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10.30am LISTEN: William Hague comments on the latest developments in UK-Libya relations, as Ed Balls admits "none of us wanted to see the release of al-Megrahi"

ToryDiary: As an increasing number of Returning Officers seek to count ballot papers on Fridays, rather than the Thursday night, join our campaign to Save General Election Night!

Also in ToryDiary: Beyond Afghanistan, Liam Fox makes the case for investment in defence

Calum Irving on Platform: Could Conservatives ever support a minimum price for alcohol?

Seats and Candidates Diary of a PPC: Karl McCartney works hard, campaigns hard and plays hard during a hectic week in Lincoln

Roderick Bluh in Local Government: How Swindon has saved £10 million on procurement

CentreRight posts:

WATCH: Gordon Brown backs down over Libya compensation claims of IRA victims

In the latest of its Path to Power series looking at the Conservatives, the Telegraph publishes a detailed survey of attitudes to the party...

"Our poll sets out the challenge facing Mr Cameron in an attempt to answer some of the questions the public still has about this would-be government. With less than nine months to go before the next general election, these results will be uncomfortable reading for the Tory high command. The party’s apparently unassailable double-digit lead over Labour disguises doubts about Mr Cameron and what he will do if elected. At its most basic, the poll confirms what Westminster suspects – that while Labour is fatally unpopular, the Tories are not, yet, popular enough to be certain of the kind of decisive victory secured by Tony Blair in 1997." - Benedict Brogan writing in the Telegraph

...explains the party's daunting electoral task...

"Before 1997, the lowest number of Conservative MPs elected was in the post-war election which saw Clement Atlee defeat Winston Churchill. They won 210 seats. In the last three elections they have failed to get through the 200 barrier. What it means is that the Tories have never won an election from a starting point as weak as Mr Cameron’s." - Daily Telegraph

...and questions whether the party has yet made a breakthrough in the North of England

"A geographical divide also showed that Labour still polled better in the North, with only 33 per cent of voters backing the Tories compared with 35 per cent backing Labour." - Daily Telegraph

> Last night's ToryDiary: YouGov poll for the Telegraph puts Tory lead at 13% - but the details suggest David Cameron will struggle to attain a big majority

Business votes with feet in rush to Tories

"Business is focusing its lobbying efforts on the Tories rather than Labour for this autumn’s crucial pre-election round of political party conferences, figures released to the Financial Times suggest. The Conservatives sold out their flagship conference “corporate day” in early August, three weeks earlier than last year, with 80 companies paying £1,000 a head to hob-nob with George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, and other leading Tories at the Manchester event." - FT

David Davis "urges final blitz on Afghanistan"

"A Conservative backbencher has called on Britain to deploy “all the soldiers we can” to Afghanistan for a make-or-break push to regain military control within the next 18 months. Former shadow home secretary David Davis, 60, said if there was not “serious progress” in Afghanistan by the time of the US mid-term Congressional elections in November 2010, the public in Britain and America would be demanding withdrawal." - Daily Star

> David Davis wrote exclusively for ConservativeHome yesterday: We must deploy all the troops we can to Afghanistan now and stop trying to fight the war on the cheap - but if no progress is made in 18 months, the public will demand our withdrawal

> Yesterday's ToryDiary: David Cameron emphasises that British troops are fighting a "necessary war" in Afghanistan to stop terrorism at home

Gordon Brown weakened by U-turn on IRA victims' campaign for compensation from Libya

"Gordon Brown last night promised he would back the battle for compensation from Libya for the relatives of IRA bomb victims, after leaked letters showed he had initially refused to take up the issue because of fears it might harm relations with Col Muammar Gaddafi... Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was a “stunning admission” that the Government had not supported the victims’ families, adding that the decision should have been a “matter of course, not as a result of public pressure”. Liam Fox, the shadow Defence Secretary, said a Tory government would reopen negotiations with Libya on compensating IRA victims." - The Independent

> Last night's ToryDiary: William Hague accuses Brown of losing moral compass over U-turn on IRA families and Libya

Scots Tories demand truth over al-Megrahi medical reports

"The Tories and Labour last night demanded the truth over allegations that Libyan-paid doctors contributed to evidence that freed the Lockerbie bomber... Tory leader Annabel Goldie blasted the inconsistencies. She said: "We have continually said there must be a full disclosure of all medical documents. Until the Scottish Government, which has had every chance to comply with this, does so, suspicions will remain." - Scottish Sun

Gaddafi son attacks British MPs

"Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi's son has branded as "disgusting" and "immoral" the British politicians asking questions about the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Saif al Islam came to the defence of Gordon Brown and his "friends" behind the release of Abdelbaset al Megrahi." - Sky News

George Osborne on slashing MPs' pensions and payouts to 'fat cat' civil servants...

"Major cuts would be made to MPs' pensions under a Tory government, George Osborne announced yesterday. The Shadow Chancellor said MPs would be banned from joining the current gold-plated scheme based on age and time served. Mr Osborne also laid out plans to slash retirement payouts to 'fat cat' civil servants." - Daily Mail

...and backing an FSA veto for excessive City bonuses

"George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said the City watchdog should veto excessive City bonuses this year. Mr Osborne said the Financial Services Authority (FSA) should act not only against banks which are part-owned by the state, such as RBS, but also against those which have received a Government guarantee, such as Barclays." - Daily Telegraph

> WATCH: George Osborne interviewed about the economy and bankers' bonuses on this morning's Andrew Marr Show

Michael Gove responds to Labour's policy change on academies...

"The government is to abandon its policy of charging charities, businesses and individuals a £2m sponsorship fee to run academies, in a fundamental change to the scheme designed to sweep away accusations that Labour has privatised schools... Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary, said: "The government's academies programme is running on empty. New academies do not have the proper freedoms to make a decisive difference to children's education. What we need to drive up standards is a radical reform programme to give schools meaningful autonomy and hence real choice." - The Guardian

...and questions spending on school consultants

"Local authorities have spent £170 million on consultants in a government scheme to refurbish and rebuild schools in England, the Conservatives say... Shadow Children's Secretary Michael Gove questioned whether it was value for money. He said that since Building Schools for the Future (BSF) began in 2004 a new school had opened in just 15 local authorities." - BBC

Labour will not protect NHS and overseas aid budgets

"Health and overseas aid budgets will not be spared from a programme of public spending cuts that will be rolled out by ministers over the next two months, the Guardian has learned... David Cameron, intent on softening his party's harsh image, has said health and international development budgets will not be reduced, a position that has infuriated the Tory right." - The Guardian

Alan Johnson is accused of a cover-up over Gary McKinnon's legal battle

"Alan Johnson was last night accused of presiding over a cover-up after refusing to release crucial legal papers in the Gary McKinnon case... Last night, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: 'I just can't understand what the Home Office are trying to hide. There is a legal debate raging about a high profile case. Why on earth would they try to avoid setting out in detail their own legal position. It just makes no sense'." - Daily Mail

Damian Green reveals the police's £25 million annual translation bill

"Police are spending up to £70,000 a day on translation to deal with migrants caught up in crime, The Daily Telegraph can disclose... Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister who obtained the figures, said: “This reveals one more hidden cost of the failure to control immigration numbers under this Government. Many public services have been put under pressure by the scale of immigration, and the police are no exception." - Daily Telegraph

Tories set to curb powers of £300m Yorkshire quango

"Conservative council leaders are planning a radical overhaul of Yorkshire's £300m-a-year development agency ready in the event of David Cameron leading the party to victory at the next election. Plans to strip Yorkshire Forward of a string of powers for housing, transport and planning and slash its budget have already been discussed in the region in advance of a promised shake-up of quangos if the Tories win, the Yorkshire Post can reveal." - Yorkshire Post

Labour will share a platform with Nick Griffin on Question Time

"Labour has been forced to drop its policy of not sharing a platform with the BNP after the BBC confirmed that it is to invite Nick Griffin to appear on Question Time." - The Times

> Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight yesterday: It is important we confront the BNP but also that we take away their issues

Tories’ new Merseyside chairman aims to energise party

"Merseyside Conservatives have voted in a city investment director as their new party chairman. Carl Cross, who works at Rensburg Sheppards, came out top in an election last week. He said he plans to energise the party on the doorstep and hopes to scoop the Sefton Central and Southport seats for the party." - Liverpool Daily Post

Sleaford and North Hykeham attracts "more than 100" applications from would-be Tory candidates - Lincolnshire Echo

Boris Johnson: Brussels is a shining symbol of where the real power lies - Daily Telegraph

Jackie Ashley: A Tory dystopia looms, yet ministers meekly sit and wait - The Guardian

Cabinet ministers believe Brown is doomed - The Sun

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Posted on 07 September 2009 at 09:00 in September 2009 newslinks | Permalink | Comments (13)

Sunday 6th September 2009

11.45pm ToryDiary: YouGov poll for the Telegraph puts Tory lead at 13% - but the details suggest David Cameron will struggle to attain a big majority

8pm ToryDiary: William Hague accuses Brown of losing moral compass over U-turn on IRA families and Libya

7.30pm David T Breaker on CentreRight: "Up until 1939 we appeased for peace - "Peace in our time" was at least an honourable if impossible aim. Today we appease for trade - "Oil in our time" - and that is truly shameful."

5.15pm Nigel Evans MP on CentreRight: There's no space for cuts in space expenditure

2.45pm Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: The TaxPayers' Alliance enters its third phase with launch of 'Big Brother Watch'

1pm ToryDiary: Compassionate conservatism is getting stronger and deeper by the day

12.15pm WATCH: George Osborne interviewed about the economy and bankers' bonuses on this morning's Andrew Marr Show

9.45am ToryDiary: David Cameron emphasises that British troops are fighting a "necessary war" in Afghanistan to stop terrorism at home

ToryDiary: Party membership has fallen by "almost a quarter" under David Cameron's leadership

David Davis MP on Platform: We must deploy all the troops we can to Afghanistan now and stop trying to fight the war on the cheap - but if no progress is made in 18 months, the public will demand our withdrawal

Local Government: David Cameron reportedly considering giving local councils the power to set benefit levels

Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: It is important we confront the BNP but also that we take away their issues

LISTEN: Former Canadian Cabinet MInister Brian Tobin explains how the country went about reducing its budget deficit in the 1990s

Labour plotted to smear army chief's daughter - because she works for David Cameron

"A Labour plot to smear the new head of the Army, General Sir David Richards, because of his daughter’s ‘crime’ of working for David Cameron was exposed last night. The threat to target the General, who took up his new job just nine days ago, was one of the real reasons that Labour MP Eric Joyce resigned as an aide to Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth last week... The Mail on Sunday has established that Mr Joyce was also disturbed to hear Labour colleagues discuss Sir David’s 25-year-old daughter, Joanna Richards, who recently became Mr Cameron’s diary secretary." - Mail on Sunday

Lord Forsyth's proposal for a referendum on Scottish independence under "active consideration" by Tory high command

"Former Scottish secretary Michael Forsyth last week repeated his call for a referendum to be held on the same day as the next general election. Arguing that the Unionist parties should "shoot the Nationalist fox", Forsyth is warning that a referendum should be held now, to stop the SNP executing its plans... The referendum plan is understood to be under "active consideration" within the Tory high command. Equally some of his shadow Cabinet ministers – Scots-born Liam Fox among them – are thought to be in favour." - Scotland on Sunday

> Recent ToryDiary: Lord Forsyth urges Cameron to hold referendum on Scottish independence at earliest opportunity

Timing of Irish Lisbon referendum creating a headache for David Cameron

"A crucial referendum in Ireland on the controverisal Lisbon Treaty has plunged preparations for next month's Conservative conference into disarray. Party chiefs are struggling to prepare alternative policy blueprints to unveil to grassroots activists, as the mood in Ireland suggests the vote on October 2 could go either way." - Sunday Telegraph

> Last night's ToryDiary: Irish referendum on Lisbon "throws Tories into disarray"

Liam Fox: State of the Army "likely to be an election issue"

"The state of the British Army is set to become a major election issue for the first time since the Cold War, according to the Conservative Party. Tory Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox will tell an audience of military experts tomorrow that Britain’s security is being run “on a wing and a prayer”, leaving the next Government to make stark choices after Labour’s decade-long mismanagement of the defence budget." - Sunday Express

Zac Goldsmith: I won't let Cameron backtrack on our green pledges

"Multi-millionaire Tory environmental campaigner Zac Goldsmith has vowed to stand up to David Cameron if he fails to deliver on his green pledges, claiming his vast wealth means that he is ‘incorruptible’." - Mail on Sunday

The full interview with Zac Goldsmith - previewed in yesterday's Telegraph - is in the Mail on Sunday's Live magazine

Chippenham candidate Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones gives a candid assessment of David Cameron

"He's done fundraisers for me. I ain't going to slag him off," he says. "There are prejudices against him, because he's a posh git. But he can't help that. It's a bit like being black. He's fine… he's good. I would not be here if it weren't for his A-list. But the public school system creates an aura that some people might find difficult. I tend to be friendly and open. He isn't as open." - The Observer

The full interview - in which he also talks about his admiration for George Galloway and Dennis Skinner - is in the Observer magazine

The Mail on Sunday calculates MPs' hourly rates for their second jobs

"The Mail on Sunday analysis, based on declarations on the official MPs’ register of outside interests since the beginning of July, reveals that many earn more than 50 times as much per hour as their hard-pressed voters by taking on other jobs... Unsurprisingly, Conservatives dominate the list. But the tactic has backfired because Scottish Labour MP Jim Hood tops the table after admitting that he did nothing for a £625 payment last month as a consultant to Scottish Coal. Astonishingly, the former mining engineer declared hours worked as ‘nil’. Last night Mr Hood admitted: ‘I didn’t do anything last month’." - Mail on Sunday

Stephen Dorrell's company left creditors with £4 million debts when it collapsed - Sunday Times

Non-story of the day: Tory MP David Heathcoat-Amory is non-executive director of a private health firm and has private health care - Sunday Telegraph

Scots Tories want to sideline badly behaved pupils

"Scotland's worst-behaved children should be removed entirely from the school system and sent to "second-chance centres" where they must stay until their behaviour improves, the Scottish Conservatives will propose this week. The Tories will call on the SNP government to open entirely new schools for the most disruptive pupils in the country, some of whom have been excluded from school five or more times." - Scotland in Sunday

Tories debate "mass sale of public assets"

"Selling off a range of public bodies would be a "get out of jail card" as the Tories desperately try to balance the books, according to tax lawyer Charlie Elphicke, who has advised the party's economic team... Mr Elphicke, the Tory candidate for Dover, said: "The budget deficit this year and next year is expected to be £180 billion. If you reduce spending by £60 billion and put taxes up by £40 billion you still have a huge hole, a massive borrowing overhang. How do you reduce the level of borrowing and repair the public finances? Asset sales are the one thing that is a get out of jail free card." - Sunday Telegraph

> Charlie Elphicke on CentreRight last month: Getting to grips with what hundreds of billions of government borrowing will actually entail (and alas it may include tax rises)

Janet Daley: David Cameron's straight talk on al-Megrahi is what the public wants to hear

"Over these past tumultuous days, Mr Cameron has looked unambiguously, unblinkingly candid and sincere. Watching and listening to his broadcast comments, I have never for a second doubted that he was speaking the truth as he saw it, that his outrage and his condemnations were perfectly genuine, and that his interventions had involved almost no carefully premeditated calculation as to precise degree of political risk or possible consequence. Which, I'm sorry to say, is not precisely the effect that his statements on domestic policy have for me." - Janet Daley writing in the Sunday Telegraph

Fraser Nelson : Why we are in Afghanistan

"It's about who we are as a nation: what Britain is for. For better or worse, the war against militant Islam is taking place in Afghanistan. It is a battle of endurance. If we fail, it sends a message to psycho states around the globe: that the West has no stomach for battle. It would embolden Iran. Persuade the Taliban to march on Pakistan and get hold of the nukes. Invite hell." - Fraser Nelson in the News of the World

Libya paid for medical advice that helped Lockerbie bomber's release

"The British, Scottish and Libyan governments connived to free Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. Medical evidence that helped Megrahi, 57, to be released was paid for by the Libyan government, which encouraged three doctors to say he had only three months to live. Douglas Carswell, the Conservative MP, said the latest disclosures were “outrageous” and left the British and Scottish governments facing tough new questions. “This is further evidence that our Government has done a grubby deal with a nasty regime,” he said." - Sunday Telegraph

Gordon Brown vetoes Libyan payout to IRA victims - Sunday Times

Labour accuse Caroline Spelman of hypocrisy over home extension

"Top Tory Caroline Spelman is adding a major extension to her £2million home - despite battling for a change in the law to stop people building in their back gardens. As David Cameron's spokeswoman on planning issues, Ms Spelman provoked fury last week by telling councils to halt major home developments. She said a future Tory regime would review planned housing schemes and is determined to stop "garden-grabbing" developers who buy up gardens to build new homes. But we can reveal Communities Secretary Ms Spelman is grabbing part of her own large garden to build a major extension to her luxurious home in the West Midlands. - Sunday Mirror

BNP leader to appear on BBC's Question Time

"The BBC has provoked controversy by giving the British National party a platform for the first time on Question Time, its top current affairs programme. Nick Griffin, the BNP leader who was elected to the European parliament in June, is expected to be on the show in October. The corporation has decided that the far-right party deserves more airtime because it has demonstrated “electoral support at a national level." - Sunday Times

Ed Balls attacks Tory schools policy - Independent on Sunday | Sunday Mirror

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Posted on 06 September 2009 at 08:58 in September 2009 newslinks | Permalink | Comments (15)

Saturday 5th September 2009

10pm ToryDiary: Irish referendum on Lisbon "throws Tories into disarray"

9pm Peter Franklin on CentreRight: Local by-elections - do they matter?

7.15pm WATCH: G20 ministers agree action on bank bonuses

5pm ToryDiary: Those Tories backing Nigel Farage in Buckingham are being drawn into a stunt orchestrated by our political opponents

12.30pm WATCH: Gordon Brown urges G20 finance ministers to go ahead with their fiscal stimulus package

11am Local Government: A full run-down of Thursday's local government by-election results

ToryDiary: A Conservative Government would prioritise tackling the excesses of public sector pensions

Bob Seely on Platform: The lessons the Conservatives must learn from the Labour Government's appalling treatment and use of the Armed Forces

Local Government: Over 300 proposals for quality of life improvements

WATCH: Alistair Darling says a cap on bonuses for bankers would be "unenforceable"

George Osborne: Electioneering is putting confidence in Britain's economy at risk

"If they expect the economy to return to growth this year, how can they continue with large increases in public spending next year that the country cannot afford? Most other countries are looking for ways to turn the spending taps off, not to open them up. The answer has everything to do with the politics of an lelection and nothing to do with the economic interests of the British people." - George Osborne writing in the Daily Telegraph

"Britain risks losing the confidence of the international markets unless it started tackling its record budget deficit, Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne said on Friday. Speaking ahead of a G20 finance ministers' meeting in London this weekend, he said Britain's huge debt and continued public spending threatened to stall its recovery." - Reuters

Andrew Lansley says the contract for NHS dentists requires a "complete overhaul"

"Huge variations in dental costs across the country have emerged from figures showing that in some areas practitioners are paid almost 10 times as much as others... The shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, claimed the wide price variation proved that the system was not working. "It's not surprising dentists are deeply unhappy with NHS dentistry when the system Labour has created is so flawed," he said. "It must be hugely frustrating for many dentists to know that others just down the road are being paid so much more for doing very similar work. The contract the government has introduced for NHS dentists needs a complete overhaul if we are to turn things around. We need to give our NHS dentists a better system in which to work if people are to get the dental care they need." - The Guardian

Dominic Grieve attacked in constituency office over planning row

"Dominic Grieve, the shadow justice secretary, was attacked in his constituency office yesterday in a row over planning. The assault, by a female constituent, is understood to have happened following a heated discussion at the office in Beaconsfield." - Daily Telegraph

Boris suggests people fast for a day during Ramadan to learn more about Islam...

"I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbour and break your fast at the local mosque. I would be very surprised if you didn't find that you share more in common than you thought. Muslims are at the heart of every aspect of society. Their contribution is something that all Londoners benefit from. Muslim police officers, doctors, scientists and teachers are an essential part of the fabric of London." - Boris Johnson quoted in the Daily Telegraph

...as the London Mayor's former deputy faces fraud charges

"A tumultuous week for Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, continued yesterday when one of his former leading aides was charged with fraud. Ian Clement, the former deputy mayor for external relations, will appear in court on Tuesday charged with five counts of abusing his expenses. It caps a rough week for the Conservative administration in London. Johnson and his handpicked head of policing came under fire for claiming they had seized control of the Metropolitan police. Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor for policing, told the Guardian he and the mayor had "their hands on the tiller" of Scotland Yard, drawing a furious reaction from the Met commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson." - The Guardian

Independent-minded Zac Goldsmith: I'm too rich to be corrupted

"A multimillionaire Tory candidate has claimed that he is too rich to be corrupted, while poorer MPs are distracted by trying to fiddle their expenses. ... “Politics mustn’t become a place where you have to be wealthy to be independent,” Mr Goldsmith told The Mail on Sunday Live magazine. “The flip side, for me at least, is that I was born into a position of privilege and am therefore not corruptible"... He added: “I have never been a member of a party in the sense that one supports a football team. If I need to campaign on the issues that matter to me, then I will." - Daily Telegraph

Further coverage of Nigel Farage's decision to quit the UKIP leadership to concentrate on challenging John Bercow in Buckingham

“In the past we were perceived as a one-man band but that is just not the case anymore. We have a breadth and depth of talent that can take up the role of party leader very well, allowing me to be spokesman in Europe and also freeing me up to do what is necessary to win the Buckingham seat". Nigel Farage MEP quoted in The Times

> Yesterday's ToryDiary posts:

> WATCH: Nigel Farage explains why he is stepping down as UKIP leader and is challenging John Bercow

Gurkha elected as Tory councillor in Kent

"Tashi Bhutia, Britain's first Tory Gurkha, has won a local council election. The Nepalese ex-serviceman, who will represent the Luton and Wayfield ward, received 1,042 votes, just four ahead of a rival Labour candidate in a turnout of 30 per cent." - Daily Telegraph

> Yesterday in Local Government: Ex-Gurkha wins by-election in Kent

The FT welcomes the prospect of a leaders' TV debate during the election

"The traditional line that Britain should not go down the American path of character-driven politics, and that televised debates between party leaders would contribute to the presidentialisation of British politics, is high-minded, but quaint. For better or worse, Britons have long voted for leaders as much as for parties, manifestos or local candidates." - FT editorial

Matthew Parris: The Tories are beginning to equivocate on Aghanistan

"What of the Tories? How are they feeling about Britain’s souring task in Helmand? Having once been one of them, I can tell you this: there’s no point asking. You won’t get a straight answer. There are three good reasons for this, and one bad one. The bad reason is that most MPs don’t stick their necks out or they wouldn’t have heads." - Matthew Parris writing in The Times

Iain Duncan Smith: Intervention in dysfunctional families must be a priority

"To those who prefer to deal only with the symptoms of social failure, I can only say that the burgeoning criminal justice costs show you cannot arrest your way out of this problem. Unless we intervene now to change the lives of the next generation, our children and grandchildren will bear an almost impossible social and financial cost." - Iain Duncan Smith writing in the Daily Telegraph

Alice Thomson: Why politicians love The X Factor

"The X Factor has become the show that every politician must watch rather than the Six O’Clock News or Question Time. Now that politicians find it increasingly nerve-racking actually talking to voters for fear that they will start complaining about moats and manure, The X Factor is their dose of normality, their way of feeling connected to the public... The Prime Minister fires off e-mails at 3am but never 7pm on a Saturday now that X Factor is back... The Tories are equally consumed. For a few years their Bible was The West Wing. Now it’s X Factor and Simon Cowell, the series’ creator and Mr Nasty. Steve Hilton says that the series is genius." - Alice Thomson writing in The Times

Barack Obama was 'really taken' with David Cameron - The Guardian's Andrew Sparrow

Alistair Darling: Spending cuts are on the way - The Times

Andrew Grice: Time is running out for Gordon Brown - The Independent

Jack Straw admits Lockerbie bomber's release was linked to oil - Daily Telegraph

Public rejects Murdoch view of BBC, says ICM poll - The Guardian

Nine out of ten MP still face questions over their expenses - Daily Telegraph

MPs are pocketing up to £5,000 an hour during their 82-day summer holiday - Daily Mail

As the Daily Telegraph begins a week-long series looking at the Conservatives, Anthony Seldon asks: What sort of Prime Minister would David Cameron be?

"Cameron is philosophy-lite for a Conservative leader, and does not fit into any clear mould of Tory history. He is a pragmatist, like Baldwin and Harold Macmillan, and his political agenda, rather than emanating from deep reading or religious convictions, has taken shape in response to events... Cameron will go into the general election next year with a manifesto built upon three pillars, known to his staff as the ''three brokens'': reforming the broken society, the broken economy and the broken politics." - Anthony Seldon writing in the Daily Telegraph

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Posted on 05 September 2009 at 09:00 in September 2009 newslinks | Permalink | Comments (23)

Friday 4th September 2009

10.30pm ToryDiary: Nearly two-thirds of Tory members would back Nigel Farage against John Bercow

8.15pm WATCH: Nigel Farage explains why he is stepping down as UKIP leader and is challenging John Bercow

8pm AmericaInTheWorld: Obama is warned against "Rumsfeldian half-measures" in Afghanistan

5.30pm Earlier ToryDiary updated with CCHQ statement of support for John Bercow

5.15pm WATCH: Gordon Brown calls on NATO allies to do more in Afghanistan

11.30am ToryDiary: Tories in Buckingham will be free to vote for Nigel Farage but CCHQ worries about publicity coup for UKIP

11.30am Mark Wallace on CentreRight: The £3.4 billion budget for promoting a country called Europe

ToryDiary: Murdoch's decision to charge for content will be the making of the blogosphere

ToryDiary: Iain Martin becomes Deputy Editor of Wall Street Journal Europe

Caroline Boin on Platform: How taxpayer-funded foreign aid is being used to spread government-endorsed ideology

Local government: Poundbury takes a pounding

Local government: Ex-Gurkha wins by-election for Tories in Kent

LISTEN: Caroline Lucas MEP claims that David Cameron's emphasis on climate change produced surge in support for Green Party

WATCH:

'The public will not accept for much longer that our losses [in Afghanistan] can be justified' - Eric Joyce in The Independent

Nigel Farage to quit as UKIP leader - BBC

> Yesterday Mr Farage announced his intention to stand against Speaker Bercow at the General Election

Met chiefs insist they are in charge after Boris Johnson aide claimed Conservative oversight - Guardian

George Osborne attacks Alistair Darling's support for a further stimulus

"There's a fundamental contradiction at the heart of Alistair Darling's argument. He says that he expects, as we do, that Britain will come out of recession this year and yet he wants to go on with large increases in public spending next year, when he knows the country cannot afford it. His position has everything to do with the politics of a looming election and nothing to do with the economic interests of the British people." - The Shadow Chancellor quoted in The Independent

Allister Heath in City AM attacks Gordon Brown's surrender to the French and Germans on "crude" controls of bank bonuses

Andrew Lansley asks for cost of NHS job cuts report that Labour immediately rejected

"Labour now claim to have rejected these ideas, but why were they spending taxpayers’ money on management consultants to draw up this report if they had no intention of using the findings? Labour need to come clean on how much money they have wasted on this whole exercise.” - The Shadow Health Secretary quoted on PoliticsHome.com

Competition between hospitals has CUT inequality - FT

"The time for creative thought about the costs of the NHS is not nigh. It is here." - Times leader

David Cameron promises inquiry into the release of the Lockerbie bomber - Daily Mail

Labour appointees run the quangocracy and the Tories must dismantle it

Writing in The Spectator Dennis Sewell lists the ex-Labour ministers given plum places in the quangocracy: "David Clark got the Forestry Commission, Chris Smith the Environment Agency, Geoff Rooker the Food Standards Agency. Larry Whitty, the party’s former general secretary, is chairman of Consumer Focus (where Dame Suzi is a fellow board member — that freelance consumer consultancy experience came in useful after all). Baroness Morgan won a seat on the board of the Olympic Delivery Authority, Lord Warner went straight into a paid NHS chairmanship. The list seems endless."

> Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: "Labour's twenty year rule of appointment-land will mean they'll lose office but not power next year"

Ministers should attend soldiers' funerals - The Western Mail reports on David Davies MP's Platform piece of yesterday

Tories need to share Murdoch view on BBC - Amanda Andrews in The Telegraph

Jeff Randall: Cameron has most to lose from election debate

"Mr Cameron has most to lose from engaging in a debate. He is so close to No 10, he can smell the leather chairs in the Cabinet room. The soft option would be to try to slip into power, taking no chances, leaving his adversary to drown in the red ink of ballooning government deficits and unemployment bills. That he seems prepared to take up the challenge of a televised shoot-out is to his credit, and a sign of growing confidence." - Jeff Randall in The Telegraph

Andy McSmith predicts that the Greens will make a breakthrough at the General Election - Independent

Financial market reform is at heart of Barroso's bid to be re-elected Head of EU - Guardian

New German election poll suggests Angela Merkel's support falling and Right and Left parties tied - Telegraph

Please use this thread to highlight other interesting news and commentary and visit PoliticsHome.com for breaking political news and views throughout the day.

Posted on 04 September 2009 at 08:56 in September 2009 newslinks | Permalink | Comments (21)