Jonathan had already told ConHome readers that on Saturday!

Tim Montgomerie

Is David Cameron the best Tory leader since 1997?

Should David Davis be brought back into the shadow cabinet?

What should be the Tories' number one public spending priority?

Is it time that Britain became a secular state?

These and other questions are waiting for your answers here.

David Davis calls for Bob Quick to substantiate his allegations against Tories or be replaced for inquiry into Damian Green

In another low in the relationship between the Conservative Party and London's police, the Met's Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Damian Green investigation has accused the Tories of dirty tricks:

"The police officer leading the Whitehall leaks inquiry has accused the Tories of endangering his family's safety by leaking information about his wife's wedding-car hire business. Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick claimed he had fallen victim to dirty tricks in an attempt to sabotage the investigation that led to the arrest of Tory front-bencher Damian Green. But the Conservatives flatly denied the allegation and cast doubt on his fitness to continue as head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism squad."

On this morning's Today programme former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said that Mr Quick should either substantiate his allegation that the Conservatives conspired with the Mail on Sunday for yesterday's story - 'Security scare over wedding car hire firm run from top terror police chief's home' - or another senior officer should be put in charge of the controversial investigation into Damian Green's conduct.  Listen to David Davis here.

Related link: Lessons from the Damian Green affair for Tory strategy.

10.30am from the Press Association: "Tory leader David Cameron has demanded that Britain's anti-terror chief should retract claims that his party had tried to undermine a Whitehall leaks inquiry."

11.15am: Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve MP has issued this statement after Bob Quick apologised: "We accept Assistant Commissioner Quick’s unreserved apology and this draws a line under the matter.”