BIRMINGHAM CONFERENCE 2008

                                                           BY

                                             A CONSERVATIVE

 

I had never stayed in Birmingham before and my hotel was just 300 yards from the International Conference Centre.   I had chosen wisely because at lunch time and in the evenings many fringe meetings were going on which were easily accessible.   Rigorous security checks were in force at the entrance to the I.C.C. but on passing through these you were free to roam the many and various halls, rooms and suites.   The problem was that as soon as you knew your way around the building conference was nearly over.

 

On Sunday morning after a welcome from Party Chairman,Caroline Spellman, who warned us against complacency and never to again vacate the centre ground where elections are won and lost, particularly now that we were winning the battle of ideas, we were given a history of Birmingham (where Conference was being held for the first time since 1912) by David Willetts who had written a short book about the development of Birmingham since the 1860s.   I had not realised that Joseph Chamberlain was originally a Liberal who joined forces with Benjamin Disraeli and broke with Gladstone over home rule for Ireland.   Chamberlain eventually became a Liberal Unionist and added to the Conservative Party its urban base for up until then we were essentially a party of rural England, church and squire.

 

The economic crisis overshadowed conference and those responsible for planning the programme had wisely decided to jettison the item ‘Celebrating Election Success’ scheduled for early that afternoon.   Instead we had a witty speech from William Hague castigating the Prime Minister’s mismanagement of the economy when Chancellor for ten years followed by a serious and yet optimistic speech from David Cameron about the new challenges which face our country in these difficult and uncertain times.

 

The various debates followed a similar pattern.   A member of the shadow cabinet would introduce the topic and guests, not necessarily all Conservatives, would be invited to speak on the subject as it affected them but nonetheless relevant to the discussion in question.   There might also be a short video and this would often be followed by questions from the floor mainly by prospective parliamentary candidates who were allowed to make their own points and comments.   Our parliamentary candidates, many with a good chance of winning a seat at the next election, now provide a marvellous cross section of the public and come from all walks of life.

 

We have many more women, a number from the ethnic minorities, gay people and many who work in both the public and private sectors.   Many, I am convinced, have come over to us because in the last ten years they have seen a growth in the bureaucratic government knows best attitude which now affects all areas and they want something done about it.   They look to us to provide the change required and they want a new and radical approach in the knowledge that simply throwing hard earned taxpayers money at the problem does not solve the problem.   We have to be the catalyst for that change.

 

One of the major themes of conference was how we could repair what David Cameron calls the ‘broken society’.   Hence the emphasis on crime, welfare reform, family breakdown, drug abuse and so on.   One of the most moving speeches –perhaps the most moving – came from Mrs. Elizabeth Burton Phillips who had herself been broken by the death of her 27 year old son, a heroin addict.    She has set up a charity for drug abusers in memory of her son and one was humbled hearing her story.   In another debate, we heard another moving account of a lady who had lost her husband, brutally murdered by a gang of youths,and whose death had robbed her three children of a wonderful father.   And in the same session we heard how a charity Kids Count is helping young people from deprived backgrounds.

 

Early in the conference, late on Sunday afternoon, Frederick Forsythe and Dr. Liam Fox had spoken of our debt as a nation to our armed forces and of what is known as the Military Covenant.   This means in essence that when called upon to fight our government provides proper and sufficient equipment for the task and a salary and pension commensurate with their status.   On returning from duty decent accommodation is found and good compensation given for any injury suffered.

 

Late on Monday afternoon, the debate led by Stephen O’Brien,was on the subject ‘Caring for an Elderly Population’.   We heard from the author Terry Pratchett on how he was coping, at a relatively early age,with the onset of a rare form of alzheimer’s disease and how another lady, Marion Talbot,had been forced to place her 89 year old mother in a home for the elderly due to the effects of this crippling and debilitating illness. Just as we had the Military Covenant, there now had to be a Covenant with the Elderly.

 

Earlier in the day, at the morning session, Alan Duncan had chaired a debate on Business and Enterprise.   He promised that a Conservative government would review, repeal and redress the imbalances and stifling bureaucracy and red tape which prevents many small businesses expanding and employing people.   David Willetts, contributing to the same debate, deplored the fact that the government’s obsession with getting 50% of school leavers into university had led to a lack of mobility and a shortage of skills.   There were, he said, a million young people in the country without a job of any kind and pledged that a Conservative government would create many more apprenticeships and opportunities for learning a skill.

 

Opening the debate on the economy, Margot James, PPC for Stourbridge, said that only a policy of sound money, living within our means, and saving for the future could get us out of the current mess.   Continuing this theme, the Shadow Chief Secretary, Philip Hammond, reminded us that the past ten years had been an age of irresponsibility with a public sector borrowing deficit now approaching £90 billion, zero growth and a lending rate of 5%.   At the same time taxes had gone up by 69%, government spending by 74% and personal debt was now £1.4 trillion.   There has been an illusion of prosperity and  an unsustainable boom in property prices.    After a short and well received speech from the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, addressed us.   The government’s own fiscal rules had been broken and it was now time to restore financial responsibility.   He also confirmed that, in the light of the new situation, our spending commitments would have to be revised.

That morning I did not arrive in the main hall until 10 a.m. just as Iain Duncan Smith was receiving  a standing ovation for his speech on social justice.   The debate on education was introduced by the PPC for Brigg and Goole, himself a secondary school teacher.   Other speakers included Maria Miller, Nick Gibb and Tim Loughton.

 

Rising shadow cabinet star, Michael Gove, wound up emphasising the need for change and for bringing common sense back into the classroom. New schools would be created if parents wanted them, independent, although state financed, and there would be scope for the involvement of charities and the voluntary sector.   Gove did not underestimate that there would be opposition to these proposals (based on the Swedish model) – particularly from the teaching unions.   But we provided hope for the future, not fear.

 

The continuing financial crisis together with the adverse vote the previous evening in the USA House of Representatives led to a second appearance by David Cameron who gave general support to our government and confirmed that we would not obstruct in the House of Commons any measures intended to ease the situation.

 

It never ceases to amaze me how certain issues are regarded as the preserve of a particular party.   For example defence and crime are regarded as Conservative winners while the NHS and pensions are regarded as bonuses for the Labour Party.    Our debate on the NHS shattered this myth once and for all.   This is probably because David Cameron regularly uses the NHS for himself and his family.    In addition our shadow

Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, has been holding the brief for five years and has not used it as a stepping stone to a higher profile position.   In Anne Milton we have someone who has been a nurse and has thus had first hand experience of some of the difficulties faced by NHS staff.   We were promised an end to targets which are distorting health priorities, no polyclinics except where deemed appropriate and a fresh approach to the causes of depression and mental illness.   The view was expressed that too often we try to treat the symptoms but not the cause.

 

Another interesting session on the final morning was entitled ‘Preparing for Government’ with Francis Maude and Oliver Letwin.   I had already heard Francis Maude at an early morning meeting the previous day and that caused me to be late for Iain Duncan Smith’s speech in the main hall already referred to.   This was followed by a discussion on the environment and then one on national security where the main speaker was Baroness Neville-Jones.   I missed William Hague winding up the debate on Foreign affairs although I did see him on TV afterwards being interviewed by Andrew Neil. (And I do wonder how we will be able to call a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if our Parliament has ratified it before June 2010).

 

The highlight of the final afternoon was naturally David Cameron’s speech.    Because of the numbers this took place in the much larger Symphony Hall.    We queued for 45 minutes to get a seat during the course of which I chatted to a young lady who is standing as a candidate in the South West Region in next year’s European elections but who is unlikely to be elected as she is sixth on our list for that area.   I sat next to a lady from Wyre Forest whose MP is an independent consultant elected twice on a Save Kidderminster Hospital ticket.    Cameron was introduced by our candidate for Hammersmith.   His speech, I thought, was well delivered and suited to the occasion.   It was in no way triumphalistic but realistic and while the charge ‘a novice’ is true, this may be no bad thing.   For, if the Spectator is to be believed, he has a range of long standing friends in high places upon whom he can call to give him sound and sensible advice in the full knowledge that none of them is after his job.  This contrasts well with the Blair/Brown feud which led to continued tension between Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street .

 

Outside the conference proper there were, as I've stated, many fringe meetings.    Those which I attended included ones on public health (in particular heart disease), public transport and the place of Scotland within the Union now that there is a SNP led administration in Edinburgh and a distinct possibility of a Conservative government in Westminster by mid 2010.   All very interesting and informative.

 

Our party has changed dramatically over the last ten years and this was bound to happen given the fact that this is our longest period in opposition since 1916.    I think we would be genuinely surprised at the number of Labour leaning or Labour voting families who have joined us.   And this is in no small measure due to David Cameron who, although born into a family with close ties to the aristocracy, has somehow been able to reach out to them.   And perhaps the most noticeable thing about conference itself was that all the sessions dealt with issues and subjects of most concern to voters; in so doing we were re establishing our credentials as a party who could be trusted with government once more.   Furthermore there was this realisation that this trust once earned could be fragile and that the general election whenever it comes could still easily slip away from us.

Another feature was this year’s Social Action project and the work that the party has been doing over recent months on the Welsh House Farm Estate in the Quinton area of Birmingham.   And our PPC there Deidree Alden would be an asset to the House of Commons.   I sincerely hope she can win back what was in days past one of our safest Birmingham seats.

 

The global financial situation and the credit cruch continue to dominate the headlines so it was hardly surprising that our Birmingham deliberations did not make the front pages (or in some cases any page at all).   Peter Mandelson’s return to the government and to the Cabinet was naturally a major story and some Labour backbenches could not hide their dismay and in some cases anger that such a divisive figure could be welcomed back so easily and made a life peer due solely to the Prime Minister’s patronage (And  now that the hereditary peers have gone why are we not making a clear case for the second chamber to be elected ?).   No doubt in making the appointment the Prime Minister was thinking of the opening lines of Shakespeare’s Richard III (slightly altered) :

 Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this Sun of Brussels

 

I think Labour will probably recover somewhat in the polls (there are signs of this already) and we are in all probability eighteen months from a general election.   If a week in politics is a long time, May 2010 is an eternity.    But even though 2005 was a poor one for us in terms of seats won, there are numerous marginal seats which would fall on a very small swing to us.   With a resurgent Nationalist party in Scotland, Labour may well be deprived of a majority in what is its natural heartland.   And despite eleven years of Labour government there are parts of Glasgow where the average life expectancy is thirty (yes thirty) years less than in say parts of Surrey or Berkshire.   We are in for at least a year of belt tightening (or whatever way you might like to describe it) and I hope our leaders are revising downwards their spending plans in the light of the new austerity.   All we can possibly do is to reallocate our current expenditure.   For example, it seems to me crazy to pay school children up to £30 a week by way of grant to stay in school – a fact I recently discovered when visiting my own grammar school, now a comprehensive.   I take the admittedly old fashioned view that children should stay at school because they want to learn and I believe that with finite resources the money could be spent better elsewhere.

 

Our Birmingham conference promised a radical change in direction.    That said, it continued to reaffirm our belief that we should put our trust in people rather than government and that it is only by devolving power back to local communities and involving the voluntary and charitable institutions that our country can get through the present crisis and build a better future.   These are massive challenges for any government and it is unlikely that the present government will be able to grapple with them.   For not only is it tired after eleven years in office but it has an idealogical apathy to anything that smacks of self help, believing as it does in the empowerment of the state with its targets, directives and hand outs.

 

David Cameron and his team have gained time to put more flesh on the bones of policy.   Since his election as leader we have made great strides and are on the way back.   The road has been long and hard but provided we keep our nerve and have clear well thought out policies relevant to modern day Britain there is every chance we will win the election whenever it comes.   In the words of my own hero, the late Iain Macleod : ‘The Conservative Party is like dry timber and a spark will set it ablaze ! ‘. Let us prove Macleod right once again by going back to our constituencies and preparing for government.

 

   10/10/08

                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                     

My Week

"Some local Conservatives expect usual attempts by CCHQ to influence the process. On the margins of the Birmingham Conference, party officials were seen making strategic introductions for favoured candidates.... this year the Chairmen of the most winnable selecting seats were allocated tickets by CCHQ that were normally given to reward long or exceptional service by members of the voluntary party."

The final nail in the coffin of fair selections and a kick in the teeth for hard-working activists!!

I am writing to ask if you would consider signing the Manhattan Declaration on climate change? It is a petition to counter the current hysteria and show that many people are concerned about our government's over-reaction.

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My Week

Thursday 19th June Baroness Neville-Jones addresses the Conservative Group for Europe on "Security in the context of Europe".

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15th June

MP and MEP Expenses<#p> Sadly, once again we have seen this week the ogre of sleaze raised about the Tory Party.   The issue of expenses will not go away.   It is probably worse in the European Parliament than at Westminster because of the secrecy

Tuesday 10th June Martin Linton MP

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June 8th

My Week

June 2nd Left: Lee Summers with Nick Herbert MP at the TRG supper club.    As these suppers are held on Chatham House rules all I can say is that in a vigorous question time Nick Herbert gave some very interesting answers.

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June 1st

My Week

L to R: Ian Johnson, Damon Clark, Heather Harper (Chairman, Beaconsfoeld Conservatives), Dominic Grieve QC MP June 1st A quiet week politically but ended with a most enjoyable occasion.   The Chairman of Beaconsfield invited all the members of the Association to duck racing (plastic) at her home.   Drinks, nibbles all free, but the event raised a large sum of money for the Party. This was grass roots Conservatism at its best.   It did not matter whether you were poor or rich, all were welcome.   A great occasion and congratulations to Heather and her team for making it so enjoyable.

 

May 25th

***** Star of the Week ***** This has got to be a five star week for the Conservative Party.    The victory in the Crewe by-election is the most significant political event for sixteen years.   Congratulations to all concerned.   The result is the first real sign that the Conservative Party could form the next Government with an overall majority in the House of Commons.   The turnout of 58% was on a par with a General Election.

One point to bear in mind.    The forecast majority in a General Election is 328 seats.   Is it fair that with our electoral system a Party that gets just 49% of the votes and just 28% of the electorate voting for it, ends up with 75% of the seats?

State Funding for Party Conferences

Many Party members will be giving the Party Conference a miss this year due to the high cost of attending.   The Application online costs £68.00 or £78.00 if done by post.   In addition the cost of hotels in Birmingham is putting a lot of members off.   Soon the Party conference will have no members at all.   It was with interest that I saw the following advertising by the National Council of Voluntary Organisations:

Smaller charities invited to apply for party conference bursary scheme

Following on from the success of last year, NCVO is once again inviting smaller charities (with incomes of less than £500,000) to submit applications to attend one of the three main Political Party Conferences in 2008 as part of the Party Conference Bursary Scheme.

Party Conferences can be tremendously useful forums for bringing together charities with relevant peer groups and politicians, however, the cost can often prohibit smaller charities from attending. Last year, for the first time, NCVO offered fifteen charities the chance to attend the Conferences. This opportunity ensured that the views and interests of smaller organisations with limited income were represented at the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat conferences, despite not having access to sizeable budgets.

Jim Vaughan from the British Federation of Youth Marching Band Organisations was one of the organisations that attended the Liberal Democrat conference in 2007

Organisations from within community and voluntary sector interested in applying for a week’s pass to the Labour, Conservative or Liberal Democrat party conferences plus two nights accommodation and travel, should contact NCVO’s Parliamentary Campaigns Officer.

This raises some interesting issues.   Is it the taxpayer that funds the National Council of Voluntary Organisations?   Are we moving to Party funding by stealth?   Of the 8,000 people expected at the Tory Conference only about 2,000 will be Party members.   The others are media, exhibition stand organisers, large donors and now we find uncle Tom Cobley and all coming in.   This used to be a Conference for the members of the Conservative Party.    No longer - no debates, no discussion, no participation.   Why should a Party member go at all?   Why is it that the Party hierarchy fails to understand that a Party without members will eventually collapse.   You can get a large number of helpers at a by-election but it is a different matter when we have to fight a General Election.   There is a huge prize just waiting for the Party which is genuinely democratic.   That prize is government of the country.

My Week

	Saturday 24 May Desmond Swayne MP addressing a meeting of the COPOV forum at Colbury, Hampshire.   He made an excellent speech and answered questions openly and honestly in a vigorous manner.   He is a great credit to the Tory Party and very impressive.   I hope David Cameron listens to him.	Sunday 25 May Anne Main MP thanks members of the Beaconsfield Conservative Association for their help during the local elections in St. Albans.    This was a very enjoyable occasion.
Tuesday 20th May Pete Picton, the Editor of Sun Online chairs a Hansard Society meeting on e-Petitions. He was joined by Bethan Jenkins of the National Assembly for Wales and Andy Williamson of the Hansard Society.   The House of Commons is trying to improve its handling of e-Petitions.   It could learn from the National Assembly for Wales which ensures that action is taken on the petitions it receives.   There is still an element of arrogance in the proposals before the House of Commons which unfortunately the Hansard Society seemed to support.			Thursday 22 May An enjoyable meeting of the COPOV Management Committee.    From left to right: Myself, Stephen Parker, Anne Egleton, Cllr Julia Long, Cllr Derek Tipp, Cllr Trevor Egleton and Jo Sommer.

May 18th

My Week

	Friday 16th May Maria Miller MP at the Buckinghamshire Supper Club with the Chairman Sheela Mackintosh.   Former Chairman of Beaconsfield Association Brian Rigby shares the Joke. I was very impressed with Maria Miller.   She was straight forward in answering questions and a credit to the Conservative front bench.
	Tuesday May 13th Bruce Anderson spoke to the City Conservative Forum.    The meeting was chaired by Keith Laurence.   Bruce was on good form.	Tuesday 13th May Baroness Gillian Shephard speaks to the "Off the Loggers".  John Mason, Chairman of "Off the Loggers looks up with interest. In reply to a question from myself she responded that the Conservative policy of a mainly elected House of Lords had not been policy very long and she hoped wouldn't be policy much longer.   I hope for the sake of democracy she is wrong.
	Monday 12th May Ken Clarke MP addressing the Conservative Group for Europe watched on by Ian Taylor MP - Chairman of CGE. Ken Clarke asked an interesting question- When was the last time a European regulation imposed on the British people against the wishes of the British Government?    Let COPOV know the answer.

Party Finance

At one time the Conservative Party would never accept any donations which had strings attached to them.   It appears to have changed this policy so that a donor can stipulate how the money should be used, e. g. to finance the office of a Shadow Minister.   It is quite clear that in some cases the objective would appear to be to obtain some influence, why otherwise should an estate agent or mortgage broker finance the office of the Shadow Minister for Housing?   This practise should stop immediately and we should revert to the former principle.   We should not accept any donation with any strings attached.

As Others see us by James O'Fee

John Strafford's theme in his speech last Friday to the North Down Conservative Supper Club was the decline of our democracy. This is a subject into whose historic roots John has researched deeply. John is Chairman of the Campaign for Conservative Democracy.

John is an old friend of ours. 21 years ago, without any Irish family connections, John first became interested in the affairs of Northern Ireland as a result of receiving several circular letters. At the time John was Chairman of the Beaconfield Conservative Association, with 6,100 members, one of the wealthiest and most powerful Conservative Associations in the country. Before that, John had been on the Conservative Group on Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council.

John's voice will be a familiar one to those who follow politics closely. Over the years he has given over 500 interviews on radio and television. The media always call on John as the Conservative Party Conference approaches.

In 1988 we formed the North Down Conservative Association (followed by constituency associations in other Northern Ireland constituencies) and applied for affiliation to the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations i.e. for recognition as an official Conservative Association. We expected resistance from the hierarchy of the Conservative Party and the National Union, so we assembled in numbers to press our case at the 1988 Tory Party Conference in Brighton (which was, more correctly, the Conference of the National Union).

The final debate in the conference was on Party Organisation and John was called to speak last in that debate. Margaret Thatcher's conference address followed immediately so that Mrs T and the entire hierarchy of the Conservative Party was sitting behind John as he made his speech. Of course, John's speech was entirely loyal but the sting was in the tail. He called for the Conservative associations of Northern Ireland to become fully recognised.

Immediately John became a hero to us activists from Northern Ireland. Exiting the conference he crossed a group who had been watching the speech on a television screen in a retailer's. They mobbed John at once with their congratulations and invited him at once to visit Northern Ireland to speak. He accepted and the following Friday addressed a packed meeting.

Our popular democracy today is and must remain party politics. The health of our democracy, therefore, can be measured by the health of our political parties. 21 years ago, the Beaconsfield Conservative Association had 6,100 members. Today it has lost the large majority of its membership and membership stands at 1,600 members. And the Labour Party, John pointed out, stands even worse. Labour has lost even more members than the Conservatives.

21 years ago, the Conservative Party raised a large proportion of its funds, the bulk in fact, through local associstions. Today that has fallen away and the Party raises more money from huge individual donations from wealthy individuals. The same goes for Labour.

The result has been the loss of influence on the Party Leaderships by the rank-and-file members, breeding further disillusion in the branches.

John pointed to financial scandals in Britain and (even worse) in Europe, and the lack of financial accountability. He believes that both the Chairman and the Treasurer of the Conservative Party should be elected by popular vote, rather than appointed by the Leader. He believes that there should be an Annual General Meeting where the office-holders would report to members on their stewardship.

John believes that the annual Party Conferences have today become a waste of time. They are so controlled by the Leadership and the spin-doctors that genuine open disagreement and debate has become impossible.

The response of many in authority to John's campaign ever seems to resemble that of Saint Augustine - "Chastity, but not yet." John, may your courageous efforts bear fruit.

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May 11th

My Week

John Strafford addressing the North Down Conservative Supper Club.    On my right is Myrtle Boal, the Chairman of the Supper Club. You will not meet any more enthusiastic, loyal, Conservatives than the Conservatives in Northern Ireland.   For too long they have not been given the support they deserve from the Conservative Party.   I hope this will change.   They should have a full time professional helping them.   If anyone would like to sponsor their invaluable work I would be happy to put them in touch. My wife and I were superbly well looked after whilst we were in Northern Ireland.    It was so nice to meet up with old friends.   We were particularly grateful to Terry Dick - former Chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservatives - for showing us around on Friday.

Party Conference

The cost to apply to attend the party conference this year is a whacking great £68.00 if your application is done on line.    However, if you send in a postal application it will cost you another £10.00 supplement.   Many of our older members do not use computers so they will be faced with a total bill of £78.00.   This is disgraceful.   Once again, members are treated with contempt.   Ever since Central office took over the Conference from the National Union it has deteriorated.   Do they want members any more?   I am beginning to wonder.

How not to win friends

We are fighting a critically important by-election in Crewe, which hopefully we will win so why does John Maples, the Deputy Chairman (Candidates), and Shireen Ritchie (Chairman of the Candidates Committee) send out a threatening email to all parliamentary candidates?   It reads:

Note the bold type.   Big Brother is watching you!    This is not the way to get the best out of people, but then as both the Deputy Chairman and the Chairman are unelected and unaccountable, perhaps we should not expect anything better.

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May 4th

Star of the Week *** The Conservative Party***

for its spectacular results in the local elections and in the London Mayoral election.   Congratulations to all involved.

My week

Thursday

During the local election campaign I spent time canvassing in Slough and telling and literature distribution in St Albans.   We won both wards in which I was working, but what was disappointing was that the Labour Party took control of Slough and the Liberal Democrats took control of St. Albans.   The Tories could have won both seats if they had had better organisation and more mutual aid.

Prior to the Party re-organisation in 1998 the Areas drew up a Regional Strategy for mutual aid.   Was there a strategy?   Is anybody looking at this?   Southern Region seems to have gone missing.   I get the impression things are better in the North of England.   With the decline in Party members a strategy is vital to use the resources in the best locations.    Otherwise we may get a very high share of the vote but the seats gained will be minimal.   Central Office need to take this on board.

< John Strafford                                         Caroline Strafford >      About to start a 3 hour telling session

Party Conference

Those of you who have applied to go to the Party Conference will have noticed that included in the application fee is £3.00 for "carbon offsetting charge".   Is this political correctness gone mad?    Who decided this charge?   How was it calculated?   Who gets the proceeds?   I think we should be told.   I was hoping that with the increased scepticism about man-made climate change our Party would start to show common sense on the subject.   It is the biggest political con trick of the century.   The people do not believe it.   When politicians espouse it, is it any wonder the people do not believe the politicians?   Birmingham is expensive enough as it is for a conference.   There is no need to increase the cost with this stupidity.   Anybody want to bet that the numbers attending this year's conference will be the lowest ever?   When will the party start to think about the grass roots?

FROM THE GRASS ROOTS

                                                                                                                                      BY

A CONSERVATIVE

An unpopular Prime Minister,a hapless Chancellor presiding over a severe economic downturn and a tired government stumbling from one crisis to another – these are the main features of the current political climate.

This should come as no surprise to Conservatives for,after long periods in government,we too have been the victims of the voters’ wrath and severely punished when the actual poll has taken place.  Labour is now paying the price for its over optimism,its reckless spending spree and concealed catastrophic economic policies. For the long term effects of all this still have to be felt – the massive debts being left for future generations to grapple with.

It is hardly surprising,then,that we are anything between 10 and 18 points ahead in the opinion polls and touching the magic 43 to 44% needed to form a government Surely we would all be worried were this not the case ?

The government’s problems are of its own making. In order to grab the next day’s headlines and to wrong foot us, Gordon Brown in his last budget cut the standard rate of income tax from 22% to 20%. I remember the whoops of delight coming from the Labour benches then. But they had not properly read or properly understood the small print – namely the abolition of the 10% band affecting millions of low paid workers. Now there is a massive back tracking with people being compensated in different ways (for example increasing the winter fuel allowance or increase in tax credits) and total confusion in the process. And if you try ringing the Revenue & Customs each time you will be met with the reply : ‘All our staff are currently engaged. Please ring back later.’ And when you do so, the reply is exactly the same. It is complete and utter chaos.

I am writing this three days before the local elections and election for the Mayor of London. To take the London Mayoralty first. We have to admit that initially we had difficulty in finding a candidate (hence David Cameron’s abortive attempt in trying to join forces with the Liberal Democrats) and in Boris Johnson we have someone who is well known and who with his wit and boyish charm can make us all laugh.(as he indeed did so jn those dark days of opposition when nothing seemed to be going right and our opinion poll ratings were poor). Yet even today I’m not sure whether he can pull it off and Ken Livingstone may well win again. This will result in continued cronyism and a substantial waste of ratepayers money in funding those weird causes so dear to the left winger. And if Livingstone succeeds (and heaven help Londoners if he does) then he will by 2012  have been in power for 12 years ; longer than Margaret Thatcher’s premiership and he will have outlasted her for 22 years. It is as though she never existed. Livingstone’s cunning in courting carefully selected groups – gays,blacks,ethnic minorities,the Irish,the public sector workers will have paid dividends.  How right was Lord Jenkin,a former Secretary  of  State in Margaret Thatcher’s early governements,when he said : ‘We have ejected a left wing nut (from the GLC) and turned him into a folk hero.’

The local elections are more difficult to predict. We should do well particularly in those sub urban and rural seats which we need to win to form a government. I suspect little or no progress will be made in the big northern cities – Liverpool, Manchester , Sheffield and Newcastle . But based on my own big city experience ( Cardiff ) I’m not surprised. For many years Conservatives were often in control (particularly during periods of a Labour government). Things began to change in the early seventies with the abolition of the business vote. Then in the eighties and nineties large groups from other countries came over and took over houses from inner City Labour voters who then moved into the leafy suburbs and starting voting Liberal Democrat. The Conservatives from those leafy suburbs moved even further out and into the more rural areas which were not part of the city. So I don’t subscribe to the theory that in order to win we need to gain seats in the large cities.  Having said that, I would be disappointed if we lost seats in Birmingham,where we are in coalition with the Liberal Democrats,Bradford, Leeds, Coventry and Bristol .

In my own area we are four seats away from outright control and in theory we should be able to replace the Labour/Nationalist?Independent coalition which runs the council. But this may not happen if the Labour voters do not abstain and vote nationalist instead. The Welsh Assembly is run by a Labou/Nationalist coalition. They fight each other tooth and nail and are often at each other’s throats but soon settle their differences when fighting what they regard as the common enemy  i.e. us.

In my own ward there are three seats and we should poll about 65% of the vote. The Nationalists are putting up two candidates and Labour one.  So there is collusion between them. In the parliamentary battle we have an excellent candidate who is well known and who lives in the area. He ran the sitting Labour M.P. quite close in 2005 with a 4% swing and has an excellent chance of winning in 2009/2010. He is already taking up causes for people in the constituency even though he is not yet the M.P.

The present situation and disarray in the government has certainly made us more confident but,hopefully,not complacent.  The Prime Minister will fight every inch of the way to remain in Downing Street and will want to win a General Election in his own right. He has all the benefits of incumbency.  But to many he is a remote and somewhat isolated figure (much like Edward Heath). While accepting his claim to be the joint architect of new Labour, there are many in his own party who feel he lacks the vision to carry through the necessary reforms not only to the public services but to things such as council tax,now a heavy burden on many and particularly for those on fixed incomes. Brown revels in the power of the state to control and direct things. But in the field of say pensions, he seems not to accept or to conveniently ignore the widening gap between those in the public sector who retire at 60 on inflation proofed schemes based on 2/3rds of their average last three years salary and those who have not been treated nearly as favourably. And flying the Union flag over Downing Street on St. George’s Day was,in my view, a gimmick. If the Prime Minister was serious in placating the English he would without fail seriously address the West Lothian question and do something about the extra subsidy given to Scotland,courtesy of the English taxpayers under the Barnett formula.

David Cameron’s greatest assets are his comparative youth and his optimism for the future. To his credit he does not try to hide his upper middle class background and he is proud of the school where he was educated.  In view of the present polls, the Prime Minister,like John Major,will probably let Parliament run to 2010. We have time to put much more flesh on the bones of policy and we,too, need the ‘vision’ thing. We need to know how a Conservative government would differ from the present one. I myself would like to see a commitment not to raise taxation and a f ull review of the present tax/benefits system. We need better value for what is already spent (and who now denies there is massive government waste ?), a reduction in the power of the state and its excessive bureaucracy (George Orwell was writing 24 years too early) and a much better deal for the elderly who too often are regarded as a burden on scarce resources. As Conservatives, we tend to resist change but if and when it comes we have always had the extraordinary capacity to accept it. At the same time we are a party of diversity and choice,recognising that people have different and varying aspirations. The state can and should assist in certain things but as servant of the people not master. One of the most damning indictments of the present government is that it has massively increased the number of people who either work for the state or who are dependent on it for state benefits – the so called ‘client state’. For many there is no incentive to work for in so doing many would lose 70% or more of their benefits.

Probably the greatest challenge for the next government will be to get the ‘balance’ right. What do I mean by this ?The balance between what the government raises through taxation and how it spends the revenue. The balance between varying government departments all of whom are competing for a bigger share of that revenue.The balance bettwen the wealth and non wealth creating sectors. The balance between those who have been born in this country and those from abroad who for whatever reason wish to come and live here – on an already crowded island. The balance between how the government secures the safety of its citizens against terrorist threats and formidable enemies whilst allowing them the freedom to go about their everyday lives without fear.

These are complex matters and there are no easy answers. Opposition has given us the chance to consider them in great detail free from the constraints of office and red boxes. Provided we remember that the world of 2010 will be much changed when compared with that of 1997 and we have learnt the lessons of 1992 – when our record for economic competence was destroyed in the space of six hours – there is a small chance we might be able to overcome much of the cynicism and despair which pervades much of our everyday life. I hope we are up to the task.

28^th April 2008

                                                                                                                                 

April 27th

My Week

Wednesday

Roger Gough chairs a meeting of Policy Exchange with guest speakers Michael Pinto-Duschinsky and Peter Riddell

Two doyens of the political world - Peter Riddell and David Butler

At a meeting of Policy Exchange Michael Pinto Duschinsky introduced his pamphlet "Paying for the Party".   He exposed the myths about an "arms race" in party funding and the  lack of state funding.   He pointed out that in direct payments over £1.75 billion was now spent on politics over the four year course of a parliamentary cycle.   He also pointed out that if there was to be further state funding it should be by way of tax relief on small donations or membership subscriptions.   I said that due to the undemocratic nature of our two main political parties the relief should be on membership subscriptions only.   There was no accountability for the way donations were spent.

Monday

Peter Lilley MP, Enoch's widow Pam Powell, Simon Heffer and Gerald Horwath MP.

Keith Simpson MP chairs the Conservative History Group, Simon Heffer was the guest speaker and the meeting organiser was Iain Dale

On the 40th anniversary of Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood?" speech, Simon Heffer spoke to a packed meeting of the Conservative History Group.   Nicholas Wnterton, who attended Powell's speech gave his version of events.   There were lots of anecdotes including one from Peter Lilley who said that some ten years after the speech Enoch was invited to appear on Brian Walden's television programme.    Giving Enoch a perfect opportunity to put a different slant on the speech, he asked him if the "Rivers of Blood" quotation had been taken out of context.    Enoch replied "All quotations are taken out of context".

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April 20th

Party Constitution

I have heard that there will be a serious attempt to alter the Party's Constitution within the coming year.   We know that there is a working group looking at the Constitution but the pressure is coming from the Parliamentary Party for change.   At the moment there are an extra four MPs on the Party Board as observers without a vote.   The 1922 Committee wants them to be full voting members.   Unless there are more powers given to ordinary members this suggestion has to be fought hard by the voluntary Party members on the Board.    It would be an absolute disgrace if this proposal went through on the nod.    Such a change will be fought at the National Convention.   Watch this space!

There are many changes that are needed to the Party' Constitution to bring it up to date for a modern political Party in the 21st century but it has always been assumed that these changes would be done after the next General Election.    Be on guard for attempts to pre-empt these matters!

My Week

What a dull week this has been.   Not much happening.    The Tories have now decided to oppose the Government on the abolition of the 10% tax rate.   This is folly.   The rate should be abolished, after all it was Gordon Brown that brought it in in the first place.   It was a mistake then.   It is a mistake now and should go.   What he should have done is to increase the personal allowance to compensate.   This is what the Conservative Party should be arguing.

Wednesday

Gordon Brown gives a speech at the United Nations so what does the BBC do?   It sends Nick Robinson to report for the News.   It sends Michael Crick to report for Newsnight, but hold it the BBC has a perfectly competent correspondent at the UN - Laura Trevelyan.   They also have lots of Washington correspondents.   Why do they waste so much of our money?    It really is time the BBC was overhauled and broken up.

Thursday

TV time - watched Question Time.   Simon Heffer streets ahead of the other panellists on intellect.   Curates egg performance from the Party Chairman.   At times she appears to be almost whining, which doesn't look good on television.

Friday

Listened to Any Questions.   Ken Clarke has replaced Caroline Spellman, presumably because she was on Question Time.    What a performance he gives.   Caroline should take lessons from him.

Hope to have a better week next week!

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April 13th

My Week

Saturday

Canvassing in Slough for the local elections on May 1st with Cllr. Julia Long.   Julia is one of the unsung heroines of the Tory Party.   She was Mayor of Slough in 2004/5.   In two hours of canvassing I only came across two Labour voters.   Looking good for Julia

Friday

Dominic Grieve QC MP with the new Chairman of the Beaconsfield Constituency Conservative Association - Heather Harper	Retiring Chairman Bryan Rigby with the President of BCCA Earl Howe	National Convention Vice President Emma Pidding with Earl Howe, and James Elles MEP
Excellent Annual General Meeting of the Beaconsfield Constituency Conservative Association   With a contested election for Chairman the members turned out in force with 150 attending.   Thats what democracy does.    Adrian Hilton and Heather Harper fought it out.  Adrian made a brilliant speech setting out his vision of the future but Heather being a former Womens Committee Chairman had stronger support.   Good contest.  Excellent speech from Dominic Grieve, although contrary to press reports I thought he ruled out support for the government when they try to increase the powers of the Attorney General.

Thursday

Angela Knight, former Conservative MP for Erewash addressing the City Conservative Forum .   She is now the Chief Executive of the British Banking Association - probably the worst job in the City of London at the moment.   She put forward a forceful defence of British Banking, but to an ordinary person banking is now seen as fat cat executives getting big bonuses for gambling with public money and when it all goes wrong they walk away with a nice fat pay off.   When the Chief Executive of Citibank, which has lost billions, is paid 200 times more than a cleaner in the bank something is wrong.   When we see bank executives getting paid sensible salaries and cutting out the incentives to gamble then the public perception will begin to change.

Tuesday

Another disappointment.    David Cameron congratulates the Australian Premier for signing the Kyoto Agreement.   This agreement is dead meat.   One day soon the politicians will have to admit that man made Global warming is a confidence trick.

Monday

In a knee jerk reaction the Tory Party promises to fight the abolition of the 10p rate in the budget, but doesn't say where they would raise the £7 billion it raises.   The simplification of the tax system is a good idea, so we should welcome the abolition of the 10p rate, which in any case was brought in by Gordon Brown.   What should have happened was the personal allowances should have been altered so the poorest did not lose out.    Disappointing start to the week.

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April 6th

Pub Ban

It has been suggested that Alistair Darling should be banned from pubs for putting up the duty on beer and spirits.    A better idea would be to ban from pubs all MPs that voted for the ridiculous regulations about smoking.   27 pubs are being closed down every week partly due to these intolerable regulations.   Do not MPs understand that every time 14 million smokers have to go outside in the wind and rain for a smoke they curse all politicians, and we wonder why they are so despised!

MPs Expenses

Is it true that since the row over MPs expenses blew up, 70 MPs no longer employ members of their family?   Do MPs really understand how bad this looks to the public?   As more information comes out it is quite clear that there was systematic exploitation of the expense regime by MPs.    Perhaps it would be easier to draw up a list of those MPs who did not exploit the system.   Send in your nominations now to COPOV

My Week

Brilliant articles by Lord Lawson about climate change in the Daily Mail and Sunday Telegraph.   Thank goodness there is at least one member of the establishment that talks common sense.   At last the people are rumbling the politicians.

Conservativehome has put a great fight on its web site over the crazy system of selecting our MEPs.   They deserve all our support in the fight.   I understand that the Candidates Committee is reviewing the process and is due to report to the next meeting of the Party Board.    I hope our representatives on the Board will demand a re-run of this selection and this time it should be done democratically

Thursday

Discussion on "Newsnight" about religion and politics between A. C. Grayling and the President of Yale University was excellent and in the highest standards of the BBC.   Yale is where Tony Bliar will lecture on faith.

What a pity the Ten o'clock news let the side down.   When it showed a graph of climate change in the world it started in 1940.   The graph was almost continuously upwards.   Of course if they had started it in 1930 a different picture would have been shown as the hottest year on record was 1933.

Wednesday

Mark Field MP addresses the Annual General Meeting of the City Conservative Forum with Chairman Clare Coffey seated.

Arrived ten minutes late due to traffic in the City.   It is getting worse.   Lunch time meetings in the City are difficult.  Future meetings may be in the evening.   Clare in good form as sister Therese has just won top of the list for Southern Region for the European Parliament.   If the selection had not been rigged by Central Office she might have replaced an MEP.   The selection process shows blatant discrimination against women.   Mark Field spoke about the inherent dangers of the PFI initiatives with our children and grandchildren paying for these for many years to come.

Monday

This was a friendly reception with lots of young people, although females were scarce..   Michael Howard suggested that The Bow Group should do more research into the delivery of public services.   Had a discussion with Terry Bowers as to whether Michael Howard was Chairman before or after Peter Lilley.   Confusion when he told me Peter Lilley was Chairman twice.   I joined the Bow Group when Peter Lilley was Chairman, but was it the first or second time?    Speculation starting as to who the next Chairman of the Bow Group will be.

Reception of The Bow Group in the Jubilee Room at the House of Commons.    The Chairman Chris Skidmore introduces Michael Howard MP (former Chairman) with Irene, the hard working secretary of The Bow Group in the background

     

30th March

European Parliament Candidate Selection

There is no truth in the rumour that the Conservative Party were advised by the Soviet Politburo on the conduct of the election of candidates for the European Parliament.   However we understand that they are green with envy at the way the results have been manipulated, and have requested a training session with Central Office.

This selection process is the most disgraceful manipulation of an election in the history of the Conservative Party.   It blatantly discriminated against women by rigging the process for sitting MEPs so that they were all reselected and guess what?   All were men.   At a meeting held yesterday seven out of twenty-one paid up Party members had not received their ballot papers.    Although the election was conducted by the Electoral Reform Society we have not been told how many ballot slips were issued to members, how many members voted, or what votes each candidate received.   The candidates have been told the voting figures for each candidate but have been told to keep this information confidential.    In Southern Region we know that 13,355 members voted out of potentially 60-80,000 members.   This is a miserable result being only 16-22% of the membership.   Of course we have also not been given the number of spoilt ballots, because that might just indicate what the members thought of this miserable undemocratic process.

We do know that in at least two cases women have been put at the top of the list, after MEPs, when they did not do as well as men on the list.   We also know that some candidates are now on the lists without even having been on the ballot paper, because candidates on the paper dropped out.   In the whole of Southern Region there were only three meet and greet meetings with the candidates.   They were not allowed to speak at the meetings.   No canvassing was allowed, so very few, if any members knew very much about all the candidates.  

To add to the disgrace, the letter from the Leader which accompanied the ballot papers was disingenuous.   It stated "This is the first time we have given every member of the Party a vote on the rankings, by postal ballot, and I hope you will take the opportunity to have your say".   In the last selection of candidates all those who voted were able to rank all the candidates, not just in two separate batches consisting of the MEPs and others, and they also participated in more than just the total list so that if a candidate dropped out they could be replaced by a candidate voted by the members.

It is no wonder that the people are disillusioned with politicians and with political parties.   When will they learn that when you distort democracy you destroy it.   Where is the voice of the voluntary party on the Party Board?   Why have they not spoken for the members, or did they just roll over?   No wonder no sensible person bothers to attend National Convention meetings.   What a waste of time they have become.

In the literature inviting people to become members of the Conservative Party it states that you will help choose our candidates for European elections.   This is a lie.   The members were given no choice.

Communication

In the invitation to become a Party member it states that you will receive:

• a weekly newsletter

• Regular updates on how to get involved in your local community

• Access to our New affinity Programme which will give you discounts on a great range of products.

At a meeting of Conservative Party members of twenty one paid up members only one gets a weekly newsletter, none regular updates on how to get involved in the local community, and none knew of this New Affinity Programme.   Is someone telling porkies?

To those that voted for the Iraq war

By

Rudyard Kipling

THEY shall not return to us, the resolute, the young     The eager and whole-hearted whom we gave: But the men who left them thriftily to die in their own dung,     Shall they come with years and honour to the grave? They shall not return to us, the strong men coldly slain     In sight of help denied from day to day: But the men who edged their agonies and chid them in their pain,     Are they too strong and wise to put away? Our dead shall not return to us while Day and Night divide—     Never while the bars of sunset hold. But the idle-minded overlings who quibbled while they died,     Shall they thrust for high employments as of old? Shall we only threaten and be angry for an hour?     When the storm is ended shall we find How softly but how swiftly they have sidled back to power     By the favour and contrivance of their kind? Even while they soothe us, while they promise large amends,     Even while they make a show of fear, Do they call upon their debtors, and take council with their friends,     To confirm and re-establish each career? Their lives cannot repay us—their death could not undo—     The shame that they have laid upon our race. But the slothfulness that wasted and the arrogance that slew,     Shall we leave it unabated in its place?

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March 23rd

Written Constitution

The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the UK Parliament can only be described as a farce.   Great swathes of it were never considered, and yet it will change the way in which we are governed.    Primarily it should be up to the people to determine the way in which they are governed, that is why we should have had the promised referendum.   Without a referendum, there is a strong case that constitutional matters should receive special treatment by Parliament e.g. a two thirds majority would be required in both Houses for a constitutional change to take place.

With regard to the Lisbon Treaty, most European States have special provisions for ratifying it.   Of the 27 member states 14 require either a super majority in Parliament or a referendum to ratify the Treaty.   The following shows the requirements in other countries:

• Austria - any treaty deemed to amend the Austrian constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote in the National Council.
• Denmark - any treaty involving a transfer of powers to a supranational organisation requires a five-sixths majority in the Folketing. If this is not achieved then a referendum must be held.
• Finland - any treaty deemed to amend the Finnish constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote in Parliament.
• France - requires three-fifths majority support in Congress or a referendum must be held.
• Germany - requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament.
• Greece - any transfer of sovereignty requires three-fifths majority support in parliament.
• Hungary - any treaty deemed to amend the Austrian constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote in Parliament.
• Ireland - any transfer of sovereignty requires a referendum.
• Luxembourg - all treaties must be approved by two thirds of the Chamber of Deputies.
• Poland - treaties require either two-thirds majority support in both houses of parliament or a national referendum to be ratified.
• Slovakia - three-fifths majority support of parliament is required to ratify any treaty that involves a transfer of sovereignty and/or requires a change to the constitution.
• Slovenia - two-thirds majority support of parliament is required to ratify any treaty that involves a transfer of sovereignty and/or requires a change to the constitution.
• Spain - three-fifths majority support in the Chamber of Deputies is required to ratify any treaty that involves a transfer of sovereignty and/or requires a change to the constitution.
• Sweden - three-fifths majority support in the Riksdag is required to ratify any treaty that involves a transfer of sovereignty and/or requires a change to the constitution. If this cannot be achieved then a decision can be made by two consecutive, simple majority decisions with a general election in between.

It is a scandal and a disgrace that in the United Kingdom no special requirements are needed.   The truth of the matter is that the United Kingdom is not a democracy.   It is run by small oligarchies.   When will the people wake up and protest?   Whilst matters are going well the people are passive but when matters turn sour they will take to the streets.   The economic situation is on the brink of disaster.   Should it happen, one of the first demands will be for a democratic constitution.   The politicians should be preparing for it!

Spring Forum

The Spring Forum was an unmitigated disaster.   Dull, boring, no debates, scripted questions.   The media are no longer interested.    Now, they only send their second rank journalists.   Soon they will not send any.   One session was closed early because there were only 50 people left in the hall!   But it doesn't have to be like this.   The Conservative Women's conference was a superb example as to how to organise an interesting political forum with plenty of opportunity for audience participation unscripted, interesting speakers and brilliant organisation.   They should be given the Party Conference to run.   There was another example this week.   The Bow Group organised a meeting chaired by Oliver Letwin at which he had all the Directors of the Party Policy Groups on the platform.   The session consisted  of questions, unscripted, from the floor.   The meeting was packed, as incidentally was the Womens Conference.   I have to say the Directors of the Policy Groups were very impressive, clearly on top of their subjects and a credit to the Tory Party.    The same exercise should be repeated at the Party Conference.   It is possible to have an exciting conference.   You just have to trust the members.   Go for it.

Communication

In the new membership campaign it says that if you become a member of the Conservative Party you will receive:

• A weekly newsletter.
• Access to our new Affinity Programme, which will give you discounts on a great range of products.

What about existing members?   Have we been forgotten?    Does anybody receive a weekly newsletter?   Does anybody have access to the new Affinity Programme?   I think we should be told.    We have been told that 90,000 emails go out from Central office each week.    Just who do they go to?   As I said in a Report on Communication last year -  Communication from Central Office to Constituency Chairmen is superb.    To Party members it is abysmal.   When will something be done about it?

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March 16th

The National Convention

The National Convention is the supreme body of the voluntary part of the Conservative Party.   It is the Convention, which together with MPs can change the Party's constitution.   It is the forum for discussion and debate about the Party's organisation.   It is there to represent Party members.    It consists of Constituency Chairmen, Officers of the Areas and Officers of the Regions.   In all, about 1,200 people are entitled to attend its meetings which are held twice a year.   It has been in existence for ten years.    Initially it had discussions and debates about the best way forward for the Party.   On occasions, it changed the Constitution of the Party.   It had a fatal defect - a constituency Chairman only serves for three years.   As time went on nobody had any knowledge of the way it worked.   It is a shadow of its former self.    Discussion was stifled.   Debate stopped.    It became a platform for the hierarchy to talk to the members rather than listening to what the members had to say.

This week the Convention met in Gateshaed.   It was the worst meeting I have ever attended.   It was scheduled to last one and a half hours.   The attendance was about 100.   There was no opportunity for discussion or debate or even to ask questions.   William Hague gave an interesting speech about what was being done in the North of England.   He took a couple of questions after his speech.   Otherwise it was the great and good telling us how wonderful they were at power-point presentations.   I have never heard such complacent bull-shit in all my life.    While Michael Ashcroft is doing a terrific job in the marginal seats the rest of the voluntary Party is dying.    Nobody seems to know, or care.   The biggest fund raiser for the Tory Party is the weekly draw.   All money raised in small amounts.    The organiser didn't even get a thank you by name.   What a tragedy this body has become.   The National Convention is dying from embarrassment.    It is time to kill it off.   There is now an urgent need to create a body in which party members can participate, and to which all Party members are invited.    At which the Chairman of Candidates gives a report and can be questioned, and other matters raised.   Without it say goodbye to the voluntary Party.

The Spring Forum and the Party Conference used to be controlled by the voluntary party, then the MPs took over.   Since that point it has gone downhill.   No motions, no debates, questions submitted in advance.    The result - fewer and fewer attending.   Even the media only send their second level staff.   Soon they will stop sending anybody.   No wonder the politicians are out of touch with reality.   They have stopped listening to the people and stopped listening to members of the Party.   One day soon they will all get a shock.   Our democracy has been stretched to its limits.

European Parliament Candidate Selection

Party members are being asked to participate in a farce called an election process.    Last week we set out why members should spoil their ballot papers.   One of the reasons given for distorting democracy is to try and get more women into the European Parliament - a legitimate aim.   All the sitting MEPs that are standing again are men, so why did the Party distort the selection process so it became easier for the sitting MEPs to be re-selected?   This was blatant discrimination against women candidates.   This discrimination is what is known as unintended consequences.   Did they not realise what they were doing?   Are they so stupid?   It is what happens when you begin to distort democracy.   In the end you destroy it.

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March 9th

Your Vote for Candidates for the European Parliament

This week all Party members will have received the ballot papers for electing candidates for the European Parliament.   As we have said many times before, the election is an undemocratic farce.   Party members are not choosing the candidates.   They have already been chosen.   Party members are asked to rank the sitting MEPs, who will then be put at the top of the list where they are 99% certain to be re-elected.   No accountability here then!    The next candidate on the list will be a woman, no matter whether men are elected ahead of her.   No democracy here then!   There is only one possible respponse to this rotten system and that is to spoil the ballot paper.    A number of members have told me that they have already thrown the papers in the dust bin.   Retrieve them and write on the paper: BRING BACK DEMOCRACY TO THE TORY PARTY.   THEN WE WILL VOTE.   Party members are being treated with the utmost contempt.   Their democratic rights have been taken away from them by unaccountable dictators.   This will go down in the history of Party democracy as one of its most disgraceful moments.   If David Cameron wants to revive the Party he will disassociate himself from this rotten system.

Southern Region Candidates 

Party members in the Southern Region will have received with their ballot papers a glossy brochure, A5 size, on which to base their rankings.   Each candidate gets two sides of A5 to tell the members how good they are.   It is therefore surprising that one candidate has the same message on both sides.   Either this is a misprint, in which case he has been put at a serious disadvantage as this document will be the only literature on which to base a judgement ( canvassing and hustings meetings are not allowed), or he is a bit thick.   If it is an error serious questions arise whether the election is fair and whether it should be run again.   I think we should be told.   In any case spoil the ballot paper in protest at this rotten system.

The Latest Gimmic?

The Conservative party has launched an advertising campaign aimed at getting "friends" of the Party to sign up on the internet by paying as much or as little as they like.

I welcome this novel approach, but it is no substitute for getting new members.   Membership of the Party is in freefall.   Soon it will have disappeared altogether.   There is only one answer and that is to make the Party inclusive and democratic.   I predict that even if initially the friends campaign is successful, it will die within 18 months.    This is the fate of all these type of initiatives in the past.    This will be no exception.   It is based on American style politics, which are wholly different to those of the United Kingdom.   Here, people want something for their money.   The Conservative Party does not give them anything.   Until it does the downward spiral will continue.

 

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March 2nd

Spring Forum

This week we have been sent the agenda for the Conservative Party Spring Forum.   I have never seen such a dull agenda for a Conservative meeting.   Of course debates and motions were discontinued long ago so froth and PR became the name of the game.   At a time when this Nation is at war in two places, Iraq and Afghanistan, when our democracy is being destroyed by the Lisbon Treaty and our Constitution is facing major changes it is unbelievable that Defence, Foreign Affairs and Europe have no place in the Agenda.   The Tory Party is in sleepwalking mode.   Politics in our country is drifting and the Tory Party is part of that drift.   Where is the narrative?   Where is the vision?    Our education policy talks about choice but choice is only possible if there is a surplus of school places.   Are we prepared to have that with all the accusations of waste which would go with it?   The NHS is incredibly inefficient, yet we are planning to spend more than the Labour Party.   Our electoral system is in a complete mess yet all we propose to do is to equalise the size of the constituencies, which will take effect sometime after 2014.   This proposal is right of course, but it will not address the fundamental flaws in the system.

The Party launched this week a Friends of the Conservative Party campaign using the internet to invite anybody to support the Party for as little or as much as they wish to give.   This may work for a while but within 18 months will be forgotten.   Why?   Because supporters get nothing in return.    The Party complains that membership is falling.  It has for the last fifty years.   Why?   Because the Party is undemocratic and run by a self perpetuating oligarchy.   People join a political Party because they want some influence and for social reasons.   When they join they find that they have no influence and the social actiivities are almost exclusively fund raising events.    Every year the Party gets 40,000 new members but loses 60,000 and the 60,000 includes the 40,000 who joined two years earlier.   That is why the age of the Party is getting higher.   As a Party we talk about choice and involvement but when it comes to democracy within the Party it is always rejected.   The Party Chairman, Party Treasurer are unelected and unaccountable to the membership.    There is no Annual General Meeting of the Party to which all members are invited.   We cannot question the Accounts of the Party.   There are no motions for debate at the Spring Forum or the Party Conference.   The traditional right of Party members to elect their Members of Parliament at Westminster or in Europe has been distorted or taken away.   Why should anybody want to be a member of the Conservative Party?   Soon it will cease to exist and a new democratic Party will emerge led by Leader who trusts the members as well as the members trust the Leader.   For the Conservative Party it is five minutes to midnight.    Without action now the gongs will soon be striking the end.   Which Party will disappear first, Labour or Conservative.   The electorate damn them both and all politicians.   Have they all become pygmies or does David Cameron have the vision to take us forward?  

Open List System of election to the European Parliament

This is the last chance to vote for an open list sytem of election to the European Parliament.   Cast your vote now at

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/DemocracyforEU/

 

A Conservative Cabinet

David Cameron has said that he wants to have women comprising at least one third of  a future Conservative Cabinet.   This is quite disgraceful.   We should have at least 50% of the Cabinet as women and what is more at least one third of them should be blonde and blue eyed.   The Conservative Party gave up meritocracy in 2005 and to have two thirds of the Cabinet based on meriticracy is quite unforgiveable.   As a Party we have embraced political correctness and to abandon it now would mean giving up all that we have achieved in the last two years.   David, or should I call you Dave, what has happened to "hug a hoodie".   They should also be represented in the Cabinet.   If they are not, it will be a case of blatant discrimination and I have no doubt that we will lose the "hoodie" vote.   So Dave, think again before it is too late!

 

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February 24th

Benefits of Party Membership

This week I received a standard letter thanking me for renewing my membership of the Conservative Party.   The letter included a membership card together with comments on the benefits of membership, all produced by Central Office.   One of the benefits is described as "A vote in the selection of candidates for Westminster and Europe".    This is no longer true.   First of all, unless a Constituency Association has a Selection or an Adoption meeting the ordinary member does not have a vote.   At the last General Election my Association did not have an Adoption meeting so there was no vote.   Secondly, the ordinary Party member has no say in the selection of candidates for the European Parliament.   By the time the member is asked to vote all the candidates will have been selected.   The member will be asked to put sitting MEPs in order and the other candidates in order (subject to the highest placed woman being put at the top of the list).

Another of the benefits of membership is described as "get involved in developing the ideas that will make Britain a better place to live"   All good recruiting stuff, except that it doesn't tell you how to get involved.   The truth is that other than the almost defunct Conservative Political Forum there are no ways to contibute to ideas.

Another benefit of membership is "Representation on the governing Board of the Party".   An ordinary member has no say whatsoever on Representation on the Board of the Party.

The membership card and thank you letter are the first things a person gets on becoming a member of the Party.    It is sad that this welcome should contain false information.   The last benefit shown is "Access to an Ethics and Integrity Committee to ensure high standards".   Perhaps the Ethics and Integrity Committee should start by looking at the information given to somebody when they become a member or renew their membership of the Conservative Party.

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February 17th

Selection of Candidates - European Parliament

This week Mimi Harker reached the short list of four for the Westminster parliamentary seat of Croydon.   Well done, only one snag, she is one of the ten candidates for the Southern Region for the elections to the European Parliament.   Mimi was given fifteen minutes to decide which one she wanted to drop.   She dropped Europe.   Unfortunately, she did not go on to win Croydon, so now she is not a candidate anywhere.   There is nothing in the Rules on Selection of Candidates for the European Parliament that says a candidate cannot apply for a Westminster seat.   Of course if the candidate were successful they would have to give up one or the other.

Mimi Harker was elected by 120 members of the Southern Region electoral college.   One arrogant official decided to put a gun to Mimi's head and force her to decide one or the other before that decision was necessary.   Who took this decision?   I think we should be told.    In the mean time the least that should be done is to reinstate Mimi Harker onto the Southern Region's candidates list for the European Parliament. 

 

 

Your Vote Won’t Count

By

John E. Strafford

 

In the 2005 General Election Labour won an overall majority of 66 seats, or 55.1% of seats with 35.2% of the vote. Only 21.6% or 9.6 million out of an electorate of 44.4 million voted for a Labour government. Turnout was 61.3%

Labour’s share of the vote in 2005 can be compared unfavourably to the support enjoyed in past elections by losing parties. Attlee’s share of the vote in 1955 when Eden’s Conservatives won a majority of 58, comparable to Blair’s majority in 2005 was an amazing 46.4%. Blair’s 35.2% is scarcely higher than Neil Kinnock’s share of the vote in 1992 (34.4%) and less than Jim Callaghan scored in 1979 in his unsuccessful bid for a third term (36.9%)

The Conservatives with 198 seats in Parliament were slightly under represented, in that if they had won seats exactly in proportion to their total vote they would have won 208. The Liberal Democrats had many fewer seats (62) than their share of the vote among the electorate justified – an exact proportional distribution would have given them 142. Labour was massively over represented: a proportional allocation would have given them 227 seats rather than 356.

In terms of votes per MP, Labour required 26,877, Conservatives 44,521 and the Liberal Democrats a massive 96,378. Even worse than the Liberal Democrats were the Ulster Unionists who only got one seat for the 127,414 votes cast for them.

Because of the generally low turnout no MPs polled a majority of the electorate in their own constituency. Only three polled more than 40% of the electorate. Conversely three MPs had votes from less than 20%. In Poplar and Canning Town the winning Labour candidate polled just 18.36%.

In England Labour have 92 more seats than the Conservatives in spite of them polling over 60,000 fewer votes. In Scotland the Conservatives polled nearly a sixth of the vote but had only one MP out of 59 to show for their pains.

In several regions of England the results were extremely unrepresentative. The worst case is probably the 1.1 million Conservative voters in the metropolitan counties outside London who elected only 5 MPs.

If 14,367 voters in the most marginal constituencies had switched from Labour to their nearest competitor, Labour would have lost its majority in the House of Commons.

Because of our electoral system the political parties are only interested in the 10% marginal constituencies and of those only the 10% who are floating voters. In other words 1% of the electorate. It is because the two main parties concentrate on this narrow focus that their policies converge.

Our electoral system is totally distorted. 400,000 foreigners (citizens of the Irish Republic) resident in the United Kingdom but owing no allegiance to it can vote in a General Election.

Each vote cast does not have an equal value. The average size of a Welsh constituency is about 55,000. For the rest of the UK it is 68,000. The Western Isles has an electorate of 21,585, the Isle of Wight 108,253. So a vote in the Western Isles is worth five times a vote in the Isle of Wight.

A study of the results of General Elections over the last hundred years shows that there is no correlation between the % votes a Party receives and the % number of seats it gets in the House of Commons. You might as well toss a coin for determining who should form the government. The truth of the matter is "Your Vote Wont Count". When will the media pundits and the politicians admit it?

PS If you do toss a coin it is the Conservative’s turn to win next time. Since 1945, Labour have won nine General Elections to the Conservative’s eight.

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February 10th

European Union

The European Commission is unelected by the people and unaccountable to the people.   Because of the Party List system of election, the members of the European Parliament are unaccountable to the people.    The Council of Ministers should be accountable to the House of Commons, but we have seen that when it comes to the crunch, in an issue like the Lisbon Treaty (Constitution) there is no line by line scrutiny and the House of Commons is found wanting.   At a meeting of Policy Exchange this week William Hague admitted that in the future, scrutiny by the Commons is likely to get worse, because under the Treaty the Council of Ministers will have powers to act without ratification by the National Parliaments.   This is not democracy.   Effectively our democracy is being slowly but surely destroyed.

70 % of our legislation now emanates from Europe.   20% has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament, Stormont and the Welsh Assembly.   What is left for the House of Commons?   What is for sure is that we do not need 650 MPs.   We could easily get by with 100.    Think of the savings to be made on salaries, let alone the even bigger savings to be made from expenses.

One bit of good news is that this week the Conservative Party got an amendment through forcing the European Scrutiny Committee to meet in public.   For little mercies we must be grateful, but the truth is that there is the smell of rotting fish hanging over the Houses of Parliament.   How long will it be before the people rise and say "Enough of this, we want democracy.    Do we have to have riots and insurrection as in 1832, 1867 and as with the suffragettes, or will Parliament act on this.   Time is running out.    We demand action now".

No Representation without Taxation

Congratulations to David Cameron for agreeing to support the Bill to ensure that in order to be a Member of the House of Lords you have to be a UK resident.   This is sensible politics and fair.

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February 3rd

Re-Selection of MEPs

So the interviews are over and there are some good candidates on the ballot but what a shame that they were not chosen on merit.   In Southern Region there will be four women candidates and two men on the ballot.   I wonder what the position would have been if this had been an ordinary ballot done on merit?.   How many more, and better male candidates would we have had if it had not already been decided that whatever the result a woman would be put at the top of the rankings?   How democracy is destroyed!    In the last selection over 1,500 members took part in a democratic process.    This time 120 have in effect decided.   No wonder Party membership is in steep decline.

Applications for the Spring Forum

The application form for the Spring Forum asks for Passport No. and Driving License No.   What happens if you do not have a passport and do not drive?

Nice work if you can get it!

The great scandal of the week has been the disclosures about Derek Conway using taxpayers money to employ his family.    This practise is widespread and we will  publish a list of MPs who have family on their staff.   SEE BELOW   Some of this is legitimate and the staff work hard for their wages but some we know, as in Derek Conway's case do not.   Unfortunately this wide spread practise will only bring the House of Commons into disrepute.

Our electoral system stinks

Our main political Parties are undemocratic.

And now we know large numbers of our MPs are spending our money on their families.

The people will not put up with this state of affairs for much longer.   Parliament should be reformed.    Our electoral system should be reformed and our political parties should be reformed.   The writing is on the wall.   If there is no action watch the decline and fall of the Labour and Coinservative parties and the rise of new Parties which will command the respect of the electorate.

What a measly punishment was dealt out to Derek Conway.   He will still draw his salary.   If Parliament meant business he would have been kicked out.

The last Member of Parliament to be expelled from the House of Commons was the Labour MP Gary Allighan in 1947.   Not only an MP he was also a journalist and wrote an article for the World Press News "exposing" the means lobby correspondents were using to obtain leaks and inside information.    The technique was to ply MPs with drinks until they collapsed and leaked stories to journalists for rewards or favours.   A motion was tabled to the privileges committee to discharge Allighan for contempt. Allighan was accused of leaking stories himself. The Privileges Report, censuring the MP severely, said Allighan had aggravated his contempt by trying to cast suspicion on other MPs beside himself.    Does this remind you of Derek Conway?

On 30^th October, with the Privileges Report on the table the Commons voted to expel Gary Allighan.   Allighan, was found to have lied to a committee when he had wrongly accused fellow MPs of accepting money for disclosing to the press the proceedings of private party meetings.   It turned out that this was precisely what he had done himself.

The Leader of the House recommended that he be reprimanded and suspended without pay, but an amendment for expulsion was successfully moved (by Quintin Hogg, later to be Lord Hailsham, twice).   There was also concern about outside bodies, such as trade unions, attempting to instruct an MP, so the House passed a resolution restating its traditional principles:

"It is inconsistent with the dignity of the House, with the duty of a member to his constituency, and with the maintenance of the privilege of freedom of speech, for any member of the House to enter into any contractual agreement with an outside body, controlling or limiting the member’s complete independence and freedom of action in Parliament or stipulating that he shall act in any way as the representative of such outside body in regard to any matters to be transacted in Parliament; the duty of a member being to his constituency and to the country as a whole, rather than to any particular section thereof."

The same treatment Garry Allighan got should be dished out to Derek Conway.    The House of Commons has now got only one choice.   It must adopt the same nepotism measures as in Germany and the United States.   A Member of Parliament may not employ a relative.   They have brought it upon themselves.

Update 5th February  In a statement by David Cameron, he said that more than 70 Conservative MPs employed member(s) of their family.   David Cameron's Leadership on this issue has been superb.    He has acted in a cool calm way, no doubt subjected to enormous pressures, but he cannot stop now.   He must go further.

Nice work if you can get it!

Is your MP on the list?   Let us know together with any information.   Reply to COPOV

Register of Interests of Members Secretaries and Research Assistants

 

Staff                                                                              Member of Parliament                    Party

Sally Ainger – part time £19,800pa	Nick AINGER	LAB
Lionel Beckett - £25,000 app	Margaret BECKETT	LAB
Sally Clark - wife	Hilary BENN	LAB
Richard Burt	Lorely BURT	LIB/DEM
Tennyson Butler	Dawn BUTLER	LAB
Elspeth Campbell	Sir Menzies CAMPBELL	LIB/DEM
Daniel Chaytor   Sarah Chaytor	David CHAYTOR	LAB
Jonathan Clapham - unpaid        Yvonne Clapham	Michael CLAPHAM	LAB
Brenda Clelland	David CLELLAND	LAB
Edward Clifton-Brown – unpaid	Geoffrey CLIFTON-BROWN	CON
Catherine Coffey	Ann COFFEY	LAB
Charlotte Cox	Geoffrey COX	CON
John Cryer - unpaid	Ann CRYER	LAB
Colin Davidson	Ian DAVIDSON	LAB
Neil Ennis	Jeffrey ENNIS	LAB
Suzy Gale	Roger GALE	CON
Morvah George - unpaid	Andrew GEORGE	LIB/DEM
Adelaine Hain - £5,400pa part time	Peter HAIN     `	LAB
Carolyn Harris	Tom HARRIS	LAB
David Haselhurst - unpaid     Angela Haselhurst	Sir Alan HASELHURST	CON
Christine Heald	Oliver HEALD	CON
Dawn Illsley - wife	Eric ILLSLEY	LAB
Lucy Kilfoyle	Peter KILFOYLE	LAB
Karen Leadley - sister	Julie KIRKBRIDE	CON
Jill Liddell-Grainger Peter Liddell-Grainger - unpaid Sophie Liddell-Grainger - unpaid	Ian LIDDELL-GRAINGER	CON
Oliver Luff - unpaid   Julia Luff	Peter LUFF	CON
Harry Malins - unpaid   Katherine Malins – unpaid	Humfrey MALINS	CON
Christina Marshall	David MARSHALL	LAB
Elsie Martlew	Eric MARTLEW	LAB
Anne McGuinness	Martin MCGUINNESS	SINN FEIN
Tony McKenna	Rosemary MCKENNA	LAB
James McLoughlin - unpaid	Patrick MCLOUGHLIN	CON
Jonathan Mitchell	Austin MITCHELL	LAB
Sonya Moss	Malcolm MOSS	CON
Oliver Mundell	David MUNDELL	CON
Fiona Owen	Albert OWEN	LAB
Ian Paisley	Rev Ian PAISLEY	DEM UN
Rose Paterson - £29,636.64pa	Owen PATERSON	CON
Samuel Pope - unpaid	Greg POPE	LAB
Joanne Sheridan	Jim SHERIDAN	LAB
Xanthe Steen - £5,000pa part time	Anthony STEEN	CON
Deborah Stoate	Dr Howard STOATE	LAB
Sally Tami	Mark TAMI	LAB
Philippa Taylor	Dari TAYLOR	LAB
Jacqueline Vis	Rudi VIS	LAB
Robin Williams - son	Alan WILLIAMS	LAB
Raymond Williams - son	Betty WILLIAMS	LAB
Camilla Young - daughter	Sir George YOUNG	CON
The following members are believed to employ a member of their family:
Staff	Member of Parliament	Party
Cathy Austin - part time £8,000pa	Ian AUSTIN	LAB
Caron Barron - wife Sheena Woolley - sister-in-law	Kevin BARRON	LAB
Margaret Bell - £35,000pa	Sir Stuart BELL	LAB
Lady Beresford	Sir Paul BERESFORD	CON
Katherine - wife	Julian BRAZIER	CON
Janet Breed	Colin BREED	LIB/DEM
Rosemary Bruce - £28,500pa	Malcolm BRUCE	LIB/DEM
David Browning	Angela BROWNING	CON
Eve Burt	Alistair BURT	CON
Sister in Law Alice Sheffield	David CAMERON	CON
Elspeth Campbell	Sir Menzies CAMPBELL	LIB/DEM
Christine Chope	Christopher CHOPE	CON
Julie Clark	Paul CLARK	LAB
Colette Conway - £39,257.84pa	Derek CONWAY	CON
Enid Crausby	David CRAUSBY	LAB
Debbie Davies	Philip DAVIES	CON
Chantal Davies	Quentin DAVIES	LAB
Doreen Davis	David DAVIS	CON
Pat Dobbin	Jim DOBBIN	LAB
Sister in law	Stephen DORRELL	CON
Phillippa Dorries	Nadine DORRIES	CON
Philip Cole – husband	Caroline FLINT	LAB
	Mark FISHER	LAB
Mair Francis	Hywel FRANCIS	LAB
Liz Gibson - £10,000pa	Ian GIBSON	LAB
Benny Gilroy	Linda GILROY	LAB
Sue - wife	Chris GRAYLING	CON
Lesley Hall	Mike HALL	LAB
Jean Hamilton	David HAMILTON	LAB
Sally Hammond - £27,500pa	Stephen HAMMOND	CON
Caroline Netherton – wife	David HEATH	LIB/DEM
Pat Hopkins - £12,500pa	Kelvin HOPKINS	LAB
David Keen	Alan KEEN	LAB
Janet Ladyman	Stephen LADYMAN	LAB
Gail Laxton	Bob LAXTON	LAB
Mary Leigh	Edward LEIGH	CON
Teresa Levitt	Tom LEVITT	LAB
	Martin LINTON	LAB
Ruth Mackinlay	Andrew MACKINLAY	LAB
Vicky McCarthy-Fry – daughter	Sarah MCCARTHY-FRY	LAB
Eleanor McAvoy	Tommy MCAVOY	LAB
Fran Miller	Andrew MILLER	LAB
Graham Henderson - husband	Anne MILTON	CON
Tony McKenna - unpaid	Rosemary MCKENNA	LAB
Alison Moore	Michael MOORE	LIB/DEM
Angela Penning	Mike PENNING	CON
Sondra Pritchard	Mark PRITCHARD	CON
Nicola Page – partner	John REDWOOD	CON
Sister	Linda RIORDAN	LAB
Heidi Rogerson	Dan ROGERSON	LIB/DEM
Alison Sanders	Adrian SANDERS	LIB/DEM
Val Smith	Andrew SMITH	LAB
Steve Wilson - husband	Angela SMITH	LAB
Alison Soulsby - £20,000pa	Sir Peter SOULSBY	LAB
Janet Streeter Tamsin Streeter - daughter	Gary STREETER	CON
	Desmond SWAYNE	CON
Liza Wallace	Ben WALLACE	CON
Tiffiny Wright	Iain WRIGHT	LAB

 
NOTE:

Of the above                                                  LAB                      60
                                                                    CON                      36