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Tuesday 21st July 2009Britain's leading conservative blog Today's top ConservativeHome features ToryDiary: Hague MkII writes a more cautious Conservative foreign policy "In private Cameron has supposedly described Lords reform as "a third-term issue"" Chris Holmes on Platform: Why we should all be excited by the 2012 Olympic Games Parliament: Andrew Lansley criticises Labour for conflicting advice on swine flu and the delayed launch of national pandemic flu line Local government: Dartford says no to bin snooping scheme and Nick Seaton of the Campaign for Real Education says the Charity Commission's attack on independent schools is politically motivated Tim Montgomerie on CentreRight: The Conservative message in 140 characters WATCH: Alan Sugar takes his place in the House of Lords Vince Cable catches a Monday morning 40 winks in his chair as he waits to be interviewed by Sky News Channel 4 News examines Tory plans for reforming financial regulation Highlights from yesterday ToryDiary: New Populus poll has all three main parties gaining ground at the expense of "Others" WATCH: Former England cricketer Darren Gough reveals himself to have been a Conservative supporter since his teens in a video message in support of Selby and Ainsty candidate Nigel Adams Alex Deane on CentreRight: Businesses are fleeing Britain thanks to Labour Andrew Mitchell MP on CentreRight: It's good to be back in Rwanda as Project Umubano enters its third year Today's other newslinks Populus: Tories 12% ahead - Times | Yesterday evening's ToryDiary "David Cameron is to offer an olive branch to his party’s old guard after the turmoil of the expenses scandal by promoting several of them to senior jobs in his government if the Tories win the next election." In an interview with The Telegraph Mr Cameron lists George Young, James Arbuthnot, Peter Lilley, Stephen Dorrell and John Gummer as people who "have every chance of serving in a future Conservative government.” > On Sunday ConHome predicted the return of many greyer beards to Cameron's first government. Senior BBC executive faces Tory anger over saying he wanted to foster  'left of centre thinking' The Daily Mail has the BBC exec's explanation of his remarks: "'When I used the term "left of centre thinking" I most certainly did not use the phrase in the context of any political meaning or "left liberal" mindset. 'Like left-field, it is a phrase that I use with frequency when talking to the creative community to encourage them to develop and approach their ideas from a completely new perspective - where centre is used to convey the sense of the expected or the formulaic.'" > Yesterday's ToryDiary: Jeremy Hunt calls for apology from BBC executive who called for promotion of left-wing thinking FT attacks Osborne's banking reforms but most newspapers applaud them "All in all – and taking into account the disruption they will cause – these plans are unwise. They are also a distraction from the Tories’ better ideas, such as improving banking competition policy. And they will make the FSA’s task more difficult over the coming year. A little keyhole surgery on the government’s proposals would yield better results than these plans for wholesale butchery." - FT leader "The White Paper rightly comes out against splitting commercial from investment banking, on the grounds that such a move would threaten competitiveness. It chooses instead to try to curb the City's casino tendencies by giving the Bank of England powers to impose much higher capital requirements on high-risk activities." - Telegraph leader "The Tories want to hand the real power to the Bank of England, and they are right that the buck must stop somewhere and the Bank is the best option." - Mail comment "When it comes to what the regulating should consist of, rather than its structure, the Tories have largely adopted mainstream views. Banks should hold more capital, leverage shouldn’t be excessive and global agreements are the way forward." - Allister Heath in City AM (The key bankers advising Cameron - FT) Philip Stephens: Tory leadership is more focused on headlines than preparing for government "The Ofcom proposal is another salutary reminder of how much of the Conservative prospectus is still about grabbing a headline rather than setting a framework for effective government." - Philip Stephens in the FT The Whitehall machine is "enthusiastically" briefing Tories "Senior civil servants are losing no opportunity to oil up to the Conservative shadow Cabinet team, and, to the fury of Mr Brown, are enthusiastically taking part in briefings to help prepare the Tories for government." - Dominic Lawson in The Independent "Concerns are growing in the energy industry that Tory plans to sweep away the new planning system being introduced by Labour will create uncertainty and delay investment plans." - FT The Tories are right: we must open up the supply of education places to exploit the talents of the many - Alan Milburn MP in The Times Tax receipts have plunged by £22bn in 12 months - Independent The Sun: No free healthcare for illegal immigrants "We spent 60 years building a welfare state costing hundreds of billions of pounds in hard-earned taxes. It must not be offered cost-free to countless thousands who arrive uninvited without contributing a penny piece." - The Sun Says "Gordon Brown was so angry about emails sent by his former adviser slurring senior Conservatives that he could not speak, Damian McBride said yesterday." - Yorkshire Post