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.

“Plane ticket to England – £70.  Accommodation - £56. Abortion in a public clinic – £0.  Relief after a procedure carried out in decent conditions – priceless.”
- the Mastercard-mimicking advert from a feminist organisation in Poland, who have been accused of promoting ‘abortion tourism’ by encouraging women to travel to Britain to have terminations on the NHS.  [...]

From the Daily Mail:
Gordon Brown hurled a torrent of abuse at EU Foreign Minister Baroness Ashton in a row over the way she is doing her job, it was disclosed last night.  The Prime Minister swore repeatedly at the Baroness over the telephone, leaving her shaken, according to well-placed sources. Details of Mr Brown’s latest [...]

…well, if you’re Dutch, that is. 
From the Telegraph:
The far-right politician Geert Wilders is poised to become the next Dutch prime minister after making major gains in regional elections.  Municipal results announced yesterday put his party in first place in Almere, a region near Amsterdam, and second in The Hague, one the country’s largest cities and the [...]

Dear Nigel Farage,
I know that you consider yourself to be a bit of a maverick when it comes to speeches in the European Parliament.  Unfortunately for you, your latest one-man show has landed you with a £2,700 fine.  I freely admit to agreeing with some of the things that you and UKIP say, but this [...]

“a guinea pig in a battle between Europe and the international markets”
- how Greek prime minister George Papandreou described his country’s current plight.  Finance ministers from the eurozone’s member countries will gather for a regular meeting tomorrow evening, amid hopes that their broad promise on Thursday to stand behind Athens as it battles with a massive public [...]

Dear Nick Clegg,
As no-one in the media is really bothered what you are up to right now, I thought I would take you back 12 months to an article that you wrote for the Independent explaining why you thought that Britain should consider joining the Euro as it makes for fascinating and embarrassing reading in hindsight.
“I [...]

“Dealing these complaints and legal action would force administrations to draw on scarce resources which can be better used on implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.”
- taken from an internal European Parliament document, showing their general lack of concern about Eurocrats, including MEPs and their staff, getting a 3.7% pay rise this year.  The British government, along with Germany and [...]

“The English are the big losers in this business.”
- Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking to Le Monde newspaper over the appointment of the new European Union commissioners.  Sarkozy said the appointment of Baroness Ashton as the EU’s foreign policy chief was far less important than the elevation of Michel Barnier, France’s former agriculture minister, to the key [...]

“Everything about this process rubs our noses in how undemocratic the EU is. It’s not just the way Baroness Ashton was appointed; it’s her whole career. Lady Ashton is a lifelong quangocrat who has never once been elected to anything. She went from running a health authority to working at the National Council for One [...]

“The Lisbon treaty is your work as much as anyone’s. You pushed it through and you told everyone that it really mattered. You’ve been making speeches on the importance of the new job as EU foreign minister. You’ve said it is an essential tool of influence. Yet now — now — you tell me that [...]

“La vendetta è un piatto che va mangiato freddo”
- the text message sent by Nick Boles, one of David Cameron’s aides, to Boris Johnson on the day that Boris returned to London after the Conservative Party conference.  The message – a classic Mafia threat - translates as “Revenge is a dish best eaten cold” and refers to Boles’ [...]

Come on, let’s be honest – however much we all hate Blair, he would be the perfect man for the job of EU President.  Just look at his past record:

He is the only British politician that Merkel and Sarkozy give a toss about
He has a track record of bowing to Franco-German interests at the expense [...]

“Sending Boris Johnson to plead for the City in Brussels last week was like sending a devout atheist to the Vatican to ask the Pope to change his line on birth control”
- Labour MP and former Europe Minister Denis MacShane, urging Britain to join the euro

“He is really out of touch if he thinks it will popular to alert people to the fact they have just made a cash contribution to the EU every time they go shopping.”
- Nigel Farage, UKIP leader, reacting to the news that all shopping and petrol station receipts in Britain could in future include the [...]

Dear Lord Mandelson,
After your meteroic re-rise to the top of the Labour Party, I was hoping that you would have learned the lessons of the past.  Apparently not.  Despite surviving the expenses scandal relatively unscathed, your reputation for sleaze and corruption remains unshaken as demonstrated by your increasingly dubious behaviour over the past ten days.
Last [...]

Dear Stockwell Day,
As Canada’s international trade minister, you are set to lead the fight about the EU’s newly imposed ban on the import of seal products.  Canada is already threatening to go to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to challenge the ban so I doubt that this is the last we will hear of the [...]

IN THE RED CORNER: A row has been sparked by a short video clip available online dated July 2000, in which Michal Kaminski (pictured above), leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists and a member of Poland’s Law and Justice Party, uses the word “pedal” to refer to gay rights campaigners in a TV interview. This [...]

“People know who he is, and he could step into this new role with a lot of respect and he would be generally welcomed.”
- Europe Minister Baroness Kinnock, apparently confirming that Tony Blair is the UK candidate for president of the European Council as well as confirming that she clearly hasn’t spoken to a single member of the [...]

“…the only measure, sooner or later, which is going to stop immigration and stop large numbers of sub-Saharan Africans dying on the way to get over here is to get very tough with those coming over. Frankly, they need to sink several of those boats.”
- Nick Griffin, BNP leader, when speaking to BBC Parliament.  Shirin [...]

“I’d like to be a fly on the wall when the Queen and Princess Anne are asked to sign a form saying they’re not going to eat their horses.”
- Nigel Farage MEP, reacting to the news that horse owners will have to sign a pledge not to eat their animals under new EU legislation. The [...]

Dear William Hague,
I hope you’re watching carefully because this week has not been a good one for opponents of further EU integration.  It was only a matter of days ago that the Conservatives were celebrating their advances in the European elections, which was swiftly followed by negotiations on forming a new eurosceptic group called ‘the [...]

Dear William Hague,
The soundbytes in the morning papers will bring joy to the hearts of many Conservatives around the country – Labour in third place with under 16% of the popular vote.  On the BBC election coverage last night, you came across as relaxed, optimistic and sincere while Harriet Harman tried to divert the conversation onto MPs [...]

Dear Nick Clegg,
Much as it would bring a warm fuzzy feeling to my heart to discuss interior designers, trouser presses, fluffy dusters, court summons and leather rocking chairs with you this morning, I feel that your inadequate showing at the launch of the Lib Dem MEP election campaign is much more instructive when it comes to [...]

“The Conservatives – though perhaps more Eurosceptic than Labour – just wish no one would talk about the EU so they can win the general election in peace.”
- Stuart Wheeler, speaking to a Sunday newspaper before his ejection from the Conservative Party after giving UKIP a donation of £100,000

“It’s just like them to do this. They’ll probably also adopt a resolution to stop the Earth rotating.”
- far-right French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, who is obviously not impressed that other Euro MEPs are pushing for a rule change to stop him from presiding over the European Parliament.  As the oldest MEP, Mr Le Pen, [...]