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Thursday 30th July 2009Britain's leading conservative blog Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: Shoestring manifesto (4): Immediate progress on social justice Charlie Elphicke on Platform: How Labour has made the very poorest in society even poorer Seats and Candidates: Pickles and CCHQ gain unprecedented power over shortlists for autumn selections Also in Seats and Candidates: "Free spirits" among the likely new intake of Conservative MPs Cllr John Whelan in Local Government: How radical, Conservative councils can deliver better value for money Chris Kelly on CentreRight: How Conservatives are helping to rebuild lives in Srebrenica WATCH: Sir John Chilcot's Iraq War Inquiry opens today Other ConservativeHome highlights from yesterday Wallasey PPC Leah Fraser takes out full page advertisement to slam Angela Eagle MP on expenses Tim Montgomerie: Why the editorial lines of newspapers DO matter Matt Sinclair: The rise of anti-semitism Andrew Mitchell files an update on what the Project Umubano team are doing in Sierra Leone Andrew Lilico: Spending must be cut now Today's other newslinks David Cameron apologises over Twitter swearing controversy "David Cameron was forced to apologise twice for using bad language in a 30-minute radio interview in which he expressed his views about Twitter, the social networking site... The interview on Absolute Radio was designed to show the informal quirky side of Mr Cameron's character." - Daily Telegraph "To what extent Mr Cameron’s Twitter joke was “in rehearsal” and deemed appropriate by his minders for the hard-rockin’ demographic of the Absolute audience is impossible to know. What I can tell him is that on The Times we try to steer clear of spelling out obscenities, as they offend our readers." - The Times Christian O'Connell talks about his interview with David Cameron in a Guardian podcast > Listen to the interview here > Ridley Grove on CentreRight was unimpressed yesterday by David Cameron's use of language Mandelson claims Brown "would not have a problem" with a presidential-style TV debate with David Cameron "Lord Mandelson has suggested that Gordon Brown and David Cameron could go face-to-face in a televised debate during the next General Election campaign. The Business Secretary - Mr Brown's most powerful Cabinet ally - said the Prime Minister would 'not have a problem' with a U.S. presidential-style debate. But last night Downing Street appeared to distance itself from the comments, saying there were still no plans for him to take part." - Daily Mail > Yesterday's ToryDiary: Might we yet see the Cameron v Brown TV debate? Could all Cabinet ministers share one office building in a Cameron Government? "It is my understanding that the party has even consulted with New Zealand’s National party about that country’s ‘Beehive’ model of government, where all Cabinet ministers are housed in one building. It is uncertain how seriously the Tories are taking this idea. But it would be a way to avoid the emergence of an inner and outer circle of ministers, something that is already threatening to become a problem — note the recent grumblings about the cliqueishness of the Cameron operation." - James Forsyth in The Spectator > Recent ToryDiary: Cameron considers joint Downing Street HQ with Osborne The Left continues to smear the new leader of the European Conservative and Reformists "The new chair of the Conservatives and Reformists group, which includes the 24 Tory MEPs, is Michal Kaminski. He belongs to Poland's Law and Justice party, one of whose MPs, Artur Górski, described the election of Barack Obama in the US as "a disaster" and "the end of the civilisation of the white man". Kaminski is a former member of the neo-Nazi National Revival of Poland party (NOP), which, in a direct quotation from Hitler's Mein Kampf, says in its manifesto that "Jews will be removed from Poland, and their possessions will be confiscated". - New Statesman "Welcome to the Cam-Kam, the new dance of the European hard right. Choreographed by William Hague, the new dance-master for the Europe-hating media and Tory millionaire MPs, the Cam-Kam allows the worst of 20th-century politics – dislike of Jews, gays, immigrants – to prance and preen on the European stage. Named after the alliance between David Cameron and Michal Kaminski, the Cam-Kam reminds watchers of the worst of ultra-nationalist politics." - Labour MP Denis MacShane writing in The Independent "Timothy Kirkhope MEP, the leader of the Conservatives in the European parliament and the deputy chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists, said Kaminski had "been subjected to a number of vicious politically motivated attacks". "It is deeply regrettable that some people have been misled by them," he said. "Anyone who knows Michal knows that to accuse him of anti-semitism is complete nonsense." - The Guardian > Daniel Hannan MEP's recent Platform: We can be very proud of our new leader in the European Parliament Ken Clarke demands swift publication of MG Rover Inquiry "The controversial report into the collapse of MG Rover might never be published, The Daily Telegraph can disclose... Ken Clarke, the shadow business secretary, said: "It would be outrageous if this report were never published. The public have a right to know the background to the collapse of the company. There are former Rover workers waiting for possible compensation which cannot be paid until the report is published. Lord Mandelson should remove any doubt about his intention to publish this report in full as soon as possible." - Daily Telegraph Stephen Glover: Do I really want my country run by a 27-year-old? "The Tory worthies of Norwich North presumably chose Chloe Smith as their candidate over older and perhaps less attractive women, or middle-aged men in pinstripe suits, because they thought she would go down well with the media - and, therefore, the electorate. We are, indeed, a society more preoccupied with the packaging than what lies inside. I don't say this in any spirit of animus against Chloe, to whom I wish all the luck in the world. But I don't want to be ruled by her, at any rate for the next 20 years or so, or by others who understand the wiles of modern politics but know little about industry and commerce, and, frequently, of our history." - Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail Chloe Smith has given her first major interview to today's Eastern Daily Press > Tom Greeves's recent CentreRight post: In defence of youth in politics Anatole Kaletsky: Headline-chasing is harming Tory credibility "Tory economic policies really are unconvincing and, worst of all, that Mr Cameron really is more focused on rhetorical gimmicks to use against Gordon Brown than on the policies that he will need to implement if he comes to power. If only Mr Cameron and his minions spent less time thinking about the next election their prospects of victory would probably be better and their credibility as a potential government would certainly be far greater. " - Anatole Kaletsky writing in The Times Benedict Brogan: Will David Cameron be able to push through the policies they have picked up from around the world? "What remains unclear is quite how he will do what he proposes, and whether the government machine will be a useful ally in delivering his programme. Will his plans be ready by then? Will they be credible? And can the Civil Service deliver?" - Benedict Brogan in the Daily Telegraph Government forced to announce review of Armed Forces Compensation Scheme "Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth cut short his family holiday on Wednesday and flew home to face the political storm engulfing his department... In a victory for the Daily Mail and its readers, he announced he would bring forward a review of the much-criticised Armed Forces Compensation Scheme... Tory spokesman Dr Andrew Murrison welcomed the move, but said: ‘Why has it taken the Government so long to realise that the system needs to be looked at?'" - Daily Mail > Yesterday's ToryDiary Minister admits Labour are now election "underdogs" "Labour will fight the next election as “underdogs”, Wales Office Minister Wayne David said last night" - Western Mail Corby council found liable in toxic waste contamination ruling - Guardian Law Lords due to rule on assisted suicide - BBC