ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

Look out for a five pronged affirmation of "new Toryism"

When The Times described David Cameron's Conservative team as "women-free" I called it "unfair".  CCHQ went ballistic - seeing it as a dangerous attack on the modernisation agenda.  Team Cameron believes that the Tory leader couldn't have worked much harder to promote women into the shadow cabinet, into the House of Lords, into winnable Westminster seats and into the European Parliament.  Rules for selection of MEP candidates were actually changed so that women won higher rankings on regional lists even if they secured fewer votes from grassroots members*.

David Cameron wrote for The Times yesterday, setting out the progress that he's made in increasing representation of women.

In tomorrow's Times a huge number of Tory women - led by our adopted candidates - have written a letter defending David Cameron's record on female selection.

A member of the shadow cabinet told me to look out for five things in the next few months that Team Cameron would be emphasing to show that "new Toryism" is still alive and kicking - despite the "age of austerity":

1. Further promotion of women and ethnic minority Conservatives.
2. Outreach to gay rights groups (yesterday we learnt this).
3. More emphasis on environmental policies.  At Spring Forum in Cheltenham Greg Clark MP promised to make Britain the "Saudi Arabia of renewable energy."
4. Loud trumpeting of the fact that the NHS and international development are the top two Tory spending priorities.
5. More initiatives on social justice with a greater role for Iain Duncan Smith.

Tim Montgomerie

* Most women in top MEP slots received fewer votes than male rivals

Nick Herbert to investigate practicalities of charging housebuilders to invest in compensatory environmental protection

In the last couple of days the Tory leadership has been making a determined effort to show that green Conservatism is alive and kicking.  Yesterday George Osborne announced ten new green initiatives in advance of Wednesday's Budget.  Speaking to the Wildlife Trust today David Cameron has announced that Nick Herbert MP, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, will investigate the practicalities of setting up a scheme that will ensure any development that damages the environment makes a compensating investment in the environment elsewhere.

The Tory scheme was first reported by The Guardian in February.  A cost of £5,000 per average house was mentioned by that newspaper at the time although ConHome doesn't expect the Tory proposal to be so expensive.  Nonetheless, it could significantly raise the cost of housebuilding but would release enormous sums for investment in new parkland or for protecting areas of outstanding natural beauty.

George Osborne announces ten new green policy initiatives

Speaking at the Green Building Council this morning, the George Osborne has called on the Government to adopt ten “green” policies in next week’s budget which would make Britain's economy "greener and more productive".

Mr Osborne says that none of the following would add to government debt and the explanations with each policy are based on the information put out by CCHQ:

1. A £6,500 energy efficiency entitlement for every home in Britain

Fit every home with up to £6,500 of energy efficiency improvements, with the cost being repaid through savings in fuel bills, delivering immediate reductions in gas and electricity bills of around £160 per year for families across the country.

2. Fund at least three Carbon Capture and Storage projects

Use part of the receipts from the EU Emissions trading Scheme to fund the installation of Carbon Capture and Storage equipment and pipeline networks for at least 5GW of new coal-fired power plant.

3. Smart Meters

Bring forward the roll out of innovative new technology smart meters into every home to give homes and businesses more control over their energy consumption and help reduce bills.

Nick Herbert launches Honest Food labelling campaign

In his first major outing as shadow secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs, Nick Herbert will today today go to the National Farmers' Union conference and launch the Tories' "Honest Food" campaign.

He asserts that current rules allowing meat imported from abroad - and merely processed in the UK - to be labelled as British are misleading in the extreme and do not allow consumers to make fair choices over their purchase of food products.

The "Honest Food" campaign aims to get compulsory "country of origin" labelling introduced, so that consumers would know that meat products labelled "British" could only have come from animals born and bred in this country.

Mr Herbert - who will table a Bill in Parliament to this effect - summarises the purposes of the proposal as:

• Allowing consumers to make informed choices about the food they buy
• Preventing non-British meat being labelled as British
• Supporting British producers by allowing consumers to identify genuine British meat
• Promoting superior British produce by highlighting the advantages of British produce
• Restoring trust and confidence in British food and labelling in general

The NFU itself is backing the campaign, as are a variety of other organisations and a number of celebrity chefs, including Antony Worrall Thompson and Prue Leith. A full list of supporters is listed on the campaign website.

I have posted the associated campaign ad on PlayPolitical.com.

The campaign seems utterly reasonable and it is hard to see how any right-thinking person could disagree with it. I note that Mr Herbert - a very committed free marketeer - is not taking a jingoistic or protectionist  attitude to the issue, nor does he appear to be prescribing that British people should buy British meat. Rather, consumers need to be given all the correct information and facts so as to be able to make informed choices about the products they buy.

Jonathan Isaby

Boris Johnson suspends green measures to protect small businesses

Ruth Lea was in fighting form on CentreRight yesterday evening:

"As the economy staggers through its worst downturn for nearly 30 years, much will be made of how the development of “green-collar jobs” will renew our manufacturing base and lead the economy to new fields of prosperity. This is, sadly, all too likely to be wishful thinking as we generally do not have the technology or the manufacturing capacity required for such a “green revolution”. Nuclear technology (which in the green lexicon does not even count as “green”) is dominated by the French; wind technology, biomass, solar technology is dominated by the Germans and Carbon Capture and Storage (probably 10-15 years away commercially) is also dominated by the Germans. Electric vehicle and hydrogen fuel cell technologies are dominated by the US, Germany and Japan - and are in any case estimated to be around 20-30 years away commercially. We really must not fantasise. And in the meantime the increasing burdens of “green” electricity costs will drive our energy intensive industries, including steel and chemicals, offshore."

It's a vital question because whenever voters have been asked to pay for environmental protection in recent times they have answered 'no thank you' - from Canada to California to Manchester.  Irwin Stelzer notes green campaigners' fury at the inclusion of more coal-fired power plants in Barack 'great green hope' Obama's controversial stimulus package.

Yesterday we saw the biggest sign yet that UK Conservatives were seeing the conflict between green measures and growth.  Boris Johnson suspended the third stage of London's low emissions zone in order, he said, to protect small businesses:

"It is not the right time to press ahead with extending it to include smaller vehicles like vans and minibuses. Many of these will be owned by small businesses, charities, and self-employed Londoners already hard hit by the recession. Simply put, the cost of fitting pollution equipment or getting a new vehicle would have come as punch in the ribs to those who need our help at this time, would have destroyed profit margins, and endangered our businesses."

London's Green Party called the decision "an absolute disaster for London's environment".

Shadow Climate Secretary Greg Clark MP gave ConservativeHome this quote:

"It's easy to cut emissions by destroying jobs.  The real challenge is to get less pollution and more jobs.  Local initiatives are - properly - a matter for local, not central, government.  In this case the Mayor of London proposes to continue his current low emissions scheme, but, rather than widen it to penalise smaller vehicles belonging to small businesses, instead to boost the market for innovative alternatives such as electric vehicles, low-emissions taxis and hybrid buses.  That way, he can help create jobs and cut emissions."

We need a serious and big picture statement  from Greg Clark or even David Cameron himself on how they plan to reconcile their extraordinarily ambitious targets to cut the UK's carbon emissions with the number one priority of the British voter; a return to job-creating, income-enhancing economic growth.

Tim Montgomerie

8.30pm Matt Sinclair on CentreRight calls on the Conservatives to abandon "the more ineffective and economically destructive of Labour's environmental policies".

David Cameron promises money saving environmentalism

Even those who are sceptical about global warming can probably see much to welcome in today's announcement by David Cameron and Greg Clark that the Conservatives plan to install smart meters in every UK home.  The meters would be linked to the National Grid and would tell people when it would be cheaper to use electricity for, for example, recharging their electric car or for other electrical appliances that do not need peak time input.

Originally planned for announcement yesterday - but delayed by 24 hours because of the Heathrow decision - the smart meters plan would cost £1bn and is being described by David Cameron as the "internet for electricity".

Mr Cameron discussed his green plans during a successful live webcast a little while ago with The Independent's Geoffrey Lean.  Watch it again via the bottom of this page.

On this morning's Today programme Greg Clark announced that every home would be entitled to a £6,500 energy efficiency voucher.  This voucher could be used for loft and cavity wall insulations that would quickly pay for themselves.  The householders would never write a cheque.  The energy companies would have to make the up-front efficiency improvements and be paid back over time through energy bills.  Dr Clark said that this was a great policy for difficult economic times as the home improvements would create jobs in the building trade and save households money - as well as helping Britain move towards a low carbon economy.  Listen again to Greg here and visit conservatives.com for more information.

David Cameron to launch new environmental policy this afternoon via a webcast

This afternoon David Cameron will be launching his latest proposals to create a low carbon Britain via a webcast.

This is something of a first and will involve the party leader being interviewed by Geoffrey Lean of The Independent before taking questions from all-comers via live chat, e-mail and Twitter.

It coincides with the appointment today of Craig Elder at CCHQ as Online Communities Editor, a post which will involve him heading up the party's presence in social media and ensuring that online communities get lots of opportunities for productive interaction with the party. He has written about his new role here.

The new policy itself has been previewed via an interview David Cameron has given to this morning's Guardian. It revolves around investing £1 billion in a "hi-tech National Grid" which would see "smart meters" being installed in every home - meaning that energy companies would be able to tell consumers when it is cheapest to use electricity.  Householders would also be able to use the smart meters to feed the grid with electricity generated through solar panels.

You can watch the policy launch webcast live at 1.30pm via the chatroom below or through the party's website. You can email your questions in advance to be put to David Cameron or use the Twitter tag #askDC.

Jonathan Isaby

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.

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

Voters reject green taxation (again)

First Canada, now Manchester.  78.8% said no to the proposed congestion charge which would have funded greater investment in public transport.

Another bad day for the EU

Yesterday was a triple whammy of a bad day for the EU...

ONE: THE IRISH PEOPLE WERE TOLD THEY HAD TO VOTE AGAIN ON LISBON
It's far from clear that Dublin's unpopular government can persuade the Irish to change their vote but William Hague noted the command to vote again as dangerously undemocratic:

"Trying to force the Lisbon Treaty down the Irish people’s throats again is not only a dangerous distraction from that agenda, it is profoundly undemocratic. It is no wonder that the EU is seen as increasingly unaccountable and out of touch if it won’t listen to what people are actually saying. Gordon Brown goes to this summit without any democratic mandate on the Lisbon Treaty. If our unelected Prime Minister insists on forcing the Irish people to vote twice, the case for letting the British people vote once will be morally unanswerable.”

TWO: ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE WILL BE (AT BEST) DILUTED AND DELAYED
The EU likes to lecture the rest of the world on climate change but after years of failing to meet its Kyoto targets it is dangerously close to failing to agree new targets for reductions in its carbon footprint.  If France and Britain cannot persuade Italy and Poland to make economic sacrifices for the sake of the planet then there is next-to-no chance of the much bigger and more important task of persuading India, China and other developing nations.  Ruth Lea warns that Britain is in danger of unilateral economic disarmament on climate changeism:

"Italy’s Sylvio Berlusconi has generally undermined the EU’s climate change policies by saying “our businesses are in absolutely no position at the moment to absorb the costs of the regulations that have been proposed.”  If these positions are maintained, Britain’s hairshirt adherence to draconian carbon reduction policies would mean the country was isolated in its, ultimately futile, attempt to control global man-made carbon emissions – of which Britain accounts for less than 2%."

THREE: THE EURO IS CAUSING SERIOUS ECONOMIC TENSIONS
Forgetting for the moment Germany's "extraordinary" attack on Gordon Brown's fiscal stimulus there is the more important issue of what the euro is doing to certain EU nations.  Individual nations are lacking the monetary policy flexibility that, George Osborne noted, is available to Britain.  Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is one of a very few commentators (Richard North being another) who have connected Greek rioting with the strains of the eurozone.

***
I'd probably say the decision of Declan Ganley's Libertas to contest the European Elections was also a fourth bad thing.  The constant splintering of what could loosely be called the Eurosceptic movement is its greatest weakness.

Tim Montgomerie

Greg Clark must keep the lights on

We have high hopes for Greg Clark MP, the new Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.  We don't expect him to be as cautious about climate change as we are, but we hope that he'll ask very tough questions of those who insist that their way of tackling climate change is the only way.  He could start with the EU.  Open Europe's Hugo Robinson writes for ConHome today about the inflexibility of the Brussels' climate change plan and how it might be bad for the environment and disastrous for the economy.  If there is to be an international agreement on climate change - beyond the EU and involving India and China - Greg Clark should be urging a rethink of the EU model.

More importantly - as far as we are concerned - is the need to keep the lights on.  Matt Sinclair put it well on CentreRight:

"The reason why Ministers love working on climate change is that the outcomes are all decades and centuries in the future so there is no real accountability. By contrast, people will notice if the lights go out. While politicians can try and blame the energy companies, or hope they're in a different job by the time poor choices lead to economic disaster, there is a much greater chance that the public will notice when political leaders let them down in energy policy than with climate change."

The Tories had been dragging their feet on energy policy although latterly have been making more positive noises about nuclear energy and clean coal.  Greg Clark needs to demonstrate that the Tories have a plan to address the looming crisis in British energy supply.  The insecurity of Britain's energy supply - and the associated expense to business and consumers - is set to be a top-of-the-news issue in five years' time.  Greg Clark is as clever and courteous as Michael Gove. He now needs to prove that he is as courageous. We hope Greg will be to energy policy what Michael Gove has been to education policy. 

> Step 4/10: Put Eric Pickles in CCHQ

Greg Clark MP is new Shadow Climate Secretary

In a very welcome appointment (one ConHome recommended) Greg Clark MP has been chosen to shadow Ed Miliband as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.  Nick Hurd MP will replace Greg as Charities spokesman.

That may be the extent of the Tory reshuffle.

4.05pm: An email from CCHQ notes that Shadow Climate Minister will be Greg Barker MP and Shadow Energy Minister will be Charles Hendry MP.

Green taxes have been kicked into the long grass

Nearly two weeks ago ConHome predicted that the Tory leadership's plans for green taxes would be suspended.  The story was hotly denied by the Treasury team but Conference suggested that our story was broadly accurate.  Neither George Osborne nor David Cameron mentioned replacement taxes in their speeches and good thing too.  An already stressed British economy doesn't need any new taxes.

I took part in a Q&A with Oliver Letwin on Monday - chaired by Steve Richards of The Independent.  Oliver insisted that there had been no retreat from the principle of the policy but didn't name any specific green taxes that the Tories would levy.  I stand by my source and my prediction that the next Tory manifesto will contain no substantial commitment to higher green taxation.  If there are to be higher green taxes they should be introduced in much better economic times, when businesses have the ability to absorb them.

The suspension of green taxes does not mean that the environment is off the Tory agenda.  The 180mph rail speed link is an important idea and has the capacity to bring Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds into the orbit of the London economic powerhouse.  It's a shame it won't be online until 2027, however, and I also hope Labour push through the necessary third runway for Heathrow before we assume power.  That could be Labour's goodbye gift to the British economy.

> This is Tim Montgomerie's third conclusion from the Birmingham Conference.  The previous conclusion focused on David Cameron's continued commitment to tackle the causes of crime.

Tories promise 45 minute rail link to Birmingham (but not until 2027)

The Conservatives will not build a third runway at Heathrow airport - so cutting 66,000 flights a year - but will instead work with the private sector to build a £20bn, 180mph rail link between London and Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

There would also be a high speed link between King's Cross St Pancras and Heathrow airport - (although Boris Johnson may have moved London's airport to the Thames estuary by then!).

Theresa Villiers, Shadow Transport Secretary, told The Guardian that the move was "seriously green".

Tories set to suspend plans for green taxation

Two weeks ago ConservativeHome exclusively revealed that the Conservatives were unlikely to renew the pledge to match Labour on spending.  A senior frontbencher has now told us that, as part of an ongoing review of economic policy, higher green taxation is very unlikely to feature in the next Conservative manifesto.

The Tory plan up had been to reduce taxation of families from the proceeds of higher green taxation.  Lower taxation of families is now expected to be financed by stricter control of spending.  The overall priority, however, will be a reduction in borrowing.

Speeches by David Cameron and George Osborne at the Birmingham Party Conference will warn of very difficult economic times ahead.  The Tory leadership believes that the deterioration in the economic situation has vindicated their opposition to calls for a lower overall burden of taxation but they also fear that any moves to increase green taxation (even if offset by lower taxes elsewhere) will worsen an already precarious landscape for British business.  There is a particular fear that green taxes will discourage urgently needed investment in new energy generating capacity.

The "Green Shift" (higher taxation of pollution and lower taxation of families) will nonetheless be restated as a medium term goal.  Canada's Conservatives have used opposition plans to raise green taxes to devastating electoral effect.

Tory economic traditionalists will be disappointed that George Osborne will continue to resist calls for a pro-growth package of tax reliefs.  They have taken heart, however, from this week's warnings from the party leadership against panic re-regulation of the financial sector and against protectionist sentiment.

Boris Johnson unveils climate change strategy for London

Today's Guardian has a detailed account of Boris Johnson's announcement yesterday of the strategy London will take in tackling climate change:

"An increase in the number of rooftop gardens to soak up rainwater across the capital is among a series of measures suggested by Johnson yesterday...

"The mayor's adaptation strategy, billed as a world first, aims to address the challenges of flooding, extreme temperatures and drought. It calls for compulsory water metering, greater awareness of flood risks and more tree planting, alongside stronger efforts to resist attempts by local authorities and insurance companies to fell existing urban trees."

The article lists the key points of the plan:

On flooding

• Citywide urban greening programme based on green spaces and trees to soak up water
• Campaign to raise public awareness of flood risk
• Identify and protect critical infrastructure and vulnerable communities

On drought

• Reduce leakage from water mains
• Compulsory water metering where feasible
• Rainwater harvesting and 'grey water' use

On heatwaves

• Enhanced access to air-cooled buildings for London's vulnerable people
• Specific guidance to architects
• Requirement for new developments to help cool the city

Mayor Johnson explains his commitment in terms of a genuine change of mind:

"Despite previously attacking the Kyoto Protocol - which regulates international carbon emissions - as "pointless" and saying that anxiety over climate change was "partly a religious phenomenon" Johnson now admits that the 2006 Stern review on the issue had convinced him of the need to act. "When the facts change, you change your mind," he said."

The 2006 Stern review met with much scepticism from experts who noted that if Stern's proposals were implemented now, most of the benefits would not be seen until after the year 2800. The Yale economist William Nordhaus calculated that while inaction on global warming would reduce global GDP by $22 trillion over the next century, Sir Nicholas Stern's proposals - if implemented in full - would see global GDP reduced by $36 trillion.

'Cameron on Cameron' highlights: Public services and the environment

Dylan Jones' new book Cameron on Cameron is a series of interviews with the Conservative leader. Previous ToryDiaries focused on highlights discussing the economy and taxation, other politicians and foreign policy. Below are some highlights of Cameron's responses relating to public services and the environment.

Grammar schools: "Grammar schools are good schools. There are 164 of them and they have nothing to fear from a Conservative government... The fact is you won't get the change we need if the limit of your ambitions is a few more grammar schools here and there - which, by the way, isn't going to happen anyway, as no one has set any up, even during eighteen years of Conservative government. If you're serious about giving every child in our country the opportunity they deserve, you've got to think way, way bigger than grammar schools. You've got to be prepared to completely transform our education system, so that you don't just allow those failing schools to continue. You've got to be as radical in school reform as Mrs Thatcher was, for example, in trade union reform."

Selection: "We think the evidence shows that it's good for kids to be taught at the right level for their ability, and have streaming for better results, so that's definitely something we want to encourage. But we don't think selection between schools is the way forward. What you really need is parents choosing schools, not schools choosing pupils. If you look across the world, where school reform has worked best is in places like Sweden and the chartered schools in America."

Supply-side education reforms: “I suppose one of my formative influences was going to see the Tabernacle School in Notting Hill, which was a school set up by frustrated teachers and parents because they were so hacked off with low standards and poor discipline at state schools, particularly with young black boys. And they showed me what could be done if you set up a school from scratch by yourself. The tragedy is that the school had to be in the private sector. But why? Why couldn’t it be in the state sector?”

Teaching methods: “I do have a very traditional view of education. I really feel you have to get the basics in place… I’m very much a traditionalist when it comes to teaching methods – testing, examining.”

Tories and the NHS: "There are one or two important things I want to get straight in the Conservative Party, and one is, when it comes to the health service, we're about improving it for everybody. We're not about trying to find ways to help people opt out of the health service with tax breaks and private medical care. It's really important to get this across to people. The NHS should be for everyone."

NHS reform under Labour: “There have been endless, top-down structural upheavals just wasting time and money and the goodwill of NHS staff… Sometimes I think this Labour government is just run by management consultants. They haven’t got a clue about what really matters; they just think about what looks efficient on a PowerPoint chart.”

NHS targets: “Look if you’re running any organisation like a hospital you need to have some ways to measure progress and to motivate your staff. I think what’s wrong is the idea of targets handed down from Whitehall for the whole of the NHS … What we’ve said is that we need to measure the results, not the processes, and so we’re going to get rid of top-down process targets and instead focus on what really matters, which is, are people getting better, are they getting high-quality treatment?”

Solving the health crisis: “In one sense it will never be solved because in any developed country the demand for more health care will exceed the supply… But I think we could do a lot better than we are today.”

The politics of the environment: "John McCain said to me, and I completely agree with him, that we've got to get the argument about the environment exactly right. We've got to tell people it's not about wearing a jersey and sitting in the dark with the lights off shivering... [Britain] needs high-speed rail to replace short-haul flights, it means integrating much better with trains and planes and automobiles, as it were."

Taxes on flying: "We do need to have smart taxation rather than dim taxation and that means taxing flights rather than passengers... It's not about saying to people you can't fly or you can't go on holiday, it's about saying that as a society we need to pay the full cost of pollution."

Sunny George

We haven't properly reported George Osborne's speech of yesterday in which he called for encouragement of recycling (FT report).  This is a key extract from his speech to the Green Alliance:

"Right now, the UK has one of the lowest recycling rates in Europe.  In 2005, the most recent year for which comparable figures are available across the EU, UK households sent 22.6 million tonnes of rubbish to landfill.  The Government’s approach is an old fashioned one: use the threat of fines and punitive taxation to force people to recycle.  We’ve all seen how unpopular this heavy handed approach has been with the public.  What’s more, it is extremely expensive to administer and it encourages irresponsible behaviour like fly-tipping or back yard burning.  But if we look at what is happening in over 500 cities and communities in America, we can see that another way is possible.  There, instead of being fined for not recycling, households are actually being paid for their recycling.  Instead of using sticks, we can use carrots instead.  Instead of punitive taxes, we can use financial incentives.  This completely turns on its head the tired way that the government thinks about recycling."

It's very welcome that there has been a switch in emphasis in Tory green policy.  For some reason we think of Aesop's 'Wind and Sun' fable:

"The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly they saw a traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said: "I see a way to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger. You begin." So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair. Then the Sun came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveller, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak on.  Kindness effects more than severity."

It finishes a good week for the Shadow Chancellor:

• Last week's paper on tax simplification;
• Sunday's Fuel Duty Stabiliser (for which we are still hat-tipping Andrew Lilico);
• Yesterday's pressure on the Government to accelerate protections for depositors - highlighted by William Hague at PMQs.

Anatole Kaletsky tops it all off with his column in this morning's Times.  Kaletsky was long-time very warm towards Gordon Brown but he's written today that the Tories are coming up with thoughtful policies.  He writes this of Mr Osborne:

"If the Government automatically increased fuel duty whenever the oil price fell below a certain threshold, such as the $84 a barrel used in the Tory Green Paper, it would send a powerful signal to energy users that the era of cheap fuel is permanently over and efforts to conserve energy will never again be undercut, as they were in the 1980s and 1990s, by a collapse in the price of oil."

Next week we'll be publishing a series of thoughts on next steps for Tory economic policy.

Greg Barker sets out proposals for educating children about climate change

Last night Greg Barker, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, launched his Root to Branch pamphlet on embedding an understanding of the environment into education. Click here to download the pdf.

David Cameron was there and praised Barker's work. He joked about how he was involved in his leadership campaign at a stage when they could have had team meetings in a taxi, or even in the front of Barker's sports car. He went on to speak about using Conservative means to tackle climate change, and how centre-right political leaders around the world had been asking him how he'd managed to get a conservative party so focused on the environment as an issue.

In introducing his pamphlet Barker added that man made climate change remained the "greatest long-term threat" to Britain and was therefore too big a problem to leave with just one generation. The main problems Barker identifies are:

• School trips to the countryside hindered by health and safety worries and cost to parents
• Lack of relevant teaching skills and insufficient coverage of climate change in textbooks
• Schools themselves aren't being built and run with enough efficiency
• Too many parents don't let their children cycle to school

And his recommendations include:

• Schools should appoint 'Climate Change Champions'
• More support for farm schools and school/farm twinning programmes
• More freedom for school caterers to buy local seasonal food
• Create a new body responsible for spreading best practice in schools

Realistic environmentalism

David Cameron was at the Royal Horticultural Halls today speaking to environmentalists, academics and press about his triangulation between "green" and "growth" - the Blue Green Charter. Read the speech in full here.

Cameron apologised that the timings had changed for the speech because he was going to have his second meeting with President Bush straight afterwards. They first met in Washington last November. He added that it mightn't be the best excuse to give passionate environmentalists!

Gordon Brown and others have tried to capitalise on the fact that the Party's focus had shifted somewhat from the environment as it became less of a priority to the public, so the main message was that environmentalism was still important despite the rising cost of living: "The era of cheap oil is well and truly over... for the sake of our future prosperity and our current cost of living, we must wean ourselves off our dependence on fossil fuels and go green".  "We can't afford not to go green", we must say no to the argument that "protecting the environment is a luxury rather than a necessity". "The choice isn't between the economy and the environment, it's between progress and the past".

Cameron was flanked by Alan Duncan, Greg Barker and Peter Ainsworth and he paid tribute to the legwork done by the latter two on environmental issues (although he did tell Ainsworth to "get out more" when he mentioned that he'd just read Newt Gingrich's Contract with the Earth). He also thanked the assembled environmentalists for their continued and valued engagement with the Conservatives.

The speech was structured around the five-point charter for tackling climate change (the bullet-points are virtually verbatim)...

Has Ruth Kelly just handed the Conservatives a winning issue in Greater Manchester?

BBC is reporting that Ruth Kelly has told the Commons that she backs congestion charging for Greater Manchester.  There will be a charge of up to £5 from 2013 combined with £2.8bn to create a "world-class public transport system".

Theresa Villiers, Shadow Transport Secretary, has wasted no time in seeing the political danger for Labour and the political opportunity for the Conservatives:

"Ruth Kelly is so desperate to push Greater Manchester into being a guinea pig for national road pricing that she is willing to stake her own parliamentary seat on it. At a time when fuel prices are at record high, and the Government is punishing drivers with sky high VED increases, Mrs Kelly is now going to hit low income earners in Greater Manchester with a 8 per cent tax on getting into work. Bullying Manchester into congestion charging is a high risk strategy for Ruth Kelly and she may find her Bolton West voters punish her at the general election for the plans she is announcing today. She needs to decide if she is going to stand up for her constituents or for her failing Government’s road pricing agenda."

Altrincham and Sale West MP Graham Brady attacked the whole scheme as "absurdly complex".  There will be two charging boundaries, rather than London's one.  Cars will be charged every time that they cross the boundary.  And rather than copying London's simple discount for residents there may be a means-tested discount for low income people.

Other 'local' issues playing to Labour's disadvantage: Post office closures, Polyclinics, A&E wards, Heathrow expansion, Ecotowns.

Furious MP in cow snub

Hoping to raise awareness of the bovine TB crisis Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Chairman of the APPG for Dairy Farmers, was hoping to bring a cow to the green outside Parliament as part of a demonstration with hundreds of farmers. The authorities blocked the idea however (download letter):

"I am furious that they are preventing me from highlighting the appalling situation of bovine TB in this country. Thousands of Dairy farmers around England are going bust as a result of this appalling disease and the government is not lifting a finger to deal with the crisis."

It is a serious issue. We've already noted one aspect of the Government's ambivalence towards rural Britain today. According to this DEFRA document almost 10000 animals were slaughtered between January and March this year on account of bovine tuberculosis. Farmers really feel that the DEFRA Minister - a vegetarian and MP for the rugged constituency of Leeds Central - understands their livelihoods.

(On CentreRight recently Alex Deane wrote in favour of culling badgers as a means of controlling bovine TB, and Graeme Archer against.)

Peter Ainsworth: Conservation is MORE important in tough economic times

Yesterday, in our five-point tax and spend manifesto, we called on the Conservatives to abandon 'replacement taxes' - higher green taxes to pay for lower family taxation.  There is simply no case for higher green taxes at the moment when motorists, hauliers and air travellers are facing rocketing costs.  Noone would fault George Osborne if he got up and said that they're off the agenda for at least as long as oil prices remain so high.

David Cameron hasn't been talking much about green issues recently and the FT has noticed, writing "when [the Conservative leader] set out the priorities for a Tory government this month, he made no mention of green issues."  The shift in emphasis has also reached the Westminster insiders polled by PoliticsHome.com.  Just 13% expect the Conservative party to be the party most focused on green issues at the next election.  73% think it'll be the LibDems.

Peter Ainsworth, Tory Environment spokesman, has responded to all this chatter with a letter to the FT...

His letter insists that the party is still committed to green taxes (sigh) and that combating climate change "remains one of the top policy priorities of our party".  The most sensible thing is said at the start of the letter:

"The idea that green issues evaporate at the first touch of economic hardship betrays a misunderstanding of the environmental agenda. The necessity to build a sustainable economy is not just a “green issue”. It is just as much an economic one; business as usual is clearly unsustainable in the long term. Current economic stresses should underline that point rather than diminish it.  Any public policy that makes our vehicles, homes and businesses more fuel-efficient and encourages the use of cheaper, more reliable sources of energy is not peripheral, but central. Green policies therefore become more important in times of economic stress, not less. The issues of increased energy costs and the need for emissions reductions must be addressed by policies to develop low-carbon technologies."

We can sign up to the thrust of the argument but the price mechanism - rather than government intervention - should be the main driver of any conservation.

Five ideas for Conservative tax and spend policy

Companies leaving Britain because of our nation's high and complex tax burden.  Anger over the 10p tax increase produces the biggest crisis of Gordon Brown's leadership.  Tax and the cost of living dominate the successful Tory campaign in Crewe and Nantwich.  The front page of The Mirror and thirty Labour MPs demand a tax break for motorists.  Labour MP Denis MacShane tells Telegraph readers that it's time to cut taxes and spending.  Nick Clegg claims that only his party is committed to reduce taxation for lower and middle income workers.  Professor John Curtice notes that support for higher taxes hasn't been this low for more than two decades.  PoliticsHome.com's 5000 panel finds that tax overtakes law and order in voters' list of concerns.  And, just today, The Independent's Associate Editor, Hamish McRae asks: "When times are tough, you spend less. Why should it be any different for a government?"

How should the Conservative Party respond to this changed environment?  The easy answer to that question is to stay doing exactly what the leadership has been doing.  A large opinion poll lead would appear to vindicate the current strategy but David Cameron has rightly warned against complacency.  Two years is a long time until the likeliest date for the General Election.  We can't take victory for granted and we can't assume that Team Brown will keep shooting themselves in the feet.  Most of all we need to think beyond politics and to the good of UK plc.

So here are five recommendations - some familiar, some new:

One: Don't renew the pledge to match Labour's spending.
Two: Promise we'll do for Britain what Boris is doing for London.
Three: Embrace deeper welfare reform and Iain Duncan Smith's social justice agenda.
Four: Promise to target tax cuts on the lowest income Britons.
Five: Abandon all schemes for 'replacement taxes'.