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.

Gordon Brown, TV leaders’ debate, 15th April 2010:
“Let me say, first of all, my pride and my admiration for the armed forces, and our questioner who was in the Territorial Army, all those who serve our nation, and particularly at this time when we’re at war in Afghanistan, we’ve got to remember and we’ve got [...]

“All that was going through my head was to knock him out. I decided I’d get his attention and let him know how I felt. When he offered his hand to me I just turned round and walked away. I wanted him to think about his actions and it worked.”
- Victoria Cross hero Johnson Beharry, who revealed [...]

“I find it quite unusual for people to criticise me for doing what I consider to be my duty. …This was nothing to do with partisan politics.”
- Gordon Brown, who said today that the criticism he received for visiting Afghanistan a day after giving evidence to the Iraq war inquiry was “incredibly unfair”. During his Chilcot inquiry [...]

From the BBC:
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has defended its use of more than 100 pigs in explosive tests in Wiltshire.
Some 119 pigs were used in the research at the Government’s military research laboratory Porton Down, near Salisbury, between 2006 and 2009. The tests “saved many lives” in Iraq and Afghanistan due to improvements in [...]

“I’m defending my staff who put their lives on the line for us.”
- Phil Woolas, Home Office minister, paying tribute to our Armed Forces the UK Border Agency, who he praised for being made up of “very brave men and women who protect our borders” on Radio 4 this morning.  Critics said it was ‘deeply [...]

Dear Tom Watson,
After a very quiet period in your political career, you have bounced right back into the headlines.  As you know, yesterday saw the release of ‘Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 2′, which is expected to be the fastest selling computer game of all time.  However, there have been numerous complaints about the [...]

Dear The Sun,
Yesterday, both Sky News and the BBC were fixated with your story detailing how the mother of a dead soldier was said to be upset by Gordon Brown’s letter of condolence to her, in which he made several spelling mistakes including the soldier’s name.  You also attacked Brown for failing to bow at [...]

This  is Joanna Birchall, walking past the coffin of her husband Major Sean Birchall after his funeral a few days ago in London. Major Sean Birchall of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards died on 19th June while on patrol near Lashkar Gah in central Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Today, a Ministry of Defence source confirmed that ministers were [...]

“Despite the fact of driving through an ambush is actually routine for all military vehicles drivers in the British Army in Iraq, the politically correct Ministry of Defence decided to elevate this particular occasion to something worthy of the VC.”
- an article on the BNP website, claiming that the Iraq war hero Johnson Beharry was [...]

Dear Inayat Bunglawala,
It was good to hear you, as a representative of the Muslim Council of Britain, come out against the disgusting protests from Muslims in Luton during the homecoming parade for the Royal Anglians.  When Muslims cross the line, condemnation from groups that supposedly represent them is often notable by its absence.  Nevertheless, I think you’ve been [...]

And there was me, thinking that we should arrest murderers and hand them over to the authorities in the hope of making our country and the world a better and safer place.  It seems as though the Foreign Office disagrees with me on this one, as apparently they feel that arresting murderers breaches their human [...]