Letters From A Tory Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others.

Welcome to ‘Letters From A Tory’, covering British politics from a conservative perspective. Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts about today’s letter, and don’t forget that you can CLICK HERE to get my letters sent to you by RSS every morning.…then they came for the… errr… salt?

From the Guardian:

Over the past few [...]

“The real danger is not third-hand smoke but propaganda dressed up as science”
- Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ lobby group Forest, after a study in America found that lingering residue from tobacco smoke which clings to upholstery, clothing and the skin releases cancer-causing agents.   Berkeley scientists in the US ran lab tests and found “substantial [...]

“a charismatic guy with a Teleprompter”
- how Sarah Palin described Barack Obama during her speech at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville last weekend.  Unfortunately for Palin, though, it seems that Obama is not the only one who needs a little help remembering his lines as Palin was photographed with crib notes written on [...]

“So basically you can say that I can go sit on somebody and get probation? I feel there wasn’t no justice.”
- the sister of Mikal Middlestone-Bey, who was killed after his 21-stone girlfriend sat on him during an argument.  During her trial, Mia Landingham (pictured below) apologised for killing eight-stone Mikal – the father of her three children.  [...]

Wow.  Just a matter of hours after Obama gets humiliated in Massachusetts, he hits back in spectacular style with major banking reforms.  His proposals are twofold: first to stop banks from proprietary trading – where a bank bets on markets for their own gain, not for their customers; and second, to limit the pace of consolidation to [...]

“necessity defence”
- the name given to the tactic being used by the legal team representing Scott Roeder, who has already confessed to the killing of a leading abortion provider in Kansas, USA, last year.  This defence would allow Roeder to argue that the murder was a justified act because of his belief that in killing one man he was saving [...]

“It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news.”
- Sarah Palin, after signing on as a commentator with Fox News.  Just to clarify, that’s Sarah Palin describing Fox News as “fair and balanced”.  She will not have her own show, but will contribute to various news programmes and present an [...]

Dear readers,
Today your task is to decide which leader is in the biggest mess.  You get a choice of three!
1. Gordon Brown: As we all know, Geoff Hoon, the former Defence Secretary, and Patricia Hewitt, the former Health Secretary, have written to all Labour MPs calling for the leadership issue to be sorted out “once and for all” [...]

“Santa needs to pay his elves.”
- what the man who robbed SunTrust Bank in Nashville, USA, said to staff and customers as he fled. According to witnesses, the bank clerk had asked the robber to remove his sunglasses but he refused, reached into his sack and pulled out his gun.  He demanded money and told staff [...]

Meet Michele Bachman, 53, a Republican congresswoman from Minnesota

She lambasts President Barack Obama as a socialist.
She is hated by liberals.
She campaigned vociferously against the economic stimulus package.
She has attacked global warming by saying that carbon dioxide emissions are a natural part of the atmosphere. “Carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless [...]

Dear Alistair Darling,
After Gordon Brown was humiliated on the international stage over his unexpected proposal for a so-called Tobin tax on the financial sector, it falls to you to try and convince us that everyone still loves his idea.  Unfortunately, as with every announcement on cracking down on tax havens, rogue bankers, greed, excessive bonuses [...]

“a weird coincidence”
- Aaron McLear, Governor Schwarzenegger’s press secretary, trying to play down an email Schwarzenegger sent to one of San Francisco’s Democratic Assemblymen.  At first sight, the message that Schwarzenegger sent to Tom Ammiano, explaining why he’d vetoed a boring bill about financing the city’s port, seems straightforward enough.  However, a vertical reading of [...]

From the Telegraph:
The decline in Barack Obama’s popularity since July has been the steepest of any president at the same stage of his first term for more than 50 years.  Gallup recorded an average daily approval rating of 53 per cent for Mr Obama for the third quarter of the year, a sharp drop from [...]

“Either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party.”
- how Anita Dunn, the White House communications director, recently described Fox News.  This has since been followed by Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s chief of staff, saying the channel was “not a news organisation” while senior Obama adviser David Axelrod added: “The only argument Anita was [...]

Dear Chris Grayling,
Having branded the storing of innocent people’s DNA “illegal and morally wrong” not that long ago, your reaction to new evidence from the US about the success of DNA databases would be much appreciated.  The increasing use of DNA technology has helped to drive reported rapes in America to a 20-year low - an [...]

“In closing, I would like to thank you for the huge influx of traffic to my website which your actions have caused. I am sure that the ladies who are a part of the PunterNet community thank you as well, as they will no doubt benefit financially from the many new clients who might otherwise never [...]

Dear Robert Gates,
Having been appointed US Defence Secretary by George W Bush, it came as a surprise to some that you continued this role in Obama’s administration.  With Donald Rumsfeld as your predecessor, the American people and the international community needed someone who restored some trust and faith in the US government after the disgraceful record of [...]

“I feel proud to live in a country where you’re not persecuted for your opinions. That right has to be protected. Even though people are now taking shots at me on the web, I believe those people have a right to their opinions — and their anonymity.”
- Rosemary Port, who is suing Google for $15 million because she [...]

Dear Liskula Cohen,
Although your name recognition was pretty much zero in the UK before this week, your US legal case may have ramifications that roll on for years.  You have won a landmark court battle to reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger who called you a “skank” and an “old hag”.  This case sets [...]

Dear Glenn Beck,
Now that you have inadvertently shot to fame here in the UK after your TV interview with Dan Hannan over the NHS made the headlines, the spotlight has revealed some rather uncomfortable truths about you.  Well, I say ‘revealed’ – your controversial right-wing commentary is nothing new but this time, it seems, you might have gone [...]

Dear readers,
As the debate over Obama’s healthcare reforms in America becomes increasingly heated, perhaps you had – like me – cast your mind back to Michael Moore’s documentary called ‘Sicko’ that tried to explain in no uncertain terms why American healthcare was a disgrace (and why, incidentally, the NHS was so wonderful).  Sadly for Michael, [...]

“Never tell your wife you are unworthy of her. Let her find out for herself.”
- Mark Sanford, South Carolina’s temporary governor.  For six days in June 2009, Sanford’s whereabouts were unknown and there was media coverage of what was described as his disappearance. Subsequently he reappeared and reported that he had been in Argentina with [...]

Dear Barack Obama,
What a shocking week or so it’s been for you.  Having been caught up in a stupid racism row over a police arrest, you are still desperate to find some magical way of funding all of your healthcare reforms while watching your popularity fall to its lowest level since you became President.  After [...]