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Tuesday 28 October 2008 Tuesday 28 October 2008    Britain's leading conservative blog Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: New poll brings us back into hung parliament territory ToryDiary: John Whittingdale leads concern at Ross-Brand calls Seats and candidates: Liberal Democrat MP for Cheadle found guilty of misusing Communications Allowance Dan Hamilton on Platform provides a guide to all of next week's US Senate races Local government: Stop council tax funded trade union posts International: Sarkozy embraces state intervention and protectionism WATCH: David Cameron slams Gordon Brown's borrowing plan as a massive "con trick" On CentreRight.com Helen Rainbow: “Top-ups” pave the way for a new debate about healthcare funding Matt Sinclair on CentreRight: "Today sees the third reading of the Climate Change Bill.  With aviation and shipping included in some way and the target strengthened from 60% of 1990 levels to 80% the bill now constitutes a significantly harder legally binding pledge than it did before.  I've written before about the nonsense of setting such a target when, over the Government's time in office, emissions have actually increased 1.6%..." Today's other newslinks Today's must-read: Help the white working class or risk surge in far-Right extremists, says equalities chief "Britain risks a surge in Right-wing extremism if it fails to help its white working class weather the recession, the equalities chief will warn today. Trevor Phillips will break with years of political convention to call for the law to be changed to enshrine positive discrimination in favour of disadvantaged whites." - Daily Mail Time for consumers to spend, says Boris "A deep recession may be upon us. But there is no need to go into mourning for capitalism, because capitalism will never go away, and there is nothing remotely impolite, in these circumstances, about spending money and being seen to spend money. Far from it." - Boris Johnson in The Telegraph "Lord Mandelson, in Moscow on a trade mission, told Sky News last night: “We are facing an unparalleled financial crisis. I don’t think people have yet realised what the impact is going to be on the real economy, on businesses and jobs back at home.”" - The Sun Mixed advice from the leader columns "Don't borrow: cut spending and taxes" - Telegraph leader "Strange as it sounds, if recession deepens, writing cheques to citizens looks like the prudent response. Under the circumstances, such handouts are likely to relieve credit constraints and allow fresh consumer spending. And if they are able to cushion a hard landing, they will prove to be value for money. Most developed countries – in particular the UK – have room to take on more public debt; they cannot really afford not to." - FT leader "The trouble is Labour has already spent and borrowed too much. There is nothing in the kitty. More borrowing today means even HIGHER taxes later. That’s why the world downgraded its valuation of our economy, sending the Pound into freefall." - The Sun Says Osborne, Mandelson and Deripaska "George Osborne attempted yesterday to draw a line under the row over his contacts with a Russian billionaire when he admitted he had made a mistake in discussing a donation from Oleg Deripaska during his summer holiday in Corfu." - Guardian "There has never been any serious prospect that David Cameron would drop Mr Osborne, however. Not only are they close friends but Mr Osborne is the co-architect of Tory modernisation. He has also shown shrewd judgment as Shadow Chancellor, especially on fiscal policy and taxes, but his authority has been weakened and he is going to have to be more cautious in word and deed, as he seems to recognise. According to the PoliticsHome tracking poll, his personal rating has fallen sharply." - Peter Riddell in The Times Lord Mandelson has rejected new Tory demands to disclose full details of his meetings with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska - Telegraph There will be trouble for the Tories if their millionaire benefactor Lord Ashcroft does not answer vital questions - Rachel Sylvester in The Times Twenty years on, Norman Tebbit reflects on Margaret Thatcher's Bruges speech "Perhaps when Margaret Thatcher set out, in her Bruges speech 20 years ago, her vision of a European Economic Community of "willing and active co-operation between independent sovereign states", she was a quarter of a century ahead of her time. It was a vision so different from that of the political establishment in Brussels that the euro-fanatics within the Conservative Party concluded she would have to go. Her departure opened the way to the successive treaties of Maastricht, Antwerp, Nice and Lisbon hustling the EEC into the EC and now the EU; but for the obstinate refusal of the Irish to be railroaded into the constitution, we would by now be faced with a European Republic." - Lord Tebbit in The Telegraph Policy Exchange report on premium funding for poorer pupils "The pupil premium, a suggested new funding system that rewards schools financially for admitting pupils from the poorest homes, is already official policy of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party. Today's report sets out how it would work. To the Westminster policy wonks, it is one of the most eagerly awaited papers this year, with added political interest because the thinktank associated with Cameron's Conservatives has devised the report with Julian Le Grand, better known for advising the Blair government." - The Guardian Tougher measures to prevent extremists entering the UK are to be announced by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - BBC And finally... The Guardian judges Pauline Prescott the star of last night's BBC2 documentary on John Prescott's view of class. .    http://www.conservativehome.com

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