Category Archives: Conservative Party

All change

A long first day back at Westminster, the most dramatic event of which was the announcement by Gordon Brown of his intended resignation as Labour leader.  I wish I could find some suitable words of praise for him, or of regret at his departure, but I can’t.  Let’s leave it at that.

This evening, there was a meeting of the Parliamentary Conservative party in committee room 14, the biggest in the House.  It was so full that it could scarcely accommodate all the Members who turned up.  We are now a very big party indeed.

After the meeting, some of us adjourned to the smoking room (where smoking isn’t allowed, by the way).  That, too, was full of Tories.  It was particularly satisfying  to sit at an all-Welsh Conservative table.

This Parliament is going to be very different from the last.  The negotiations continuing among the three principal parties will determine its shape, if not necessarily its duration.

Welcome support from Plaid

Mr Ieuan Wyn Jones, the leader of Plaid Cymru in the Welsh Assembly, says that a hung Parliament would be “the best outcome for Wales”.

Nice to see that he is looking forward so eagerly to the prospect of substantial Tory gains, and I can assure him that we will be doing our very best to surpass even those  unexpected ambitions.

Sound sense from Julie

I’m delighted to see that one of the first-time Conservative voters featured on the party’s new poster campaign is Julie Fallon of Llandudno.

Julie, who volunteers at the Happy Faces charity shop,  also features in a video produced by the party.  It’s worth hearing what she has to say:

Welcome, Mohammad

I am delighted to welcome the former Plaid Cymru Assembly member, Mohammad Ashgar and his daughter, Natasha, a former Plaid European candidate, to the Conservative party.

Mr Ashgar told a news conference today that he felt “out of tune” with Plaid policies, in particular its desire for an independent Wales, and believes in “the Royal family and one United Kingdom”.

In other words, Mr Ashgar considers Plaid to be a subversive, separatist party that wants to break up our country and render Wales an insignificant province of a European superstate.  Which, of course, it is.

I am sure that Mr Ashgar will soon find himself completely at home in the Conservative party, which wholly reflects his own values.

Sunny Gordon

In an interesting, not to say quixotic, attempt at repositioning, Gordon Brown, in an interview  in the Telegraph this morning, seeks to portray himself as a sunny optimist, in contrast to the doom-and-gloom mongers of the Conservative party.

It is “simply not true”, says Mr Brown, that tough economic times lie ahead.  No, says the PM, his drive for economic growth will pull the country out of recession; with Gordon at the helm, Labour are going to let the good times roll.

Gratifying as it is to see this hitherto unsuspected Louis Armstrong side to the Prime Minister’s personality, it is unlikely that his new line will cut much ice with an informed electorate.  The Treasury’s own figures indicate that:

  • the social security bill will mount to almost £200 billion in four years’ time – almost twice the NHS budget;
  • debt interest will rise to £63 billion per annum;
  • the total cost of welfare and debt maintenance will amount to one-third of government expenditure.

In the circumstances, it’s rather hard to see that the Tories are being anything other than totally realistic when they warn of hard years to come.   Giving a cheery whistle, as Gordon appears to be advising, isn’t really going to help an awful lot.

Cameron’s clarion call

The Conservative party conference was by a considerable measure the best I have attended.  I have blogged already about the excellence of Manchester as a venue, but excellent also was the party’s own organisation, design and choreography.  As Steve Richards puts it in this morning’s Independent:

Tonally their conference was pitch perfect, conveying a seriousness of purpose and without a hint of complacent triumphalism.

David Cameron’s speech was excellent: a clarion call not only to his party, but to his country, giving a vision of how life could be once the dead hand of Labour’s big state is finally wrenched away:

I won’t promise things I cannot deliver. But I can look you in the eye and tell you that in a Conservative Britain:

If you put in the effort to bring in a wage, you will be better off. If you save money your whole life, you’ll be rewarded. If you start your own business, we’ll be right behind you. If you want to raise a family, we’ll support you. If you’re frightened, we’ll protect you. If you risk your safety to stop a crime, we’ll stand by you. If you risk your life to fight for your country, we will honour you.

Ask me what a Conservative government stands for and the answer is this, we will reward those who take responsibility, and care for those who can’t.

Family, community, country: I, for one, can happily go into battle under that banner.

Tory truth or Labour la-la

The Telegraph this morning carries an intelligent article by Benedict Brogan on the issue of political honesty.  I strongly urge you to read it.

This week has been notable for a string of straight-talking speeches by a succession of shadow cabinet members, with George Osborne’s the most notable of all.  If there were any lingering doubts abroad before the week started that the Tories were going to take tough choices that would affect each and every one of us, they must surely have been dispelled by now.

Anyone who cares about the integrity of our political process, whether or not intending to vote Conservative, would, I hope, approve of this.  The present economic outlook is so appallingly bleak that whoever wins in May next year will have to make the toughest taxing and spending decisions for a generation.

There is no doubt that the Conservative approach of levelling with the electorate is not without its risks.  Nobody likes to be told that the next few years will be less comfortable than what we have grown used to.  That is probably why Labour, at its conference last week, funked the issue; and why Gordon Brown, even after abandoning his “Tory cuts v Labour investment” mantra, still felt constrained to reel off a string of uncosted spending pledges that he must surely know can never be fulfilled.

Nevertheless, Cameron and Osborne are undoubtedly right to tell the British people that it’s going to be tougher going for the next few years. 

And, in truth, they are saying nothing that that the British people don’t know already; but they are paying them the respect of treating them as adults.

The interesting, and crucial, question is whether, next May, the electorate will decide it prefers Tory straightforwardness to Labour la-la.  I think it’s grown-up enough to opt for honesty.

For the man who has everything

NHS

The exhibitors’ area at the conference is huge this year – the biggest I can ever remember. 

Yesterday, I went on a tour of the stands and met a number of the exhibitors, including NHS procurement (pictured), the Kennel Club, the RNID, where I took a hearing test in a blue telephone box and Sky TV, where I was given a demo of the new Sky 3D system (unbelievable, but requiring the wearing of rather outré spectacles; the photograph recording  the experience has been suppressed in order to protect the innocent, i.e., me).tshirt

The Conservative merchandising stand had a huge array of must-buys, including the obligatory teddy bears; somewhat over-the-top Christmas tree decorations; lurid, besloganned t-shirts and some fantastic retro posters, which I must get for the Association office.

Time to behave like grown-ups

Spoke yesterday lunchtime at the Welsh fringe meeting, which was extremely well-attended.  There were speeches, too, from Cheryl Gillan, Nick Bourne and our new Conservative MEP, Kay Swinburne. 

Cheryl spoke about the need for a new and improved working relationship between Whitehall and Cardiff.  At present, the national and devolved administrations seem to operate to a large extent in silos, each oblivious to the other; sometimes, indeed, it is possible even to discern an unhealthy mutual antagonism.

This is not good for users of public services on either side of the border and is, frankly, silly.  We need a more mature, grown-up dialogue and a new spirit of co-operation; and that is precisely what the Conservatives intend to create.

Bounce over

Labour have been spinning furiously that the Sun’s defection is of little relevance in this electronic age.

Consider, then, this rolling poll from YouGov.  After Brown’s speech, but before yesterday’s Sun was published, the pollster recorded that the gap between the Conservatives and Labour had closed to 7 points – Labour’s best showing for months and evidence of a standard conference bounce that should have lasted at least a few days.

The latest poll, however, shows that the Tory lead is back to 14 points – ample evidence of the significance of the Sun’s endorsement.

Playing Plaid at home

The Western Mail informs us that “firebrand” MP Adam Price is to deliver a “scathing attack” on the Conservatives at Plaid Cymru’s annual conference, in which he will say:

“The future political battle in Wales will be between Plaid in Wales and the Tories in London.” 

Given that the Tories topped the poll at the last set of national elections in Wales and Plaid Cymru could only finish third, he will probably find that the battle is in fact  a lot closer to home.

Gordon surrenders on spending

Brown surrender

Looks like Gordon Brown  has run up the white flag on spending.

Liam Byrne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has today announced that the pre-Budget report will outline plans to halve the Government’s spending deficit over four years.

Byrne says that this can be done while at the same time protecting public services:

“In the Pre-Budget Report we will set out in more detail how we will halve the deficit over four years and protect those public services which we think are key to helping people make the most of the future in this country.”

Evidently, those public services that are not considered “key” will not be protected.

So bang goes the famous Brownian dividing line of “Tory cuts v Labour investment”.   Watching Gordon attempting to explain that one away will be hugely entertaining.

Why I am proud to be a Conservative

Dafydd El being helpful again

Elis ThomasThe Welsh Assembly’s presiding officer, Lord Elis-Thomas, who has done such sterling work in the cause of  furthering  good relations between Westminster and Cardiff, is apparently to make a speech at the national Eisteddfod in Bala today in which he will suggest that, after the general election, “a Tory-dominated Welsh Affairs Committee could attempt to thwart new powers coming to the Assembly”.

The Welsh select committee currently has three Conservative members. It also has one member from Plaid Cymru.   Every report of the committee on legislative competence proposals has been delivered unanimously; not once has a Conservative demurred from the contents of a report or sought to deliver a minority opinion.  Nor, for that matter, has the Plaid Cymru member.  There is consequently no obvious basis whatever for Lord Elis-Thomas’s typically inflammatory assertion.

Lord Elis-Thomas’s overtly and provocatively political stance sits oddly with what ought to be his neutral role as presiding officer. 

I wonder how he would react if Speaker Bercow were to start criticising or second-guessing the workings of an Assembly committee. 

No doubt, in his usual moderate and measured manner.

Harman’s arrogance

harriet-harmanIn her appearance on this morning’s Andrew Marr Show, Harriet Harman said:

“The Tories are insufferably arrogant about this, saying: ‘Labour’s already lost the next election; we’ve already won.  We already have the keys of Downing Street.’

“I think that’s arrogant.  I think that’s taking the voters for granted and I don’t believe at all that we’ve lost the next election.  We’re in it for the fight.”

It’s extremely good to see the Labour deputy leader evincing such fighting spirit.  As I have blogged previously, it is the hallmark of the politician that he or she will fight to the end and never give up.

On the other hand, Ms Harman was herself showing considerable arrogance in her accusations against the Conservative party. 

No Conservative politician I know, or have ever heard of, thinks that the election is in the bag, much less has asserted it in the repellent manner alleged by Ms Harman.  We know full well that we have a fight on the hands and cannot take the outcome for granted.  What is more, Ms Harman knows full well that that is the case. 

In suggesting that the Tories are guilty of such overweening  pride and  of declaiming it, Ms Harman is herself guilty of  treating the voters as idiots.  That is real arrogance, for which she and her party deserve to be soundly punished next year.