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Vote now in our pre-Conference survey... What would make you more likely to attend Tory Conference? Have the Tories underestimated Ed Miliband? What do you think will be the outcome of the next election? How do you rate the new Party Chairman Grant Shapps and the new Cabinet? Please vote now in ConHome's Pre-Conference survey... Today's ConservativeHome newslinks ToryDiary: Can Hunt escape an NHS crisis on his watch? Also on ToryDiary: This could be the civil service's expenses-gate. Its Lehman moment. Its hacking crisis. On Comment: Daniel Byles MP: Let's implement the right regime for shale gas in Britain - so we can start seeing the benefits of our natural resources Andrea Leadsom MP: The British option for EU reform can be based on trade and less interference LeftWatch: Five things we’ve learnt about Ed Miliband’s Labour from their Manchester conference International: Mitt Romney receives momentum shift as he easily bests Obama in first presidential debate Local Government: Harry Phibbs reviews The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling The Deep End: The awful truth about Ed Miliband WATCH: Romney and Obama clash on the US deficit and spending cuts Greening and Villiers safe in new jobs despite West Coast rail fiasco "Ministers could not be expected to delve into the minutiae of the West Coast Main Line franchise award and other complex deals, Downing Street insisted yesterday. Justine Greening and Theresa Villiers, the two ministers at the Department for Transport when the bids were being considered and awarded, appeared safe in their new roles, despite the fiasco. Senior Tory sources said that ministers should not carry the blame for failing to spot errors in highly technical spreadsheets unintelligible to the layman." - Times (£) The error could eventually cost £300m - Times (£) Ministers accused of using rail scapegoats - FT (£) Labour call for Greening to be sacked - Daily Mail Virgin Rail back on track in west coast shambles - Guardian Comment: Ministers cannot escape the blame for this train wreck - Christian Wolmar for the Times (£) Public deserves better over rail bid shambles - Scotsman editorial "[T]he most important lesson is that the civil service is broken; it is an archaic institution that has become very bad at delivery. We need to move to a more US-style system of government, where thousands of officials are brought in by incoming governments to run things, with strict safeguards." - Allister Heath for City AM Ministers and mandarins must work together to avoid repeating the West Coast rail franchise fiasco - Sue Cameron for the Daily Telegraph > Today on ToryDiary: This could be the civil service's expenses-gate. Its Lehman moment. Its hacking crisis. > Coverage from yesterday: ToryDiary: The Government's calamitous climb-down over the West Coast Main Line deal WATCH: Patrick McLoughlin: We will learn lessons from the West Coast Main Line u-turn WATCH: Richard Branson says that, after the Department for Transport climb-down, Virgin stands a good chance of winning the West Coast Main Line contract We may have to cut back on NHS spending if we win the next election, Hunt says "The Tories pledged to ringfence the NHS budget until 2015, but the Health Secretary said in an interview that the current ‘uncertain’ economic situation meant it may not be possible to repeat the promise next time. His comments are at odds with those of his predecessor Andrew Lansley, who said last year that health spending would have to continue rising ‘until kingdom come’ because of the growing elderly population." - Daily M ail Hundreds of contracts signed in 'biggest ever act of NHS privatisation' - Guardian > Today on ToryDiary: Can Hunt escape an NHS crisis on his watch? > From yesterday - WATCH: Andy Burnham rails against NHS "privatisation" Andrew Mitchell pulls out of Conservative party conference to avoid being a "distraction" "The minister has reversed his earlier decision to attend the party’s annual gathering in Birmingham because he does not want to be a “distractionâ€�. The move is a blow to the Conservatives because Mr Mitchell, who represents Sutton Coldfield, is one of the party’s few MPs with a seat in the city. It is also extremely rare for a senior politician like Mr Mitchell, who can attend Cabinet, to stay aware from the annual conference." - Daily Telegraph Britain in talks on cybersecurity hotline with China and Russia "Britain has begun tentative talks with China and Russia about setting up a hotline to help prevent cyber-emergencies from spiralling out of control. The discussions are at an early stage but they reflect anxiety from all sides that a calamity in cyberspace, whether deliberate or accidental, could have devastating consequences unless there is a quick and reliable way for senior officials to reach each other." - Guardian New "City Minister" Greg Clark tells Brussels to crack down on market abuse "The EU should stand firm and enact tough laws on market abuse, including hefty fines for wrongdoing, the new UK City minister said in his maiden speech to a Brussels audience. He stressed London is no soft touch on regulation. Greg Clark, who took over as the UK coalition government’s leader on financial regulation in September, urged EU policy makers not to water down plans to standardise market abuse rules across the 27-nation bloc." - FT ( C2£) > From today - Andrea Leadsom MP on Comment: The British option for EU reform can be based on trade and less interference Ironbridge Gorge 'saved' by Eric Pickles' £12m grant "Ironbridge Gorge, regarded by historians as the cradle of the industrial revolution, has been saved for the nation with a multi-million pound government grant. ... The cash will go to restoring and protecting the gorge and its bridge so that generations can enjoy the landscape that sparked a new age of modernity in Britain." - Daily Telegraph Thug kung-fu kicked Tory MP who tried to stop him vandalising bus stop "A skinhead admitted kung-fu kicking Tory Stewart Jackson when the MP tried to make a citizens arrest after spotting him vandalising a bus stop. Ivans Karanovs, 20, attacked Peterborough MP Mr Jackson and bystander Christopher Brierley. ... The MP decided to make a stand and carry out a citizen's arrest but backed down when Karanovs became aggressive. Shaven-headed Karanovs then launched a kung-fu style kick into the politician's side in front of his horrified wife." - Daily Telegraph Phillip Blond: David Cameron has lost his chance to redefine the Tories "Rather like some ghastly ghost story, the various shades of the conservative past have returned and overwhelmed the good that Cameron originally represented. His brand is now polling almost at the same level as that of the Conservative party itself. His failure to maintain a coherent new vision has led to spasmodic appeals to vague progressive notions that have further alienated his own base and suggested that the PM is not a master of his own beliefs. None of this is helped by an almost permanent lack of central direction; even cabinet ministers do not know who is in control of the go vernment's message or approach." - Phillip Blond for the Guardian Class war and marches, so much for One Nation: Miliband vows to support union protest against cuts "A day after he made his audacious attempt to claim the ‘One Nation’ philosophy from the Tories, Ed Miliband was back making left-wing class war attacks yesterday. Despite his earlier claims that Labour would unite the rich and poor, he pledged to speak at a trade union march against austerity measures. And in a question and answer session with grassroots members, Mr Miliband referred to activists as ‘comrades’ and boasted that ‘hatred’ of the Government kept his party united." - Daily Mail Poll boost for Miliband after "One Nation" conference - The Sun "Shadow Cabinet members will be ordered to draw up policies to illustrate Ed Miliband's new One Nation Labour theme as he tries to build on his successful conference speech and answer criticism that his party is a policy-free zone." - Independent Miliband ducks questions over his own wealth - Daily Telegraph Builders and plumbers urged to join Ed Miliband's class war against the Conservatives - Daily Mail David set for return to lead his brother's election campaign - Independent Labour considers curbs on universal benefits to pay for social care -Guardian Comment: Now it’s David Cameron’s turn to display his one-nation credentials - Peter Oborne for the Daily Telegraph One nation? Hypocritical Red Ed is the most divisive Labour leader for decades - Stephen Glover of the Daily Mail Ed Miliband and Tony Blair have more in common than those stuck in the past can allow - Martin Kettle for the Guardian Heads should roll after this rail bid debacle. If a blunder of this proportion had occurred in the private sector, the consequences would be very different - Daily Telegraph editorial > Today on The Deep End: The awful truth about Ed Miliband > Coverage from yesterday: Benjamin Disraeli tells ConservativeHome that Ed Miliband leads the No Nation party Robert Halfon MP on Comment: Ed Miliband isn’t talking about Disraeli’s One Nation, and this presents Tories with a wonderful opportunity John Glen MP on Comment: Rhetoric vs Reality, or why Miliband’s speech will be forgotten Andrew Morrison on Comment: One Nation? We got it decades ago, Ed — Labour still doesn’t National 'virtual ID card' scheme set for launch - Independent World economic crisis recovery will take at least a decade, says IMF chief economist - Daily Mail UK services grow slowly but Eurozone contracts - City AM Workers are £1,600 a year poorer because of state of economy, study finds - Guardian Turkey strikes Syrian targets after cross-border mortar bomb kills five- Guardian Divorce rates fall - Daily Mail Making prisoners use bucket as toilet is not degrading, rules judge -Daily Telegraph Romney wins first presidential debate "Sixty-seven percent of registered voters who watched the debate said GOP nominee Mitt Romney won the debate, while 25% said President Barack Obama came out as the winner, according to a CNN/ORC International Poll released late Wednesday night." - CNN "With the possible exception of a highly technical exchange on Medicare I’m not sure [Obama] won a single round. Romney by contrast was back to his best. The 27 debates he endured against his Republican challengers in the spring proved good preparation for this contest." - Alex Massie of the Spectator Romney humiliated Obama in the presidential debate - Tim Stanley of TelegraphBlogs Highlights from yesterday's ConservativeHome ToryDiary:  Fraser Nelson says that David Cameron’s defeat is “horribly likelyâ€� The Government's calamitous climb-down over the West Coast Main Line deal Give NI tax breaks to employers of TA volunteers — and other morale-boosters for reservists On Comment: Robert Halfon MP: Ed Miliband isn’t talking about Disraeli’s One Nation, and this presents Tories with a wonderful opportunity John Glen MP: Rhetoric vs Reality, or why Miliband’s speech will be forgotten WATCH:  Patrick McLoughlin: We will learn lessons from the West Coast Main Line u-turn Richard Branson says that, after the Department for Transport climb-down, Virgin stands a good chance of winning the West Coast Main Line contract Yvette Cooper: "We don't want private companies patrolling the public streets of Britain" Andy Burnham rails against NHS "privatisation"