toryleadership

Cameron and Davis oppose Scottish MPs voting on English/ Welsh laws

“I believe the Speaker of the House of Commons should rule on each bill on whether it applies only to England and Wales. If so, only MPs from England and Wales should vote on it. That will be better than creating an English Parliament.  This is the long-term policy work that the Conservatives need to do over the next few years — of how to make devolution work properly for the people in Scotland and for people in the rest of the UK.” - David Cameron

“Only the appropriate MPs should vote. The Scottish MPs would not.  Once you get the democratic deficit sorted out, most English people will be happy with that and I do not think the Barnett formula [the Treasury mechanism by which the Scottish block grant is calculated and which gives Scotland a higher per head proportion of Government spending] is important to them.” - David Davis

We learn these policy positions are taken from today's Times.  Both candidates are in Scotland today for a Hustings in Perth.  Oberon Houston will be reporting from that meeting later today.   The candidates visit Scotland at a time when the party north of the border is scoring just 16% in opinion polls.

David Cameron and David Davis both support the Scottish party's freedom to offer income tax cuts.  The devolution settlement allows the Edinburgh parliament to set income tax rates up to 3% lower or higher than for the rest of the UK.  The ruling Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition has not yet chosen to exercise that freedom.

The Times notes that Mr Cameron holidays on the Scottish island of Jura every year.  "The quality of the peace and quiet you get is fantastic,” he is reported as saying.  Mr Cameron has Scottish roots with his father - Ian Donald Cameron - having been born in Scotland.  The Times also reveals that "the name Cameron is derived from the Scottish Gaelic for “crooked nose”."

Annabel Goldie MSP - the new leader of Scotland's Tories - has declined to endorse a candidate: “Both these men offer to me an attractive prospect.”

Elsewhere on conservativehome.com

A new Ten Point Briefing draws on a recent speech by Senator John McCain to outline how the war in Iraq might be won.

On the Platform blog Brian Jenner says that it's time to put the 'party' back into the Conservative Party.

On the Commentators blog there is a review of an article by Michael Ashcroft calling for deregulation of party political funding.  Lord Ashcroft believes that political parties should be accountable to voters - not regulators.

Rees-Mogg urges Cameron to consider all women shortlists

In today's Times, William Ree-Mogg encourages David Cameron to adopt all women shortlists.  The Times columnist, and campaigner for party members to keep their vote in the leadership race, says that David Cameron is seen as "contemporary, likeable and moderate" by target voters.  Women, he writes, "regard him as a modern man rather than a Fred Flintstone":

"They sympathise with his care for his sick son, and with the stress that must put both on him and his wife. Young women see him as belonging to their generation. That is helpful, but it is not enough."

What is enough?  Lord Rees-Mogg believes that the Conservative Party needs many more women on its benches - gradually replacing the "grey-suited, grey-haired assembly of male elders of the tribe" that currently represent the Conservative Party.

He notes this week's formation of 'Women2Win'.  This new lobby group will campaign for Theresa May's proposal for half of Tory candidates in winnable seats to be women.  Lord Rees-Mogg:

"The Conservatives cannot go on as they are. If they are to recover the confidence of women voters, they must select and elect many more women Members of Parliament. If they cannot do that with their existing procedures, they will have to move to all-women shortlists. The decision cannot be more than six months away."

Mr Cameron has rejected all women shortlists when asked about this issue in the past.  He favours assertive headhunting and mentoring of women candidates.  He is also open to a gold or 'A' list of candidates for the party's top target seats.

Caption competition (10)

This picture was taken during yesterday's Dimbleby Debate.

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If you have booked a place and can file a report please email me at [email protected].

The Dimbleby Leadership Debate - Concluding Remarks

In concluding remarks David Cameron promised to be someone who would face up to the big challenges facing Britain.  He would deliver a strong economy, good public services and bring people together.  He said that he would lead a modern compassionate Conservative Party that would enter the mainstream.

David Davis says that he would be a principled champion of the victims of state failure - the pensioners, parents and patients who hadn't got a good deal from Labour.  He would deliver real reforms (and with a hand movement towards Mr Cameron) not "bogus reforms".

Both said that they would serve in each other's shadow cabinets.

The Dimbleby Leadership Debate - Part 3

Invited to pursue a crackdown on binge drinking Mr Davis offered a tough response.  Binge drinking was making town centres a nightmare, he said, and alcohol accounted for 40% of violent crime.  When I become PM 24 hour drinking will come to an end, he said.

DC said that there was not enough pursuit of existing laws - stopping sale of alcohol to minors, for example.  He said that he did not support 24-hour drinking but did not think it was sensible for every pub to stop serving at 11pm.

DC said the two keys to the challenge of drugs were education and treatment.  Britain needed proper residential rehabilitation.  He rejected suggestions that he was soft on drugs but that it wasn't credible that ecstasy and heroin were in the same drugs classification.  He promised that Tory policy would be set by the shadow cabinet as a whole.

DD said that the reason why ecstasy and heroin were in the same category was that they both killed.  Downgrading cannabis always causes harm and sent a disastrous signal.  Rehab was important, he said, but DC's approach to classification was dangerous.

Both contenders agreed that the government's paternity rights might be imposing a unreasonable burden on small employers.

The Dimbleby Leadership Debate - Part 2

Responding to the murder of a Bradford WPC and Lord Stevens' call for capital punishment for police killers, DD said it was the wrong time to propose such things in the wake of such a tragedy.  He said that he did not agree with Lord Stevens' call.

DC said that he opposed capital punishment but that a life sentence should mean 'life'.

Both men opposed "routine" arming of the police but called for more armed response teams.  DD said that police may need more bullet-proof clothing.

A questioner accused DC of being "vague" on tax.  Mr Cameron said that Britain needs lower taxes and better public infrastructure.  Rather than clarifying the balance of tax cuts/public spending he means by "sharing the proceeds of growth" he attacked David Davis' specific tax cuts promises.

Mr Davis said that "there is no alternative" with today's  intense global competition for Britain to cut taxes and regulation.  With his growth rule he said that he would still be able to raise public spending but not as fast as the growth of the economy.  The difference between spending growth and economic growth would pay for tax relief.

Mr Cameron said that Tories must not be so obsessed with tax and that tax must only be one part of a wider economic strategy.  He challenged David Davis to state whether he would still cut taxes in a recession and with debt levels growing.

David Davis responded by saying that a recession was precisely the wrong time to raise taxes.  He said that Mr Cameron's "sharing the proceeds of growth" formulation meant nothing.  He said that we needed tax cuts in order to boost the economy or there would be no proceeds to share.

Asked about health Mr Davis reaffirmed his support for the patient's passport policy.

Mr Dimbleby put it to DC that his u-turn on the patient's passport policy was another example of his inconsistency.  Mr Cameron said that Conservatives were wrong to give "the impression" that they wanted people to opt out of the NHS.  He implied that he never agreed with the shadow cabinet's support for the PP policy.

Mr Davis countered that he never remembered a big argument in shadow cabinet.  He took issue with Mr Cameron's use of the word "impression" and said that on the patient's passport - as on tax - the Conservative Party should decide what was right for Britain and then communicate that for the whole of the parliament.  It should not be cowed into intellectual submission by today's opinion polls.

The Dimbleby Leadership Debate - Part 1

A few highlights from part one of this lunchtime's encounter:

David Davis promises to tackle difficult issues head-on - like tax.

David Cameron accuses DD of appealing largely to core voters.  He promises, instead, to tackle other issues like climate change and childcare.

DC stressed the support of 115 Tory MPs - including William Hague and Liam Fox.  He said that he hoped to bring the "stars" of the Conservative Party into his shadow cabinet.  He promised not to oppose Labour where Labour's reforms were in the right direction.

DD said that there was a real danger in backing Labour's timid education reforms - which were already being watered down further.  He said that Conservatives must not be accomplices to Labour when it puts forward 'second hand car' legislation.

DC responded by saying that Conservatives should not be voting with Labour's Old Labour dinosaurs when Labour's "timid" reform measures were being debated in parliament.

DD warned DC that his policy shifts on immigration and tuition fees were open to charges of opportunism.

DC said that if Conservatives did not learn the lessons of election defeats, the party would be defeated again.

Ann Widdecombe backs 'streetfighter' Davis

After a string of endorsements for David Cameron, David Davis has picked up the eleventh hour backing of Ann Widdecombe.  One of Ken Clarke's earliest backers Miss Widdecombe switched her support to Liam Fox in round two.  She describes Mr Davis as a "streetfighter" with "the strength to stand up to Blair and Brown". 

Miss Widdecombe, a darling of the constituency rubber chicken circuit, was damning about David Cameron:

"David Cameron has not come up with any substantial policies and has never held any serious office.  He has spoken at the Commons despatch box only a couple of times.  When you put it all together it does not add up to leadership."

Miss Widdecombe's support for Mr Davis comes in a Mail on Sunday article (not online) which reports that carpet tycoon Lord Harris is willing to raise a £100m warchest for David Cameron.  The MoS says that Lord Harris, 61, is prepared to invest £5m of his own money in getting David Cameron into Downing Street.  Lord Harris has backed David Cameron from the very start of the contest.