Category Archives: Conservative Party

Harman’s arrogance

Posted on August 2, 2009 | Leave a comment

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.

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Posted in Conservative Party, Harriet Harman, Labour Party

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Beyond Heffer’s understanding

Posted on July 29, 2009 | 1 Comment

I have become so used to the monotonous virulence of Simon Heffer’s attacks on the Conservative party in general and its leader in particular that I have now arrived at the point where I shrug my shoulders and mutter to myself: “There goes Heffer again.”   

Mr Heffer has developed such a hatred for the party that one has the impression that even if it were to conduct a coup against the leader, install Heffer in his place and then give Heffer carte blanche to pursue, unfettered, his own agenda, it would still not be good enough for him.

Heffer’s bilious outpourings have now become such everyday events that most Tory MPs deal with them much in the way that a dentist deals with the noise of his drill: as an irritating, but  unavoidable, concomitant of the job.

In today’s Telegraph, however, Heffer has overstepped the mark by a considerable margin.  Referring to the party’s refusal to pledge itself to scrapping the new 50p tax band (which would be a considerable folly at this stage, given that we will not know until after the election precisely how bad is the state of the nation’s finances), he writes:

One of [the party’s] spin doctors said last Friday that the retention of the 50p band would serve to remind people how bad Labour had been at managing the economy. I am surprised, on that basis, that we did not keep Belsen open for a few years after the last war, just in case people ever forgot how evil Hitler was.

I don’t think I need to explain to most sensible people why a prudent, or even an imprudent, refusal to rule out reversing a tax increase ought not reasonably to be compared to the greatest crime against humanity of the twentieth century.

I won’t begin trying to explain it to Mr Heffer.

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Posted in Conservative Party, Simon Heffer

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Harman makes matters worse

Posted on July 24, 2009 | 1 Comment

As if the result in Norwich North were not bad enough, Harriet Harman has added to Labour’s woes with what appears to be an off-the-cuff comment of remarkable stupidity:

This is how Politics Home reports it:

13.11 Also on the World at One, Harriet Harman calls the result “very disappointing”.

She says: “It is really a reflection of the quite unprecedented circumstances.”

She also describes Theresa May as arrogant for saying she thought the Conservatives would win Norwich North in the general election: “I never take the voters for granted, I think that is arrogant.”

For a start, I know of no Conservative, Theresa included, who took the by-election result as a certainty; everyone worked flat out right up to close of polls.  A similar attitude will certainly prevail at the next general election.

Theresa May’s comment, as reported on the BBC website, is clear enough:

She added: “We’ve overturned a Labour majority of 5,500 to a Conservative majority of over 7,000. If we hold this seat at the general election, we’ll have a majority of over 100.”

I can’t see anything taken for granted there.

Furthermore, Harriet Harman should perhaps reflect on the extent to which Labour themselves have indeed taken certain sections of the electorate for granted over the years.

The fact that they can no longer rely on an unquestioning client voter base appears to have taken her by surprise – which may, in part, be the reason for her silly remark.

Perhaps, having reflected, she will now consider making an appropriate apology to Theresa May.

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Posted in Conservative Party, Harriet Harman, Labour Party, Norwich North by-election, Theresa May

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Blurring the line

Posted on June 27, 2009 | Leave a comment

hilarybennGordon Brown’s declared dividing line between the parties of “Tory cuts versus Labour investment” was further blurred by Hilary Benn on Radio 4’s Any Questions yesterday evening.

Benn acknowledged that his Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs would face future budgetary cuts and would have to make spending adjustments:

“If I look at my department’s budget, it is going to go down a bit and therefore we will have to prioritise.”

Mr Benn went on blithely to add that the Government faced “real choices” ahead and “when times are tough you need to tighten your belt”.

This will certainly cause extreme displeasure to the Prime Minister, whose strategy has already been undermined by Cabinet colleagues, most notably the Chancellor, who has steadfastly refused to play along with it.

At PMQs last Wednesday, David Cameron highlighted the tensions within the cabinet over the issue:

Mr. Cameron: Let us first of all be clear about the Prime Minister’s claims about Conservative policy. Even his own colleagues do not believe him. This is the report that we had from last week’s Cabinet:

“Darling pointed out that Brown’s Tory cut figures did not represent the”—

Conservative—

“party’s policy but were merely extrapolations”—

[Hon. Members: “Ah!”] It gets more interesting:

“Cooper, previously the Treasury minister responsible for public spending, echoed his concerns”,

and:

“According to one source who was present, Brown was visibly irritated at the way he had been undermined, and brought the meeting to an early close”.

He says that he wants to be a teacher, but it sounds like he has lost control of the classroom.

Looks like it’s now poor Hilary Benn’s turn to stand in the corner.

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Posted in Alistair Darling, Conservative Party, David Cameron, economy, Gordon Brown, Hilary Benn, Labour Party

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Two more than a rugby team

Posted on June 8, 2009 | 2 Comments

At the Conservatives’ previous high-water mark in 1983, the party famously gained 14 of the then 38 Welsh constituencies – “one short of a rugby team”.

At the Welsh party conference last March, I said that at the  next general election we should aim for a full rugby team, with a couple of substitutes besides.

On the basis of tonight’s results, I am optimistic that  we may achieve that ambition.  Translated to  individual constituencies, the outcome was as  follows:

Conservative:    17

Labour:                 15

Plaid Cymru:       7

Lib Dem:              1

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Posted in Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru

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Tories win in Wales

Posted on June 7, 2009 | 2 Comments

The Conservatives have topped the Euro polls in Wales; congratulations to Kay Swinburne MEP.

Labour have lost a Welsh election for the first time since 1918.

The political landscape in Wales is changed beyond recognition.  A general election can’t come soon enough.

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Posted in Conservative Party, Labour Party

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Homeward Bound

Posted on June 8, 2007 | 2 Comments
Spoke at Oxford University Conservative Association on the way home yesterday evening, arriving at base camp just before midnight.

Listened during the journey back to my friend Patrick Mercer, who was standing in for George Galloway on talkSPORT radio. He was a complete pro – only to be expected, given his BBC background – and the show was tremendously entertaining.

Hitting the hay now; Ruthin surgery in the morning.

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Posted in Conservative Party

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Welcome Aboard

Posted on April 17, 2007 | Leave a comment
Excellent news that former Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble, has joined the Conservative Party and will take the Tory whip in the Lords, but no surprise to those who have seen him attending party conferences over many years.

David Trimble must take a large slice of the credit for the success of the peace process in Northern Ireland. He is a hugely respected figure and will now be a huge asset to the party in Parliament, bringing a wealth of experience, not only in Irish affairs, but also in the areas of security and counter-terrorism.

As David Cameron said, “It’s not every day you can welcome a Nobel Prize winner to your party.”

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Posted in Conservative Party

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