Britannia Radio

Tuesday 27th January 2009Britain's leading conservative blog Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: "Multiracial Britain is a success but immigration is too high" Mark Harper MP on Platform: As the recession hits, we must not neglect the forgotten unemployed CentreRight: Dale Bassett: Just tinkering with welfare is a huge missed opportunity Louise Bagshawe: Carla Jones, Facebook "Friends" and politicians Graeme Archer: How to be a Happy Homosexual Seats and Candidates Search for 100 Peers: Sir Graham Bright Local Government: Councillor listens to iPod during prayers WATCH: David Cameron discusses the recession with Jeff Randall on Sky News last night President Obama gives first television interview to Al-Arabiya TV Today's other newslinks Tories regain lost ground as voters lose faith in Labour's handling of the economy "Voters think that Gordon Brown's high-profile battle to turn around the economy is doomed, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll. Only 31% think the prime minister's strategy will make things better. Most, 64%, think it will either achieve nothing or even make the situation worse... The deepening crisis has left the [Labour] party facing heavy defeat. Overall Conservative support is up six points since last month's Guardian/ICM survey. At 44% it is only one point below its 25-year ICM high. Labour is on 32% and the Liberal Democrats are on 16%." - The Guardian > Last night's ToryDiary on the poll Tories brace for dire inheritance "A future Conservative government would be defined by how it deals with the worst economic inheritance “in the history of Britain”, George Osborne said on Monday, as he set out his party’s plans for a cull of inefficient mandarins. The shadow chancellor issued an implicit threat to senior civil servants who fail to deliver the departmental savings stipulated by Tory ministers. A Conservative government would write a new clause requiring “fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers” into top officials’ employment contracts." - FT "The Conservatives are preparing for the worst: rightly so, since any new government next year will inherit dire public finances. Their new approach is going in the right direction, but it is still only a partial answer... David Cameron and George Osborne have recognised the severity of the fiscal challenge by announcing that the Tories will not match Labour’s new plans for next year and beyond. Labour’s response has been to drone on about cuts, but this no longer works given how bad the situation now is. The difference between the slower long-term growth in spending proposed by Labour and the unspecified lower rate implied by the Tories will be no where near enough on its own to bridge the gap." - Peter Riddell in The Times > Yesterday's ToryDiary: Independent waste watchdog will pounce on suspected inefficiencies under a Tory government David Cameron calls for criminal actions against bankers "David Cameron last night expressed disbelief that financial watchdogs were not pursuing criminal investigations against banks and bankers who have caused the financial crisis. He compared the vigorous nature of inquiries in America to the lack of action among the City authorities. It is the furthest the Conservative leader has gone in demanding closer examination of any potential illegal behaviour by bankers." - Daily Telegraph Peers face suspension in House of Lords ‘laws for sale’ inquiry "The House of Lords embarked on a hasty damage-limitation exercise yesterday by preparing new powers to suspend any member found to have broken the rules in the “cash for peers” crisis. Four Labour peers who allegedly offered to change the law in return for fees of up to £120,000 could be barred from the chamber and forced to forfeit their £350 daily allowance if they are suspended. Two of them, Lord Taylor of Blackburn and Lord Snape, stood up after an emergency statement in the Lords and offered pre-emptive apologies in case they are found to have done anything wrong." - The Times "Peers are being paid to advise more than 200 companies, public bodies and pressure groups, research by The Independent has discovered. The disclosure of the massive number of consultancy arrangements will intensify pressure for tighter controls on the House of Lords in the wake of the "cash-for-amendments" storm." - The Independent The dying days of Labour are upon us "The sleaze scandals, as they did during the dying days of the last Conservative government, will now emerge thick and fast, as disillusioned officials risk their liberty by leaking documents that should have been freely available, and journalists, scenting blood, close in. Labour will be driven from office with the same howls of execration that saw off the Tories in 1997." - George Monbiot writing in The Guardian Tories voice opposition to further information-sharing in new Justice Bill... "Dominic Grieve, the shadow Justice Secretary, said the plans would "drive a coach and horses through the traditional relationship between the state and individuals" to serve a "nebulous case of public good". He warned that the Bill would allow ministers to share medical records with organisations that had no link to people's health. Mr Grieve said that clauses "tucked away" at the back of the Bill would give ministers "carte blanche to expand data sharing between officials across Whitehall, with local authorities and even with companies in the private sector". He added: "This should be done with great caution and should not be open sesame to a vast increase in government power." - The Independent ...and new national children's database "Parents, security experts and opposition parties have voiced alarm that 400,000 people are to be given access to a new national database containing details of all 11 million children living in England. ContactPoint, which has so far cost £224 million, will hold the name, address, date of birth, parents' details, GP and name of school of all English children aged under 18... Michael Gove, the Shadow Education Secretary, said that with information unlikely to remain fully secure, children could be left in more danger. “ContactPoint will increase the risk of abuse to vulnerable children. The Government has shown it cannot be trusted to protect the information in large databases,” he said." - The Times Edward Leigh warns of fresh NHS IT delays "The introduction of computerised NHS patient records in England could be hit by more delays, MPs warn. The Committee on Public Accounts has thrown fresh doubt on a 2015 deadline for the ambitious project. Its chairman [Edward Leigh] said that even in trusts already using parts of the system, staff were unimpressed and the cost to the NHS was uncertain: "Essential systems are late, or, when deployed, do not meet expectations of clinical staff, estimates of local costs are still very unreliable, and, despite action to secure their commitment, many NHS staff remain unenthusiastic." - BBC Cameron in "UFO files" promise "David Cameron has vowed to lift the lid on what the Government knows about UFOs if he becomes PM. The Tory leader gave a personal guarantee that he would be “entirely open and frank” and publish any secret files that may exist on close encounters." - The Sun > WATCH: David Cameron making that pledge on UFOs Sir Ian Blair and Boris Johnson: animosity revealed in letters over De Menezes "The full scale of the animosity between Sir Ian Blair, the former head of Scotland Yard, and Boris Johnson, the London mayor who ousted him from office, has been disclosed in an exchange of private letters. Mr Johnson's suggestion in a radio interview that police who shot dead innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes were "trigger happy" led to a stinging rebuke from Sir Ian, who demanded that he retracted the "offensive" and "outrageous" comments... At the time of his resignation, Sir Ian said he could not continue in the role having lost the mayor's confidence. The letters show that their relationship may never have recovered from a heated exchange in November 2007, while Mr Johnson was a London mayoral candidate." - Daily Telegraph Decision over new Met Police chief "already made" - Independent Absent parents may lose passports - BBC  Watchdog condemns Home Office over sponsorship of ITV policing show - Daily Mail Frank Field: The young jobless should work for their benefit - Guardian Iceland's Conservative PM announces his cabinet's resignation - BBC Our main sites Homepage. ToryDiary. Seats and candidates. Local government. Parliament. Platform. CentreRight. International. PlayPolitical videos.

http://www.conservativehome.com