thetorydiary

The Left-wing press and political opponents occasionally try to continue propagating the myth that after leaving the federalist European People's Party, the Conservatives have now somehow lost the ear of those parties which remain in the EPP.

This is of course patent nonsense, not least as it is clearly in the interests of our European neighbours to be on good terms with those likely to forming the British government in the not too distant future.

But it didn't stop the BBC trying to suggest in October, for example, that relations were strained between the Tories and Angela Merkel's CDU.

Well, they are that strained, that - as today's FT reports - Shadow Chancellor George Osborne was afforded a warm welcome in Berlin yesterday by Wolfang Schäuble - the finance minister in Angela Merkel's Government.

Mr Osborne has also recently held two meetings with Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister.

As the FT reports:

Mr Osborne's team argues his programme of quiet diplomacy is proof that the channels of communication between the Tory opposition and decision-makers in Paris and Berlin are strong.

"I want to make sure the British government's voice is heard on important financial issues," Mr Osborne said. "It has been useful to build personal relationships with finance ministers. I hope to put them to good use if we win the election."

So can this ridiculous idea of ex-EPP colleagues giving the British Conservatives the cold shoulder be put to bed once and for all?

Update: Here is a photo taken yesterday of George Osborne and shadow Treasury minister, Greg Hands, with Steffen Kampeter MdB, Wolfgang Schäuble's deputy, taken outside the Bundestag.

Jonathan Isaby

In my post yesterday morning on the Right's reaction to the appointment of Herman Van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton to their new European Union jobs, I alluded to concerns among Tories in Brussels about the fact that it was likely that a Commissioner from France or Germany would be responsible for the internal market and financial services.

The French newspaper, Le Monde, has suggested that the appointment of Baroness Ashton was indeed only agreed by the French on condition that a French MEP, Michel Barnier, be appointed the Commissioner (and indeed a Vice President of the Commission) responsible for... the internal market and financial services.

As today's Independent reports, William Hague is demanding the Government explain what has been agreed behind closed doors:

"If Gordon Brown has done a deal that would mean a French commissioner being in charge of the economic issues that affect Britain the most then that could be a serious concern. Our French partners have a different view on market issues that touch on Britain's vital economic interests. I look forward to the Government taking this opportunity to be completely open about what has been agreed."

In a letter to the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, Mr Hague adds:

"The financial services sector is an area of extreme sensitivity for the British national interest. It is of crucial importance to the future of a pro-growth EU that there is no retreat from the principle of a free market within the EU."

Michael Fallon, the senior Conservative MP on the Treasury Select Commitee, echoed these concerns on Radio 4's The World Tonight yesterday evening (24 mins 30 second in, but only available on the BBC iPlayer for one week).

He said that the City would be "extremely alarmed" at the prospect of a "protectionist, anti-London and anti-market" Commissioner taking such a crucial portfolio and suggested that surrendering one of the big economic portfolios at the Commission (ie trade) for the position of High Representative on Foreign Affairs was detrimental to the UK's interests. He said that it was a case of "game, set and match to the French" in their desire to add to the regulatory burden on the City of London.

> Today's Times has a good account of the wheeling and dealing that went on over the allocation of jobs and suggests that a number of other British names were considered for the High Representative before Baroness Ashton, making here the fourth choice for the post.

Jonathan Isaby

In what is a most rare occurrence, the Daily Mail and the Guardian agree on a headline to cover the story of the appointment of the EU's new President and High Representative - "The Great EU Stitch-Up".

So how have the appointments of Herman Van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton been received by the Right and the wider Eurosceptic Movement?

Last night I noted the reaction of Shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague:

"We congratulate Herman van Rompuy and Cathy Ashton on their appointments. We wish them well. We will work with them in the British national interest. We did not agree with the Lisbon Treaty’s establishment of these posts but they are now a fact. We look to the President of the Council and the High Representative to ensure that the EU’s business as an association of nation states is conducted efficiently.

“So I am very pleased that those of us across Europe who said that the President should be a chairman, not a chief, have won the argument. Gordon Brown spent a great deal of energy and political capital trying to secure the presidency for Tony Blair. The summit’s result is a defeat for him. Now that Britain will no longer have an EU Commissioner with a major economic brief it will be vital that the British Government, whichever party is in power, engages closely with the EU Commission to ensure that it keeps to a pro-growth agenda.”

Timothy Kirkhope, Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, questioned Baroness Ashton's legitmacy, according to the BBC:

"We now have someone who has never faced the British electorate in a post created by a treaty that also never faced the British electorate."

And speaking to the Daily Express, he says:

“Most Belgian politicians seem to love high taxes even more than chocolate, beer and frites so it is no surprise Mr Van Rompuy wants new EU-wide taxes set by Brussels. If the EU were allowed to raise its own taxes it would be the master of the national governments, rather than ­servant. I want the EU to go cap in hand to national governments every few years for its money so ­individual member states can better control the process of funding.”

Conservative MP and Better Off Out supporter, Philip Davies, was singularly unimpressed at the appointment of Mr Van Rompuy:

"Top Tories" usually aren't "top" but they are a favourite tabloid describer of every "naughty" Tory.

If you want to become a Top Tory I suggest...

1. Get caught in bed with a goat.

2. Make questionable use of your expenses.

3. Wear inappropriate fancy dress.

4. Attack the party leadership again and again and again. This is the strategy being pursued relentlessly by Edward McMillan-Scott. The Guardian (again today) and the BBC have given him more coverage since he started smearing Michal Kaminski than in the rest of his political career. One of the most interesting features of EMS's pieces is the obsession with Dan Hannan. What can explain this? Jealousy? Fear? Paranoia? Hopefully even the left-wing media will get bored of Mr McMillan-Scott eventually.

Tim Montgomerie

> Meanwhile Paul Waugh blogs that Dan Hannan is planning a new pro-referendum campaign.

The Tory leadership is delighted that the announcement of the new Europe policy has gone quite so smoothly. Team Cameron will be disappointed at the hostility of yesterday's Daily Mail but there has been no significant upset from within the parliamentary party or from The Sun or Telegraph. To a very large extent the party appears to have recovered its once secret weapon: Unity. And, as expected, The Guardian and other left-of-centre media are largely content that the party has downed its Eurosceptic weapons.

The party was more worried about voters seeing Cameron as untrustworthy, because of his referendum shift, than they were worried at the anger of Eurosceptics. A poll of more than one thousand voters by PoliticsHome will reassure them:

PoliticsHome find that 52% think that David Cameron's new Europe policy is a "fair adaptation of a policy to fit new circumstances." 42%, however see Cameron as having broken a promise. 77% of Conservative supporters back the Tory leader's new policy.

Channel 4's 'Fact Check' team have also concluded that Cameron has NOT broken a promise:

"Cameron has campaigned so vociferously for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty that it's easy to think he gave a "cast-iron guarantee" to put the Treaty to the vote no matter what. But when he used that now-famous phrase, he did appear to be talking about the Treaty pre-ratification, rather than undoing the signed-on-the-dotted line that will now become an EU-wide reality."

63% of voters still want a referendum - very similar to the 66% of Tory members wanting a referendum (according to ConHome's own survey).

The first opinion poll after Cameron's European announcement found the Tory lead slightly up at 14%.

Tim Montgomerie

Live blog of David Cameron press conference from 4pm. Highlights, not verbatim.

• We cannot hold a referendum to stop Lisbon now that it has been ratified any more than we can stop the sun rising.
• The betrayal of voters on a referendum on Lisbon by Labour and the Liberal Democrats is akin to the expenses scandal for undermining public trust in politics.
• We will amend the 1972 European Treaty to give the British people a 'referendum lock' so that no further powers can be given away without their consent. This will be similar to what the Irish have.
• I don't think a "made up referendum" would achieve anything and wouldn't bare scrutiny. Our manifesto will give us the mandate we need. It would be a waste of time and money to have a referendum which would have no practical effect.
• A new United Kingdom Sovereignty Bill will be passed so that ultimate authority resides in Britain this is similar to what Germany already has.
• Parliament will have to approve any use of the Lisbon Treaty's ratchet clauses that can take more powers by stealth.
• We aim to renegotiate control of social and employment laws, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and criminal justice policy.
• William Hague is beginning detailed work on the complex negotiations that lie ahead.
• European integration must not be a one way street. We aim to establish the principle that powers can be returned to nation states as well as given up.
• I know that some people want us to go further but Britain is facing the most serious crisis in the public finances. Addressing that will be a Conservative government's top priority.
• I say to our European partners that we do not plan to sabotage the EU with these renegotiations but to put Britain's place in Europe on a proper basis that can command the confidence of the British people.
• People were told that they were joining a Common Market, but they joined a European Union. The new Conservative policy is a credible policy that voters who have been treated badly can believe in.

Here is a PDF of Cameron's remarks.

During questions Cameron says he will use accession negotiations and budget reviews to press his negotiating demands but rejects 'a six month war' over Europe in which he attempts to achieve everything all at once.

***
Before the press conference begins at 4pm I have just received briefings from Tory MPs who have just attended the special parliamentary meeting with David Cameron. This is what I have learnt:

• There'll be no referenda on Lisbon (we knew that), nor a referendum to achieve a mandate for a wider renegotiation (we suspected that and now know it for definite).
• If elected to government David Cameron will seek to repatriate powers on 'fundamental rights', social and employment law and on criminal justice policy. 
• There might be a referendum if Europe does not co-operate with renegotiations but no mechanisms were detailed as to how repatriations would be achieved.
• There will be a British Sovereignty Act to stop further transfer of powers and a promise to put all future Treaties to referenda will be enshrined in an amendment to the 1972 European Act.
• Apparently the Tory whips and key frontbenchers were coordinating applause for Cameron.

Up until now no big beast within the Conservative Party had stood up to demand some sort of new referendum pledge from David Cameron. That changes this morning with David Davis calling on the Tory leadership to hold a 'mandate referendum' even though the former Shadow Home Secretary agrees with Mr Cameron that there's no point in having a vote on the now ratified Lisbon Treaty.

Mr Davis - the man most trusted by the Tory grassroots to lead Britain's negotiations in Europe - makes his case in the Daily Mail:

"Referendums terrify the European Commission and the political elites who run Europe. They are clear statements of the popular will. They force issues to be stated in clear and unambiguous terms. They are impossible to ignore. That is why the European reaction to referendums is to make concessions. Look at the history. After Ireland's first rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Council conceded legally binding protocols pledging to keep the treaty out of taxation policy, family and social issues (such as the right to life, abortion and euthanasia), and Ireland's traditional military neutrality. Denmark has obtained similar opt-outs after a referendum, and the defeat in the French and Dutch referendums led to the rewrite of the original European Constitution."

Mr Davis then goes on to list the range of powers that should be restored to Britain:

"The sort of things we might include are: recovering control over our criminal justice, asylum and immigration policies; a robust opt-out of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights; serious exemptions to the seemingly endless flood of European regulations which cost the UK economy billions of pounds each year; a recovery of our rights to negotiate on trade; exemption from European interference into trade in services and foreign direct investment rules; and an exemption from any restrictions on our foreign policy."

He calls for this 'mandate-to-negotiate referendum' to be "the first piece of legislation in the new parliament, and should be held within three months of the election."

ConHome's poll of grassroots members shows that most agree with David Davis. We found that two-thirds of Tory members want some sort of referendum.

Tim Montgomerie

6pm update:

William Hague has officially confirmed to Sky News that a Conservative Government would not hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. More here. David Cameron will be giving a news conference on the matter tomorrow afternoon at 4pm.

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I never thought the day would come when I appeared on a radio discussion about Europe and that I would be the person chosen by the producer to be the voice of moderation.

I have been a staunch eurosceptic since I first started following politics in the late 1980s when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. I remember the day I was thrown out of a German class aged fourteen for arguing with the europhile teacher against her integrationist position.

And I fondly recall how I went to the summer conference of the youth wing of the French RPR party in 1998 and addressed an audience of 2,000 (in French) with my British Conservative vision of Europe (borrowing a phrase of John Redwood's in my assertion that "L'Europe est notre continent et pas notre pays").

Yet today I found myself in Simon Mayo's Radio 5 Live studio at the BBC arguing against Robert Oulds, a Conservative councillor and director of the Bruges Group, on the issue of the Lisbon Treaty.

Robert was arguing that it would be a failure of leadership on David Cameron's part not to give the country a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if he becomes Prime Minister next year. His position was virtually  theological in arguing that David Cameron made that "guarantee" in 2007 and that he simply has to follow through with it and hold a referendum.

Tim has already explained here the context of that guarantee and why, therefore, it is unfair to suggest that it should necessarily still stand. And earlier he cited the Spectator's James Forsyth who this morning provided an eloquent analogy which I reproduce again here :

...so says the BBC's Laura Kuennsberg.

Sunday's ConservativeHome exclusive on the Lisbon referendum has been followed up by almost every national newspaper today and we've just put a survey online to get your views on the now widely anticipated new Tory policy.

The Czech Constitutional Court has just approved the Lisbon Treaty and the only barrier to ratification now is the signature of President Vaclav Klaus. David Cameron may be in front of the nation's cameras within hours to set out the new Conservative policy. He does now need to move quickly in order to stop MPs, newspapers and campaign organisations digging themselves into entrenched positions. One very big beast in the party told me yesterday that they were putting pen to paper in favour of a post-ratification referendum. That beast will not do so once the policy position has been stated by the leader. "It'll be impossible then," they said.

One Conservative frontbencher (and this is not a verbatim quote but pretty accurate) got closest to what (I think) the leadership thinks on this issue. This is what they said to me yesterday:

"David Cameron only has a finite number of hours in the day. The same is true of Conservative ministers. We can spend the next few years as a government devoting those hours to cutting the deficit, delivering world class schools and hospitals and rebuilding our inner cities. Or we could spend those hours on a war with Europe. A war that we probably can't win. Brown has buggered us. This is not David's fault. This is Brown's fault. Cameron and Hague would have held that referendum if Lisbon had not been ratified. Any kind of referendum would now be a distraction from what really matters to voters. We'll renegotiate some powers but the Conservative Party must not again be defined by Europe and European splits."

Tim Montgomerie

10.15am update: The BBC cites an interview David Cameron has done this morning with LBC radio, in which he expresses disappointment at the decision of the Czech Constitutional Court, adding: "I of course hope he [Klaus] doesn't sign the treaty but I suspect time is running out". The report adds that Mr Cameron will decide "later this week" what his course of action would be on winning power.

Jonathan Isaby

ConHome's story yesterday may have been the most noticed and comprehensive account of the new Tory policy on Europe but it is fair to acknowledge that others had already explored the same possibilities.

The Guardian's Nick Watt wrote this on 4th October:

"David Cameron is to rule out a referendum on the Lisbon treaty if the measure is ratified by all 27 members of the EU before next year's general election in Britain... In a move to assuage Eurosceptic anger inside and outside his party, Cameron will instead launch a campaign to repatriate powers which the Tories believe should be held at a national level. Cameron is planning to:

• Repatriate social and employment powers to a national level. This would effectively mean restoring Britain's opt out from the social chapter and would need the agreement of all 27 member states.
• Demand greater power over justice and home affairs. Under Lisbon these are voted on under a system which gives no member state a veto. France and Germany are likely to resist change here because it would mean unpicking this part of the treaty which gives Britain an "opt in" – the right to refuse to sign up to laws in this area.
• Issue a warning to the EU that a Tory government will adopt a hardline stance if its demands are not accepted. This could involve holding a UK referendum on Cameron's more modest proposals or holding up the next round of EU treaties to admit Croatia and Iceland into the union."

We don't often republish whole press releases from Tory MPs but this press release from Bill Cash MP has just landed in the inbox:

“A referendum on the Lisbon Treaty was promised by the Labour Government. Whatever weasel words have been used to suggest otherwise, the Lisbon treaty combines all the Treaties and therefore is about all the Treaties since 1972 but has been pushed through with bullying of smaller states and the breaking of promises in a monumental cascade of deceit.

As David Cameron has said, we need an association of member states. In order to achieve this, we cannot simply cherry-pick individual aspects of the treaty and call for renegotiation of those. We need a full referendum on Lisbon as we were promised and as we voted in the House of Commons. No ifs or buts. This is about the Government of the United Kingdom operating in line with the democratic wishes of the electorate. 

“Future referendums will be ruled out with the arrangements in the treaty which allow amendment of treaties by internal self-amending text, and with a massive transfer of powers under the system of co-decision.

ConservativeHome's analysis of Lisbon from last night has lit up the blogosphere since it was posted shortly after 7pm. Following a weekend working the phones ConHome suggested that there would be no post-ratification referendum from the Tories on Lisbon and, more interestingly, the Cameron leadership would also be unlikely to hold a wider referendum to win authority for renegotiation. Instead the party will seek a 'manifesto mandate' to renegotiate. Here is a selection of the reaction:

The Telegraph's Benedict Brogan: "Tim Montgomerie has livened things up tonight with a post crystallising what has been apparent for some time: there will be no referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if it is ratified by the time David Cameron gets to Downing Street."

James Forsyth in The Spectator: "A vote on Lisbon once it had been ratified would only have had moral force so the Tory policy shift is not a betrayal of Euro-scepticism." I had argued that Eurosceptics would trust the leadership on renegotiation if the job was given to someone like John Redwood or David Davis. James suggests Theresa Villiers.

Iain Dale sympathises with the Tory belief that a 'manifesto mandate' will be enough and a post-Lisbon, pre-renegotiation referendum might not be necessary: "I can see a very strong case for a referendum with the aim of giving the British government a direct mandate to negotiate repatriation of powers, but it is equally possible to argue that this mandate would already have been given by virtue of the policy being included in a party election manifesto.

Guido also addresses the issue of a 'manifesto mandate': "Only if the Tory manifesto says “we will renegotiate our relationship with the EU thus…” will they be able to say they have consulted with and won a mandate from the British people."

Iain Martin, at the Wall Street Journal, says European leaders will be delighted at the shift in the Conservative position. He goes on to worry at the weakness of the Eurosceptic movement:

"As a movement, Euroscepticism is a mess. After the sceptics won the battle on a single currency (which had as much to do with Gordon Brown’s opposition as it did with their efforts) the movement effectively decommissioned intellectually. No enduring institutions or think-tanks were built to advance ideas for reform of the EU. Beyond endless calls for a referendum, and the important interventions of a few figures such as Dan Hannan MEP, there was virtually nothing of any value."

This piece has been written after conversations with a dozen good sources. It does not reflect an official briefing.

LISBON IS ABOUT TO BE RATIFIED AND THE TORIES WILL NOT HOLD A REFERENDUM TO 'UNRATIFY' IT
Unless Vaclav Klaus u-turns again, the Lisbon Treaty is about to be ratified. The Conservative leadership will say that, if elected, there’ll be no attempt to ‘unratify’ it via a referendum. Lisbon is not the only problem in our relationship with the EU, goes the argument, and it would be a referendum that cannot undo Lisbon. I’m 99% certain of this position having worked the phones over the last 24 hours.

DAVID CAMERON PROMISED A REFERENDUM ON AN 'UNRATIFIED' LISBON TREATY, NOTHING ELSE
In doing this, some will say that Cameron will have broken a “cast iron” pledge – made to Sun readers - to hold a referendum. That’s unfair. The sentence from that Sun piece that is always quoted is the penultimate sentence; “Today, I will give this cast-iron guarantee: If I become PM a Conservative government will hold a referendum on any EU treaty that emerges from these negotiations." But the final sentence (my emphasis) is just as important: “No treaty should be ratified without consulting the British people in a referendum.” It is also important to remember when the pledge was made. It was made 26 months ago - crucially weeks before Brown was considering holding a 'honeymoon election' - and clearly referred to the ratification process.

DAVID CAMERON DESERVES THE CONTINUING SUPPORT OF EUROSCEPTICS
Political opponents of the Conservative Party and Eurosceptic diehards will unite, of course, to deny David Cameron the benefit of any doubt in what he does next. I believe Cameron deserves the trust of grassroots Conservatives and voters, more generally. On Europe, in particular, he has delivered. He said that he would take Tory MEPs out of the European Peoples’ Party and he has. He has done so in the teeth of concerted and very nasty (yes, I’m talking about you Mr Miliband) opposition from the pro-EU establishment.

THE NEXT CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT WILL SEEK A 'MANIFESTO MANDATE' FOR RENEGOTIATION
One of the options for David Cameron is to hold a referendum that will give a new Conservative government the authority to begin a wide renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with Europe. This was the favoured option of MOST Tory members when ConservativeHome polled them just before the Manchester Party Conference. Only 16% wanted to vote on Lisbon if it has been ratified. 55% wanted a new referendum process in order to give the government a mandate for a wider renegotiation. I’m told to expect a “muscular” response to Lisbon’s ratification and a manifesto commitment to fight for repatriation of key powers from Brussels. One member of the shadow cabinet told me that 'we don't need a mandate to renegotiate from a referendum... A manifesto mandate will be just as good'. CCHQ is worried that a referendum could easily become about issues other than Europe. 'Imagine,' said one key official at CCHQ, 'if we are in the middle of very, very difficult budget cuts. The unions and our political opponents would urge voters to use the referendum to kick the Tory government in the teeth. A manifesto mandate is safer, cleaner, less distracting.'

WE NEED A RENEWAL OF THE EUROSCEPTIC MOVEMENT
In seeking to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU mission the next Conservative government will have the support of what is set to be the most Eurosceptic parliamentary party that has ever sat in the Commons (see graphic).  A Prime Minister Cameron will also lead a country that is becoming more Eurosceptic with every passing year.  What is needed is a much stronger Eurosceptic movement.  Business for Sterling and the 'No campaign' changed the terms of European debate in this country.  They were hugely successful but were retired in order to allow the Conservatives more breathing space.  They need to be restored so that the party does not have to carry all the water in this debate.

A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT MUST DELIVER A RENEGOTIATION
The leadership wants the first year of a Conservative government to be about tackling the debt problem, schools reform, compassionate conservatism and restoring civil liberties. Understood but it cannot afford to drag its feet on renegotiation. The effort to renegotiate must be real and all necessary guerilla tactics used to get our way out of arrangements that the British people have never okayed. Someone credible to Eurosceptics needs to be appointed to handle the process, alongside respected Europe spokesman Mark Francois. As an act of reassurance I'd give the job to someone like John Redwood or David Davis. If Britain's relationship with the EU is fundamentally the same after five years of Conservative government the internal divisions that ended the last Tory period in government will look like a tea party in comparison.

Tim Montgomerie

3.45pm update: David Cameron himself has now echoed William Hague's previous call on David Miliband to withdraw his accusations and apologise to Michael Kamiński:

"What the Polish Chief Rabbi said today was very very clear. He said that this man, this Leader of this mainstream Polish party is not anti-Semitic. And I think now David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, does need to think again and does need to withdraw very serious accusations he's made and does need to apologise. Bandying around accusations of anti-Semitism as a British Foreign Secretary about a mainstream party in Europe I think is quite wrong and David Miliband needs to recognise that, as I'm sure he now will.

"We have taken a very clear view about the job of EU President. We don't think that the role of President is right for Europe. We think Europe is meant to be about an association of member states not a country called Europe. So we don't support the idea of a President, and we don't support Tony Blair having that role, I think it looks as if that has receded. In terms of other jobs let's see if this treaty is implemented, let's see if these jobs are created, let's see if these candidates want to put themselves forward. But clearly in the case of David Miliband he needs to clear up this difficulty he's got himself into today when he's got the Chief Rabbi of Poland directly contradicting him and saying that this leader of a mainstream party is not anti-Semitic. David Miliband badly needs to set the record straight."  

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It is a surreal state of affairs when the Chief Rabbi of Poland finds himself embroiled in a British domestic political row.

Yet that is what has happened because of the continued smears against the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament, Michal Kamiński, coming from a succession of senior Labour figures, from David Miliband downwards.

It has been claimed that Mr Kamiński and his party are variously extremists, homophobes and anti-Semites.

When I met him at the Conservative Party conference, he rebutted these claims, yet the smears have continued. William Hague has already demanded an apology from David Miliband for the slurs and he did so again yesterday on the Today programme.

This morning, the Polish Chief Rabbi, Michael Shudrich, nailed these smears as false once and for all in an interview on the Today programme. You can listen to it for yourself here.

He made clear:

• Michal Kaminski is a strong ally of the state of Israel;
• He has condemned anti-Semitism;
• His Law and Justice Party is a "mainstream party" which no-one in Poland would consider as a "fringe right party".

The nonsense from the pro-European Left simply has to stop. As David Cameron rightly said at his press conference on Tuesday, those making the attacks are waging "a totally politically-driven campaign" because they don't like the fact that the Conservatives are now part of a group that doesn't go along with everything Europe does.

And when it comes to looking at European allies, Daniel Hamilton has written must-read posts here and here about those with whom the Labour Party sits in Brussels.

Jonathan Isaby