ToryDiary: ConservativeHome's 10-point review of party conference Also on ToryDiary: Azeem Ibrahim on Platform: The law should recognise that terrorists are not just criminals, they are traitors "He told the party faithful in Birmingham that "the spirit of the big society" could "blast through" if everyone pulled together in the national interest." - The Guardian "David Cameron urged the people of Britain to join the Government in repairing the nation's damaged economy, telling voters: "It takes two". - Daily Telegraph "He told the Tory conference his vision was to make the UK great again. And he stole Labour's clothes by boldly declaring "we are the radicals now" before saying his coalition government was "breaking apart the old system". - The Sun How the papers and commentariat reacted to the speech "Mr Cameron’s speech was impressive and impressively delivered. It was humorous where it needed to be and rousing when required, it made a proper argument, broke new ground and was lethally political. It was a prime minister’s speech." - Times editorial (£) "After the "Look Mum, no notes" performance that made him five years ago, Conservative delegates now enter a conference hall waiting to be wowed by David Cameron's oratorical gifts. This time, giving his first conference speech as prime minister, there were no such fireworks. He stuck to the lectern and read from a text." - Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian "This was not vintage David Cameron, for he has set the bar high. But he succeeded in ending a difficult conference on a high note. His innate optimism shone through." - Daily Telegraph editorial "I admire Cameron. He has the stuff of greatness. But I do wish he'd give the Big Society a rest." - Max Hastings in the Daily Mail "It is hard to believe that the optimism that suffused Mr Cameron's speech will emerge unscarred from the storms into which the government is heading." -Guardian editorial "Undeniably, Mr Cameron deserves all the applause he won yesterday. But as he knows better than anyone, his real test begins in a fortnight, when the Coalition spells out where the cuts are to fall. Of course, they must be tough — painfully so. But if Mr Cameron wishes to keep the nation with him, they must also be fair." - Daily Mail editorial "David Cameron came to the Conservative conference with three big objectives. The prime minister wanted to sell the coalition to his party, to stiffen its spine about the coming austerity and to frame the government’s overall mission for the nation. He leaves with only two of the three accomplished. This was not for the want of trying. His speech encompassed all of them. But while he reassured his party about the partnership with the Lib Dems and the cuts, he struggled to articulate the government’s broader objective." - FT (£) editorial > Yesterday's coverage of David Cameron's speech on ConHome 'Transparent' Tories silent over falling membership "There has been no confirmation or denial of the interesting claim by the editor of the ConservativeHome website, Tim Montgomerie, that party membership has declined by 80,000 under David Cameron's leadership... With this revelation buzzing around the conference, you would think that the Tory party chairman, Sayeed Warsi, would have thought of something appropriate to say before being interviewed live by Andrew Neil on the Daily Politics programme. But no, "kamikaze Warsi" walked in unprepared. On being asked, for the third time, whether or not membership had fallen, the Baroness replied: "It depends. How are you defining membership?" Neil had, in fact, already told her several times." - The Independent > Last night's ToryDiary: Tory membership down by a third to 177,000 since Cameron became leader Jeremy Hunt: The state "should not finance" big families on benefits Child benefit cut could hit millions more when tax band falls "Hundreds of thousands more families than expected could be hit by the decision to withdraw child benefit, it emerged yesterday. Almost two million workers who are currently basic-rate taxpayers, including tens of thousands of teachers and policemen, are expected to become higher-rate taxpayers over the next five years because the starting level for the top-rate band is set to fall from next year. This means that hundreds of thousands of families could find that by 2013 they, too, will lose the weekly payment." - The Times (£) "Ministers are close to agreeing plans that will see the age at which children receive benefit fall from 18 to 16. The change would save up to £2 billion and is considered "an easy win" for George Osborne, the Chancellor, as he prepares to unveil the comprehensive spending review in two weeks' time." - Daily Telegraph Child benefit will be means tested, says Iain Duncan Smith - The Guardian "The Government looked to be on a collision course with unions today after a report called for an end to final salary pension schemes for public sector workers. Former Labour Cabinet minister Lord Hutton said long-term structural reform was needed to public sector pensions, including an end to the current final salary schemes." - The Independent William Hague's sovereignty pledge "But the move is unlikely to satisfy Eurosceptics who fear the self-amending nature of the Lisbon Treaty will allow Brussels to seize more powers without the need for new treaties. Tory MP Douglas Carswell said there had already been four significant transfers of power to the EU since the general election, including powers which will hand aspects of bank regulation to Brussels... Stephen Booth, of the think-tank Open Europe, said: ‘These safeguards are not enough in order to inspire public trust on their own. There are still areas under the Lisbon Treaty, such as justice and home affairs, where there is still a day-to-day risk of powers being ceded to Brussels and EU judges in particular’." -Daily Mail > WATCH: William Hague says that Britain's sovereign parliament can undo what it has given to Europe Liam Fox: MoD cuts will not be easy "Cuts to defence are unavoidable, Liam Fox says, but the Trident nuclear deterrent will go ahead and veterans will get more support... The Defence Secretary, speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, said the legacy from Labour made cuts unavoidable. "It is not an easy time to be at the Ministry of Defence," he said." - Channel 4 News National Security Council to meet over defence budget - BBC > Yesterdays ToryDiary: Liam Fox lambasts Labour for the inheritance it has bequeathed him at the MoD > WATCH: Liam Fox says that Trident will be replaced Danny Alexander criticises Police Federation over attitude to cuts - Press Association Government may allow hospitals to undercut each other to attract patients -The Guardian Results of shadow cabinet elections due out tonight "Labour will reveal the 19 MPs who will join new leader Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet on Thursday. In opposition, the party's top team is voted in by its MPs although the leader gets to allocate specific jobs. Voting closes on Thursday and ballots will be counted from 1700 BST with an announcement expected hours later." - BBC And finally... Punters cash in on Pickles' curry
"David Cameron issued a call to arms to the public yesterday to help build a nation of “doers and go-getters” from the mess of the deficit crisis and change forever the way Britain is run. The Prime Minister hinted at pre-election tax cuts even as he braced voters for lost jobs and axed government programmes from the looming cuts... Evoking Lord Kitchener, Mr Cameron used his speech to the Conservative party conference to tell Britons: “Your country needs you.” - The Times (£)"He spoke as a man on the edge of history rather than as someone who has already made it. The Coalition he leads is about to announce the biggest cuts in public spending ever imposed by a government. But the argument he advanced as a prelude was the same one he has been advancing for several years, the same one he advanced in opposition: the argument for a smaller state and big society." - Steve Richards in The Independent
"After the Prime Minister's stirring performance, planting the Tories squarely in the centre ground, it is hard to see where Labour fits in. The week's best-received news for most voters was axing handouts to the wealthy, proving Mr Cameron understands what being fair means to Sun readers caught in the storm." - Sun editorial
"David Cameron is going hell for leather on a five-year campaign to transform the country, and we'll all have to keep up. Conservatives leaving their conference after an hour-long call to arms from their leader may be no wiser about what the Prime Minister means by the "big society spirit" or his desire for a "conversation about fairness". But what emerges from the murk is a big picture of revolution on all fronts. So much of it, in fact, that it is no wonder we find it easier to focus on one thing at a time, such as child benefit, and thereby miss the wider context. The ambition of what he is attempting is terrifying." - Benedict Brogan in the Daily Telegraph
"Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt told BBC Two's Newsnight that the state should not support families who get more in benefits than the average family earns... "The number of children that you have is a choice and what we're saying is that if people are living on benefits then they make choices but they also have to have responsibility for those choices," he said. "It's not going to be the role of the state to finance those choices." - BBC
"New laws will spell out the British Parliament's sovereignty over Brussels, William Hague vowed yesterday. The Foreign Secretary said Westminster's powers would be clarified - and its legal abilities will be formally put on the statute book for the first time. Tory activists cheered as he told the party conference: "EU law has effect in this country because, and solely because, Parliament wills that it should." - The Sun
"The conference diary noted on Monday that Ladbrokes had been taking money on local government cabinet minister Eric Pickles to be photographed enjoying a curry in Brum. The portly Pickles did his duty and tweeted a picture of himself eating a curry. Anyone who took up the 5/6 odds is now in pocket, but Ladbrokes should have known better. When it tried a similar stunt in Brighton during the spring conference, Mr Pickles posted a picture of himself at the fish and chip shop with the sign "pay up Ladbrokes". -The Scotsman
Thursday, 7 October 2010
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