- David Cameron should not bully Gordon Brown about bullying
- Vote for the ideal Conservative election leaflet
LeftWatch: Labour's new "pay-as-you-die" tax
Janan Ganesh and Stephan Shakespeare on Platform: The Network for the Post-Bureaucratic Age
Seats and Candidates: Simon Reevell uses his PPC Diary to file an update on how his campaign to oust Shahid Malik in Dewsbury is going
ToryDiary posts on designing the ideal Conservative leaflet:
- Is this a comprehensive list of our doorstep policies?
- How should Conservative leaflets attack Labour?
- How should the Tory economic message be described?
- What's the key message for Lib/Con marginals?
- Would you like to suggest any other components for the ideal Tory leaflet?
Also on ToryDiary:
Platform posts:
- Neil Pearce: Why I, as a Conservative trade unionist, believe the unions should cut their links with Labour
- Richard Wellings" How the next government can lower business costs by simplifying the tax system
- Coventry plans to dim street lights
- Town hall fat cats are getting fatter
- Labour plan fortnightly bin collections for all
- Labour borrows ANOTHER slogan from the BNP
- William Hague compares Labour to a defeated army that is poisoning the water wells as it retreats
Paul Goodman MP on CentreRight: The brightest and best won't hang around the Commons
WATCH:
Jeremy Hunt promises that arts funding is "significantly" safer under the Tories
Tories send Ken Clarke to give assurances to Brussels about future government
"Ken Clarke, the shadow Business Secretary, is to hold secret talks in Brussels with Jose Manuel Barroso to assure the European Commission President the EU has nothing to fear from a Conservative government. The two-day visit to Brussels, which begins on Tuesday, by the most pro-EU member of David Cameron's cabinet-in-waiting is seen by European officials as a signal that a new Conservative administration will work with the EU executive rather battling against it." - Daily Telegraph
Labour and Lib Dems attacks George Osborne's offer of shares in RBS and Lloyds
"It might reasonably be said that taxpayers, who were forcibly enrolled in a shaky investment, are now entitled to the benefit of hard-headed commercial management in getting their money back. What cannot be reasonably argued, however, is that the socialisation of the banks' losses should now be followed by the subsidised privatisation of any gains. If you see George, tell him." - Guardian editorial
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: George Osborne plans to sell discounted shares in state-owned banks to ordinary Britons
Stephen Glover: Where are Cameron's friends on Fleet Street?
"If the Conservative Party ever needed an extra push from its friends in the right-wing Press, now is the moment. And yet only The Sun offers enthusiastic support, sometimes verging on the desperate. The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail – which, unlike The Sun, never endorsed New Labour – remain lukewarm about "David Cameron's Tories".- Stephen Glover in The Independent
> Saturday's ToryDiary: Why, Mr Dacre, haven't you declared war on Labour?
David Cameron should have more faith in the Christian vote
"Yesterday, Theos, which styles itself "the public theology think tank", published research which showed that our politicians, and particularly David Cameron, could be ignoring the religious vote at their peril. The survey, conducted by ComRes, shows that, while the poll lead for the Tories slips further into single figures, support for Conservatives from Christians has risen only from 38 to 40 per cent since 2005. This figure is important, because 48 per cent of Christians surveyed said that they are "absolutely certain" to vote, a figure that rockets to 61 per cent among Christians who say that their faith "is very important" to their lives. The national average of those "absolutely certain" to vote is 47 per cent." - George Pitcher in the Daily Telegraph
Chris Grayling: The police need more protection against assault
"Almost 50 police officers a day are off sick after being attacked fuelling concerns over growing violence on the streets. More than 17,000 days were lost last year due to injuries to officers – a rise of 11 per cent on the previous 12 months... Chris Grayling, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "We just don’t give our police officers adequate protection against assault. There was a time when attacking a police officer would have been treated with the upmost severity by the criminal justice system, but that doesn’t happen anymore and it’s not good enough." - Daily Telegraph
William Hague denies latest poll has hit Tory morale
"The Tories’ lead over Labour could shrink even further as the general election approaches, William Hague warned yesterday... “If an election were held now there would be a clear Conservative victory but it’s not – it’s being held in 10 or 11 weeks’ time.” Rejecting talk of a drop in morale among senior Tories, he insisted the party remained on course." - Daily Express
> Saturday night's ToryDiary: YouGov's Tory lead lowest for more than a year
Julian Glover: Britain needs a Tory victory because...
"At candidate selection meetings hopefuls are sometimes asked to complete a sentence as they might on the doorstep: "Britain needs a Conservative government because …" So let's set David Cameron the same test. What would he say? Even his friends don't know for sure, which is rather extraordinary, so close to polling day." - Julian Glover in The Guardian
> Seats and Candidates: Nadhim Zahawi selected for Stratford-on-Avon
Reaction to the Gordon Brown bullying claims
"So that’s what Alastair Campbell meant when he complained about Gordon Brown’s ‘psychological flaws’. At the time the phrase had a hugely debilitating effect on Tony Blair’s leadership; now it reads like the mother of all understatements. If an even temperament is a vital quality in a leader, then Mr Brown should never have been allowed through the door of Number 10." - Benedict Brogan in the Daily Telegraph
"This is deeply embarrassing for Gordon Brown at the worst possible moment. The latest poll suggested only a 6 point gap between the Conservatives and Labour. His campaign launch on Saturday was effective with a clear message coherently delivered. But this bullying stuff appears to be snowballing." - Iain Martin in the Wall Street Journal
"When I was a Labour Party press officer a quarter of a century ago, I used to visit a cramped office in the House of Commons shared by two junior MPs, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Of the two, the one who was the warmer personality and easier to work with, in my experience, was Mr Brown." - Andy McSmith in The Independent
How Gordon Brown's tantrums caused a storm over Downing Street - Patrick Wintour in The Guardian
New Labour, Old slogan
> Saturday's LeftWatch post: Gordon Brown reckoned "A Future Fair For All" was the theme of the Blair Government
Ex-Tory donor to give £100,000 to UKIP campaign to unseat John Bercow
"Stuart Wheeler, one of Britain’s biggest political donors, is to give around £100,000 to the UK Independence Party to help it to unseat John Bercow, the Commons’ Speaker, in the general election." - The Times
Asian TV millionaire to join the BNP
"A tycoon who starred on TV's Secret Millionaire is joining the British National Party to rile them - because he is Asian. Mo Chaudry, 49, will formally apply today - days after the BNP had to change its whites-only constitution because it breached equality laws." - The Sun
> Tariq Ahmad last week on Platform: The BNP's ideology remains bigoted and divisive and it is the duty of the Conservative Party to counter their activities
And finally... Boris Johnson refuses to wear a ski helmet
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