21 March 2008

Here's What Dave Really Meant..

David Cameron was caught breaking a few rules on his bike. His statement is very apologetic - I suspect this is what he wanted to say:

"I know it is important to obey traffic laws but I have obviously made mistakes on this occasion and I am sorry. "It is disturbing to realise the extent that the Mirror are stalking me - I will have to be on my toes."

Labels:

20 December 2007

Cockerell on Cameron - the truth

Iain Dale has commented on Cockerell on Cameron tonight. I also watched it. Whilst I agree with Iain that it did come across very well from a Conservative perspective and that the anti-brigade (Heffer and McKenzie) were against Cameron simply out of pure parochialism, as a result their arguments didn't stack up. Overall however I couldn't help being a bit disappointed by the impression it gave that politics as a whole is not about conviction or honesty or about standing up for what you believe in, but rather simply saying what needs to be said.

I actually think David Cameron is far more of a conviction politician than that programme brought out, there are issues about which he does care deeply and that stress was sadly lacking.

Labels:

05 November 2007

Cameron by Conservative Home

I suspect most of the readers of this blog (25,000 hits last month) also read Conservative Home, but I still think it is worth pointing out this report about their attendance at the Labour Progress Conference which is an excellent read and explains why the Conservatives are getting it right.

I am going to be totally sycophantic and disagree with the final point over the environment. I think the Conservative commitment to the environment is authentic, I just think it is an impossible issue to get the balance right (for any political party) between individual liberties and freedoms and sorting out the environment at the moment (thus speaks someone who flew out ot Dublin to run a marathon!).

I really like the comments about IDS, I have always felt that renewed commitment to Social Justice is one of the most important steps that the Conservative Party have taken in recent times and is evidence that IDS did a lot more for the Party than he is given credit for.

Labels: , ,

24 October 2007

David Cameron is right about school surpluses

I am absolutely chuffed that David Cameron chose to highlight the issue about clawback of schools surpluses in PMQs today. It is a scandalous policy that discourages responsible financial management.

As an example Sir Harry Smith Community College, where I am a Governor recently built a new library from an accrued surplus, it is a great facility (which also has a great librarian - my wife, Angela) that has come about because of responsible financial management.

Labels: ,

13 October 2007

Telegraph Poll: It's about the Conservatives!!

Tomorrow's Poll in the Telegraph has the Conservatives at 43% with Labour 7 points behind on 36%. It also has the Lib Dems at a dreadful 14%, for the Conservatives this is the highest they have been since before Black Wednesday.

It seems, from casting around the news sites, that the focus on this poll is going to be about Menzies Campbell. It is a shame because this is a fantastic achievement for David Cameron and he deserves the recognition.

Labels: ,

03 October 2007

Cameron's Speech & the 5 Live reaction

I listened to David Cameron's speech on 5 live. Overall I thought it was excellent, a very personal feel to it which matched the "a different politics" style that the Conservatives are trying to put across. It pulled together this week's policy announcements together into a very personal strand which I think worked.

Obviously the BBC wanted to make sure it was given a fair analysis, so who did 5 Live turn to for first comment, the Mirror's Kevin McGuire. No bias there then.

Labels:

28 August 2007

Has Cameron forced the media to end Brown's honeymoon?

Whilst the media did their best to present "the bare knuckle fight" policy as a debacle, the Conservatives seem to have made a point, especially that the NHS Trusts are working to the Government agenda and therefore cannot be trusted. It was right that the Conservative policy focused on the numbers game, because that is what is making Government decisions; centralised thinking that leaves NHS Trusts out of the decision-making process for their own areas.

Following on from that "Anarchy in the UK" seems to have hit home - and quite rightly so. The Government's lacklustre response to Rhys Jones' murder deserves to be ridiculed; yet another amnesty, this time organised in a way that gives Government backing to any thought that the police are not to be trusted; that'll work then. David Cameron is right, the way to tackle the problems faced in some of our inner cities is at the home and at school. In particular by returning to an age where parents take legal responsibility for the actions of their children. If a child is taken to court for a crime that has taken place when they should be at home and in bed, then the parents should receive the same punishment (especially if it is some sort of Community service). But that hard-hiting solution cannot ignore the fact that some parents need intervention because they do not have the knowledge of how to parent properly without support.

Over the weekend the Telegraph linked the current problems faced by our armed forces in Iraq to the relative financial starvation of the MoD by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor, and quite rightly so. This could be the start of Gordon Brown's financial mismanagement coming home to roost, it is certainly something the media should be doing more of. Hopefully, David Cameron's recent effective work means we will see more and more of this.

It is especially heartening that the Conservatives are now relaunching their campaign for a referendum on the EU Treaty (for "treaty" read "constitution") - this should also put Brown under more pressure.

Labels: , ,

12 August 2007

John Redwood Report and Labour Spin

John Redwood's report which proposes cutting business costs by deregulation has been spun by the Labour Party as evidence of a Cameron lurch to the right. To be fair to the media they are selling it for what it is - a report to be considered by David Cameron alongside the many other policy reports. So the Labour claim is, in fact, a deliberate deceit. The Conservatives should label it as that and so should the media.

In fact the report makes sense - we all know how New Labour have grown to love bureaucracy and that it costs everyone, so this is a step in the right direction. It is my view that we should do this everywhere - local Government could save billions too, billions that could be spent on local people.

Labels: , ,

09 August 2007

Cameron article by Peter Luff MP

Iain Dale has mentioned this article written by Conservative MP Peter Luff in support of David Cameron and suggests that it is 'well worth a read'.

I agree with Iain, everybody interested in politics should read this. I don't think the article is rocket science, it didn't need to be, it just provides a perfect summary of why Dave is the right bloke at the right time. At the end of his piece Peter Luff mentions 4 things that David Cameron stands for:

'First he believes in the virtue of people taking control of
their lives, in families, in communities and in voluntary organisations. Unlike
Gordon Brown, he does not believe the state knows best. This means, for example,
that taxes will be lower, power exercised more locally and marriage properly
protected only under a Conservative government.


Second, he believes in the old words that we should be in
Europe but not run by Europe. He is holding the government to its promise of a
referendum on the new European treaty – or constitution to give it its more
accurate name. Gordon Brown is seeking to sell Britain down the river and break
his manifesto promise.


Third, he believes in protecting the liberties of the British
people, so brutally trampled under foot by this government. On a range of
issues, from giving parliament an opportunity to repeal the hunting ban to
opposition to identity cards, he has demonstrated his opposition to Labour’s
authoritarian state.


Fourth, he respects the institutions s of this nation. His
instinct is to stand up for the organisations and structures that have served us
well, and not, like Gordon Brown, to cast them heedlessly to one side. We will
protect parliament, the legal system and all those other manifestations of our
liberties and traditions that support and nurture the country of which we are so
proud, but which Labour does not begin to understand.


I would add a 5th, which is that David Cameron recognises that, wherever practical, decision-making should be delegated to the lowest possible level. This is something that all 3 major political parties have talked about (albeit following an agenda set by DC), but only David Cameron has put any real meat on the bones of this policy - New Labour's recent initiatives in this area have so far been nothing but tokenistic and follow Gordon Brown's horrendous centralisation agenda. I know this is touched on in hte first of these four areas - but it does not give this important aspect of the Cameron agenda enough credence.

Labels:

31 July 2007

David Cameron comes out fighting

Not only is David Cameron doing a policy launch on school exclusions today, policy that seems to be common sense compared to the mess we have now, he has also come out fighting against his latest critic, Ali Miraj, who was once on Cameron's team but has today criticised the style over substance approach.

According to DC, Mr Miraj asked for a peerage earlier this week.

I wonder how long it will be before Gordon Brown steals this latest policy idea - one that Tony Blair refused to take up.

Labels:

23 April 2007

At Last - And it was David Cameron that did it

At long last a leading politician is starting to make real noises about politics being broken and the need to fix it in a way that better suits the people and not politicians. I am proud to say that it was David Cameron that has had the stength to do it.

Labels:

18 April 2007

David Cameron needs a soapbox

I have just watched the Labour and Conservative Party Political Broadcasts which Iain Dale has on his blog. His analysis is absolutely spot on, David Cameron is excellent in the way he deals with people. It would be really, really easy for the Conservatives to show something with David Cameron agreeing with everything everyone says, the fact that they are able to show him disagreeing and making an impact says a great deal about DC's people skills.

John Major was fantastic at this sort of talking, it is why his soapbox was so powerful. David Cameron should seriously think about finding a soapbox for the next General Election; people would would welcome a return to proper campaigning instead of the artificial, plastic rubbish that we have seen in an era where an artificial, plastic political party has been in Government.

Labels:

11 February 2007

David Cameron Took Drugs Shock

Hot news this morning is that a politician made a mistake at the age of 15 that nearly got him kicked out of school. In the words of the immortal Anti-Nowhere League - "So What!"

That is not to belittle the taking of cannabis, nor the effects that drugs can have on people's lives. What it does say is that, for one person, the drugs education at the time didn't work. Rather than condemn the bloke why not give him the freedom to use what he learned from it for the advantage of society.

We have a political system that is in terminal decline at the moment and all the media can worry about is what DC did at the age of 15. I think this is more of a statement about the mess the media is in than anything else.

(P.S. I strongly recommend that anyone who is easily offended should NOT listen to above mentioned song).

Labels: ,

07 December 2006

David Cameron In the EU Lions Den

I love this. It is an example of really brave politics from David Cameron, having the guts to boss the Lions about in their own den.

Those that use such terms would call this real right-wing politics. I call it having the guts to say what needs to be said, where it needs to be said. Tony Blair has rarely (if ever) had the personal strength to do this.

Labels: ,