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Friday 5th DecemberBritain's leading conservative blog Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: Have the Conservatives had a "Clause Four" moment? ToryDiary: "John Major: The Movie" available to watch on the internet for the first time Howard Flight on Platform: Radical change is required for the UK economy to recover Seats and Candidates: Julie Rook selected for Wolverhampton North East Local Government: Has your local council got the right motto? Local Government: Yesterday's local by-election results Robert Halfon on CentreRight: Immigration officers are sh*ts (according to a former Labour minister) Today's other newslinks Banks urged to pass on interest rate cuts "Halifax, the country's biggest mortgage lender - which recently received £11.5 billion in taxpayers' money in a Government bail-out - said its customers would only enjoy a quarter-point cut to its standard variable rate... The Shadow Chancellor George Osborne claimed Halifax's decision was "yet more evidence" that Mr Brown's banking bailout plan was failing. "We need radical action to get bank lending flowing again," he warned." - Daily Telegraph > Yesterday's Tory Diary: Interest rates cut to 2% Dust off the Tory policies of the 1980s "We learnt a great deal in the 1980s on how to revive a broken economy and how to get people back to work. The task is difficult, but no more difficult than it was then." - Former cabinet minister Lord Young of Graffham writing in the Daily Telegraph Human beings are not mere selfish agents "At its deepest level, the crash arose because people and markets did not behave in the way described in economic textbooks. People are not always economically rational. They borrowed too much money to buy houses, then remortgaged to buy other things. Free markets are not always efficient." - Jesse Norman writing in the FT Southport's Shane the Builder becomes Tory symbol of recession "Last night, Britain met its own "Joe the Plumber" in a Conservative television broadcast and his name is Shane the Builder, from Southport. Millions of viewers watched Tory leader David Cameron introduce Shane - full name Shane Prescott, a 51-year-old father of four from Churchtown - as the epitome of a Britain betrayed by Gordon Brown." - Liverpool Daily Post > Yesterday's ToryDiary: New Party Political Broadcast focuses on the economy and WATCH the broadcast for yourself PoliticsHome poll of parliamentarians increases pressure on Michael Martin to quit as Speaker... "A poll suggested two-thirds of MPs think Mr Martin should quit after police were allowed to trample centuries of Parliamentary privilege by raiding the Commons without even being asked for a search warrant." - Daily Mail ...as the police contradict his account of the raid on Damian Green's office... "In a letter to the Home Secretary, Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick said that his officers had acted entirely correctly and the process was explained." - Daily Telegraph ...and Dominic Grieve fillets Jacqui Smith in the Commons "Dominic Grieve, the donnish, 1950-ish figure who is now Shadow Home Secretary, did not just land bolshy Jacqui Smith in his net. He removed her fins and scales, filleted her, scraped out her guts and chucked her mermaid tail into the cat's lunch bowl, accusing her of 'wilful ignorance' and 'smear and spin'." - Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail Mole hunt extended across Whitehall "Police mole hunts have begun into other Whitehall leaks in addition to the Damian Green investigation, the Home Office disclosed yesterday... Repeated leaks of tax plans, such as details of last month's pre-Budget report, have raised suspicions that an official in the Treasury or in HM Revenue and Customs could be sending private papers to the Opposition." - Independent > Yesterday in Parliament: Latest parliamentary developments on the Damian Green arrest George Osborne to attack Labour's "euro-fanatics" George Osborne is to attack Labour's "euro-fanatics" following speculation that senior government figures have talked of joining the single currency... In a speech later Mr Osborne will say euro supporters had "seized on economic difficulties for political ends". - BBC Tory HQ sacks 10% of staff "Some 24 staff at the party's Millbank HQ were told on Monday they could be made redundant. The party is also closing Constituency Campaigning Services (CCS), based in Coleshill manor in the West Midlands, which provides campaigning material and acts as a call centre for constituency parties." - Guardian > Wednesday's ToryDiary: Credit crunch hits CCHQ Tories welcome DNA ruling "More than one and a half million DNA and fingerprint profiles of innocent people could be wiped from police databases after a landmark human rights ruling... Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said keeping DNA of innocent people had "done so much to undermine confidence in the criminal justice system" - Daily Telegraph "To keep DNA of innocent people is an infringement on liberty and privacy. This Government has, again and again, infringed on our civil liberties. In this instance, they now have no choice but to bite the bullet and do what is right for the country, not what they feel is right for the surveillance state they are trying to create." - David Davis writing in The Independent Theresa Villiers claims the Government is in disarray over Heathrow "Campaigners opposing the expansion of Heathrow airport were hopeful for the first time yesterday that the Government is rethinking its support for the project, after it postponed its final decision on the addition of a third runway... Theresa Villiers, the Shadow transport secretary, said the Government was "in disarray" over its decision." - Independent > Yesterday's ToryDiary on the delay of the Heathrow announcement Greg Hands uncovers the cost of boosting Jacqui Smith's confidence and improving Andy Burnham's speeches "Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, has spent £2,000 of taxpayers' money on training to boost her confidence and image, it has emerged... Taxpayers have also footed a £1,986.84 bill for Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to improve his public speaking... The coaching was disclosed in written parliamentary answers to Greg Hands MP, who is surveying publicly funded personal training given to Cabinet ministers." - Times Accepting devolution was our "clause four moment" says Nick Bourne "Conservative Welsh Assembly leader Nick Bourne last night declared that accepting devolution has been a defining "clause four" moment for his party. Mr Bourne described devolution as "irreversible". - Wales Online On the eve of addressing the UUP conference, David Cameron is interviewed in the Belfast News Letter - News Letter Is the Tory link a milestone or millstone for the UUP? - Belfast Telegraph Edward Timpson forced to hold meeting with sacked constituents in car park as Crewe tax office throws him off its premises - Crewe Chronicle And finally... Is David Cameron's hair thinning? "David Cameron celebrates his third anniversary as Conservative leader on Saturday with few signs of the rigours of high office etched on his smooth face. At 42, Cameron radiates health and keeps relatively trim by riding his bicycle to the Commons. Sadly, the same can't be said of his distinctive mane of hair: in true Tory tradition, it's thinning. And fast." - Andrew Pierce in the Daily Telegraph Our main sites Homepage. ToryDiary. Seats and candidates. Local government. Parliament. Platform. CentreRight. International. PlayPolitical videos.

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