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Wednesday 29th April 2009Britain's leading conservative blog Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: Will the next Conservative Government face tougher challenges than Margaret Thatcher did in 1979? Stephen Mold on Platform: The economic lessons we can learn from Canada Seats and Candidates: Paul Shea selected for East Ham Local Government: Glyn Gaskarth: Councils should be given more power to tackle crime Lib Dem councillor in Somerset denied justice by his own party Two Labour councillors quit the party in Blaenau Gwent Star Chamber: Abolish the Standards Board for England Julia Manning on CentreRight: Isn't the unfolding tragedy over the latest 'flu outbreak that it is a death sentence for the poor? WATCH: Gordon Brown insists Britain is well prepared to cope with an outbreak of swine flu Charles Clarke attacks Gordon Brown's handling of the reform of MPs' expenses Today's other newslinks CCHQ diverts resources to seats lower down the target list "The Conservatives are diverting campaign money and resources away from constituencies that they believe they will easily win, as growing poll leads increase the scale of the party’s electoral ambitions. Candidates in Labour seats that would fall to the Conservatives on a swing of only a few hundred votes are being told that their seats are in a category comfortingly termed “sure win”... The increasing likelihood of victory for the Conservatives at the next election has prompted the party to consider diverting resources away from seats it believes are already in the bag to those previously regarded as unrealistic prospects." - The Times We'll win the election, says William Hague “It is likely that we are going to be able to win the next election... I put it no more strongly than that.” While there was no complacency in the party, he said that a trend was setting in. “However much opinion polls go up and down there is a mood of ‘this is long enough of a Labour government’ .” The Tories were psychologically prepared for government, he said. “We have the right mixture of excitement — when you have lost three elections it is quite exciting.” - Shadow foreign secretary William Hague quoted in a wide-ranging interview with The Times George Osborne mocks Gordon Brown after the PM's economic policy is criticised in Poland "Gordon Brown came under fire both at home and abroad yesterday over the state of Britain's finances. On a visit to Poland, he had to listen to its Prime Minister pointedly criticise countries that tried to spend their way of recession... George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, said the Prime Minister had been given a "lecture on prudence" by the Polish premier. He added: "We are used to Polish builders telling us to fix the roof while the sun was shining, not the Polish Prime Minister as well." - The Independent Conservatives welcome breakdown in negotiations on the working time directive "All 26 other European Union member states are now expected to join the British opt-out which allows UK workers to work more than 48 hours a week, leaving the controversial Brussels employment legislation in tatters... Philip Bushill-Matthews, the Conservative's employment spokesman in the European Parliament, said: "The result of the breakdown of negotiations is that the opt-out remains secure – until the next attempt to undermine it. The current commission proposal for review automatically lapses, and it will be up to the commission to come up with a new proposal." - Daily Telegraph Tories deny YouTube video shows David Cameron at 1988 rave "The Tories were today forced to deny that a video clip purporting to show a long-haired party-goer at a 1988 outdoor rave was the party leader David Cameron. The purple-tinted video, set to a hypnotic acid house rave track, shows a man bearing a striking similarity to Cameron with shoulder-length hair and wearing dungarees." - Daily Mail Liam Fox raises concerns over review of the reserve forces "A radical reorganisation of the armed forces reserves, which would see them integrated more fully with regular forces and better trained, was announced by the Ministry of Defence yesterday. It will involve a cut of about 2,000 posts, mainly as a result of modern communications systems replacing traditional signallers... Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said the plans were short on detail: "Changes to the shape of our armed forces should be made within the context of a strategic defence review - one which is hugely overdue - not in this piecemeal fashion." - The Guardian David Cameron rebuts The Times' attack on his supposed failure to promote women "The fact is we've got more women in the Shadow Cabinet than Labour have in their Cabinet. We have more than 80 parliamentary candidates who are women. If we form a majority of just one at the next election, the number of female Tory MPs will treble to 55. Half the peers I have appointed since becoming leader are women... In my private office, four of the most senior posts are filled by exceptionally able women who I personally appointed myself." - David Cameron writing in The Times > Yesterday's ToryDiary: The Times launches unfair attack on David Cameron's attempts to promote women Gordon Brown faces new challenge over MPs' expenses "Brown faced a challenge last night when the cross-party Commons standards and privileges committee announced it would table its own amendment on expenses and allowances during the debate tomorrow. The committee, whose members include five senior Labour MPs including the former ministers Paddy Tipping and Chris Mullin, will propose that the system of MPs' allowances should be referred to the standards watchdog, Sir Christopher Kelly... The Conservative frontbench is planning to abstain on the committee's amendment. David Cameron is also planning to support all Brown's plans, except the reform of allowances to subsidise MPs' second homes." - The Guardian Stephen O'Brien criticises Government over lack of flu helpline "Leaflets about the swine flu outbreak and how to prevent its spread are to be delivered to every UK household... But the Conservatives have criticised the government over the national flu helpline, which was supposed to be ready in early 2009. Shadow health minister Stephen O'Brien said: "The national flu line will be crucial if a pandemic were to happen in Britain, by allowing people to get the information and the anti-virals they will need to fight the flu without having to go to GP surgeries or hospitals." - BBC > Yesterday's ToryDiary: Conservatives question the Government's readiness to respond to a flu outbreak Boris Johnson promises Olympic benefits for Londoners "Boris Johnson promised yesterday that a combination of mobile swimming pools, "street athletics" and outdoor "green gyms" would help Londoners realise the benefits of the 2012 Olympics as part of a £30m investment plan. The mayor of London also promised hundreds of initiatives at local level, and to sweep away bureaucracy to allow Londoners to use discounted facilities across the capital to boost sports participation." - The Guardian > Yesterday in Local Government: Boris Johnson launches sports programme Simon Heffer: You had to be there to grasp the scale of Margaret Thatcher's revolution "Her arrival as prime minister, 30 years ago next Monday, and the breaking of the discredited consensus that it effected, remain the most positive and important events in our post-war history. If anyone tells you otherwise, then (either literally or metaphorically) they weren't really there." - SImon Heffer writing in the Daily Telegraph Peter Riddell: David Cameron's plans for power can be changed by reality of office "The present Tory Opposition is preparing assiduously, with an implementation team headed by Francis Maude. Former ministers and civil servants have supplied advice, while briefing sessions have been organised for the Conservatives by the Institute for Government, an independent charity concerned with improving the effectiveness of administration... Yet he [David Cameron] knows that even the best prepared plans will look different in the harsh reality of office." - Peter Riddell writing in The Times Alice Miles: Tory plans are muddled and baffling "The Tory programme lacks all coherence. Take, for instance, the party's commitment to protect the rising budgets for health and international development, while looking for spending cuts elsewhere, as highlighted by the Shadow Chancellor George Osborne at the weekend. It is utterly baffling." - Alice Miles writing in The Times Janet Street-Porter: I don't want MPs lecturing us about thrift "David Cameron, once a PR man, is a master of the soundbite, but hijacking the word thrift is rich coming from a group of workers (MPs) still arguing about whether they should be allowed to vote on their own pay, and be reimbursed for second homes... David Cameron talks about removing tax credits from the middle classes and implies that he will raise taxes, but why should ordinary individuals pay more when the waste in government and their inept attempts to harness new technology have cost billions?" - Janet Street-Porter writing in The Independent Revolt grows over treatment of Gurkhas - Daily Mail Peter Hain: We need to wake up and tackle BNP poison head on - The Guardian