Britannia Radio

Wednesday 18th March 2009Britain's leading conservative blog Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: David Cameron's social reform agenda is even more important in these tough economic times Julian Lewis MP on Platform: Why we still need the bomb Local government: Conservative run North Kesteven District Council has approved plans for two new family homes built of straw... Cllr Neil Reddin: What the TaxPayers' Alliance should be doing Charlie Elphicke on CentreRight: At Calais I met the Afghans, Iranians and Egyptians queueing to reach Britain's 'El Dorado' WATCH: Michael Fallon MP attacks City Minister Lord Myners for a "pathetic" failure to stop Fred Goodwin getting his bumper pension ICM: Tories 12% ahead Conservatives 12% ahead - Guardian | Yesterday's ToryDiary "Labour could still claw back the Tories' double-digit lead in the polls if there are signs of economic recovery by the next general election, according to a survey released last night. The ICM poll for The Guardian suggests 8% of voters currently planning to vote Conservative or Liberal Democrat would consider backing Labour if the economy turned a corner." - Daily Mail But, reports The Times, Britain will be the last nation to recover: "Britain’s economy is set to keep shrinking well into next year, even after all or most of its leading competitors have begun to enjoy renewed growth, the International Monetary Fund will warn this week." Today's other newslinks The Times reports on yesterday's briefing of Tory MPs by David Cameron and CCHQ's Stephen Gilbert Highlights: Tories aim to win 43% of vote in Euro elections; The party was targeting the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, Somerset and Cornwall in those elections; Eurosceptic MPs were warned that Europe remained very low in voters' priorities; Tories should be doing better on health where Labour has now re-established a lead in voters' minds. Read Francis Elliott's full report here. Conservatives claim that only half of vacancies are being advertised in Job Centres "The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Theresa May, said: "We already know that vacancies in the economy are at a record low. It beggars belief that almost half of them aren't available through the Government's main employment service. Yet again Gordon Brown's claim of real help now has turned out to be nothing more than an empty promise."" - Telegraph Bob Neill MP sets out his strategy for tackling problem gambling - ePolitix Accounts assistant who allegedly stole £149,417.19 from Scottish Conservatives faces trial - Scotsman David Cameron's topic for PMQs today...? NHS targets 'may have led to 1,200 deaths' in Mid-Staffordshire - Telegraph Bring in PR... Cap ministers' pay... Introduce a wealth tax... Scrap ID cards... Full disclosure on Iraq war... Guardian writers offer ten ideas to help Labour win the next election. The Guardian has more on Labour election strategy: "No 10 also believes that Cameron's pledge to cut spending on all but four areas - health, education, defence, and overseas aid - gives Labour a chance to reprise some of its Tory cuts arguments from 2001 and 2005. Downing Street says such attacks may no longer gain traction with national media, but work well locally." PM hopes to gather enough evidence to prove GM crops are safe - Independent English is a second language for one in seven school pupils - Daily Mail "The bitter truth is that New Labour never understood what makes a nation a nation. With its profound ignorance of history and love of modernity, the party imported the alien concept of universal human rights (thereby crushing many of our ancient British liberties), while throwing open the nation's borders to all-comers. Result? We're a country that's rapidly losing its sense of identity - more a random collection of disparate peoples than a nation with shared beliefs." - Daily Mail "The actor Ron Silver was a Democrat who voted for George Bush." - Daniel Finkelstein pays tribute to him in The Times