The rumblings of right-wing discontent at David Cameron’s leadership grow louder on the day that he confirms the end of the patient’s passport (on which the Tories fought the last election) – of which more later. Irwin Stelzer – a key aide of Rupert Murdoch – uses a column in The Guardian to complain about […]
Asked on Monday’s World Tonight what modern compassionate conservatism was defined by, Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley suggested that it was about tackling growing inequality of life expectancy and ensuring wealthy Britain met its responsibilities to excluded Britain. Today’s Scotsman frontpages evidence that that growing inequality is horrifyingly real. It finds parts of Scotland where […]
"Lie back and think of England" is how The Sun headlines its whistleblower story on sex-for-passports in a Croydon immigration office: "A sex for passports racket at Britain’s busiest immigration centre is exposed today by The Sun. Corrupt officials bed attractive girls desperate to avoid being kicked out of the country in return for granting […]
If you’ve tuned out of politics since 23rd December you have missed a great deal but here is a three minute summary… Oliver Letwin got nearly every 23rd December visitor to this site dizzy with remarks on redistribution. I was one of very few people to defend his basic position. Given that every Tory government […]
A new YouGov survey for The Daily Telegraph suggests that support for the death penalty has fallen below 50% for the first time since it was repealed more than 40 years ago. The fall in public support to 49% comes despite Lord Stevens’ recent high profile call for police killers to face capital punishment. Attitudes […]
It’s not often I agree with Chris Patten but he talked a lot of sense on last evening’s World Tonight (Radio 4). The former EU foreign affairs commissioner and former Tory Chairman was reacting to ‘GasGate‘ (as I shall call it) and Russia’s apparent attempts to punish Ukraine’s Orange Revolutionaries for rejecting its preferred presidential […]
David Cameron may be distancing himself from Michael Howard’s policies on immigration and the NHS but the ex-Tory leader had nothing but praise for the man he positioned to succeed him. He promised to loyally cheer Mr Cameron from his new position on the backbenches. Mr Howard told Radio 4’s World at One that Mr […]
In a recent editorial this blog expressed some concern at the way the Cameron leadership has been backing away from traditional Tory commitments on, for example, school choice and tax relief. In that respect The Telegraph’s leader on yesterday’s Tory ad strikes a chord with us. The leader noted that there there will be "dismay" […]
Tory strategists are likely to paint Gordon Brown as the roadblock to reform at the next election – assuming a Brown-Vs-Cameron contest. Mr Brown has already played important roles in watering down Tony Blair’s NHS and education reforms. Today’s Independent suggests that Mr Brown is determined to pre-empt that attack. The Chancellor is reportedly considering […]
"IN THE WHOLE OF 2006, EACH POLICE OFFICER IN ENGLAND AND WALES WILL MAKE, ON AVERAGE, JUST NINE AND A HALF ARRESTS. The police are the last great unreformed public service. We shouldn’t treat them with kid gloves just because officers do a brave job: we need radical police reform to help cut crime." Of […]
That is the question exercising a number of newspapers today and there are at least five answers on offer. They certainly don’t amount to a comprehensive account of what people Cameronism might be but they are all worthy of mention… "SIX PRIORITIES"DEFINITION 1 – PROVIDED BY CCHQ CCHQ has paid for a full page advertisement […]
At the 2005 Labour Party spring conference, Gordon Brown delivered an impressive speech to Labour activists. It combined, in equal measures, self congratulation and scathing attacks on the Conservatives. Not much wrong in that, it’s a politician’s lot to do this, but senior Labour politicians have taken these tricks of the trade to new and […]
The Sunday Times carries an interview with David Cameron. Mr Cameron uses the interview with David Cracknell to target Gordon Brown: “He sweeps his hands across the dispatch box like he’s about to throttle somebody. I think he’s very much a 1980s politician. He’s a creature of the past to me, really, and by the […]
Given that it’s New Year’s Day here are my favourite ‘entries’ for the Caption Competitions from the Leadership Election… And if you are still short of amusement try this: Bush and Blair declare their love for one another…
Chad Noble of the Centre for Progressive Conservatism explains his mission. The Conservative Party has come a long way in the seven months since I joined it in the wake of yet another election defeat. At that stage there seemed little chance of the Party adopting a progressive outlook, so it became clear that progressive […]