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.

…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 readers,
You might remember a few days ago that news broke of a document prepared for the Cabinet Office and the Home Office in 2000 which confirmed that Labour encouraged mass immigration even though it knew that voters opposed it while simultaneously claiming that the public disagreed with immigration because of ‘racism’.  Keep that in mind [...]

Dear John Redwood,
Your rolling coverage of suggested spending cuts on your blog is certainly thought-provoking.  For example, your post yesterday entitled ‘Fewer prisoners, fewer prison places’ had an element of underlying logic.  The idea was simple: let low-level non-violent offenders such as burglars and thieves pay fines instead of sending them to prison.  While this [...]

“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 [...]

“We don’t have an open-door policy. It is misleading to say we have got one or that we have ever had one. We manage immigration.”
- Alan Johnson, who clearly has not heard of the European Union, speaking to the Independent (full article HERE)

From the Independent: The far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders today won his appeal against the Government’s decision to ban him from entering Britain. The politician, who has been accused of Islamophobia, was told at the start of this year by the then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith that he would be refused entry should he attempt to [...]

“The fact that once again Gordon Brown is dithering over a serious issue affecting his government is yet another sign of the vacuum of leadership in Downing Street. He seems to hope that the problem will just go away.”
- Chris Grayling on Gordon Brown’s astonishing decision not to sack Baroness Scotland after she was fined [...]

Dear readers,
I feel it is my duty as a blogger to inform you about the new immigration policy that the Government is trying to push through while Parliament is on recess.  This information came to me from a very reliable source and should concern all of us.  After Andy Burnham announced yesterday that criticising the [...]

“There are times when we don’t know whether to laugh or cry”
- Shadow immigration minister Damian Green on the news that an illegal immigrant was smuggled into Britain under a coach carrying Border Agency officials

“…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 [...]

“It says more about them than it says about me.”
- Michael Savage, a US radio talk show host, reacting to the government’s decision to ban him from entering the UK.  He told his radio audience that he was intending to sue Jacqui Smith, who he described as the “lunatic … Home Secretary of England”.  ”To link [...]

Dear Deva Kumarasiri,
I cannot tell you how refreshing it is, in light of Labour doing everything they can to destroy our culture, values and heritage, to see you standing up for this country.  The fact that you feel so strongly about this country without having been born here gives a fascinating insight into the attitudes [...]

Dear Hazel Blears,
Seeing as you are the only Labour Cabinet member speaking openly about the threat of the BNP, I thought I would give you a short lesson this morning in one of the main reasons why the BNP are becoming a more formidable foe.  At the end of last year, you caused a stir [...]

Dear William Hague,
Like many people within the Conservative Party, I have a huge amount of respect for you.  Your quick wit and sharp mind are an important asset for us and will be for several years to come.  Sadly, on this one occasion, I must take issue with you on your stance regarding the ‘wildcat [...]

The protests against the employment of foreign workers at the TOTAL oil refinery near Grimsby do not bode well.  A quick glance at the voting statistics shows that this may well be the start of something thoroughly unpleasant as the UK economy continues to struggle.  Grimsby has been Labour since 1945, but in the 2005 [...]

Dear Jacqui Smith,
Your policies really are a bit naff, aren’t they!  After the fiasco over police pay, you were probably relishing the chance to get into your stride with an announcement for a new immigrant tax to help pay for public services.  Not exactly very Labour-esque, is it!  You and Gordon are obviously a little [...]

Dear The Independent,
Thank you for an interesting leading article today on the government’s proposals to set in motion “the biggest shake-up of the immigration system in its history”.  As always with Labour, it is more of a step sideways than a step forwards.
For the government to believe that cutting a tourist visa from six to three [...]

Dear Caroline Spelman,
I cannot help but wonder what was the primary motivation behind the pressure you put on Nigel Hastilow to forfeit his position as PPC in Halesown.  Was this an appropriate step for a party chairman to take, or have you misjudged the situation?
I don’t know the Wolverhampton area very well, but I am [...]

Dear Peter Hain,
To my mind, the phrase ‘extraordinary development’ should be reserved for important areas such as advances in scientific understanding, international crises or sporting upsets.  To use this precise phrase to describe how you accidentally miscalculated the number of foreign workers in this country by a mere 300,000 people strikes me as incompetence rather than [...]

Dear Liam Byrne,
Much as you’d like to shout from the rooftops about how wonderful your ‘open door’ policy on immigration is, the Home Office report today provides scant evidence to support your claim.
Your argument revolves around some media-friendly figures.  Apparently, migration produced £6 billion of economic growth last year, migrants had high skills levels and were [...]

Dear Hazel Blears,
It looks as though your proposals for helping local authorities to create cohesive communities have finally got the go-ahead.  Reducing the amount of translation work that local councils have to provide for immigrants and encouraging them to learn English is the correct move and should benefit everyone in the long run.   How you [...]

Dear Minette Marrin,
Thank you so much for being honest about immigration in the Sunday Times.  Despite the ability of the word ‘immigration’ to polarise public opinion, you have highlighted the undeniable fact of the strain placed on our public services by having an open-door policy towards immigration for years, if not decades.
It frustrates me enormously [...]

Dear Liam Byrne,
Your shallow words on immigration fail to offer any comfort to the people that are affected the most.  It is plainly obvious to anyone that listens to the news or reads a newspaper that having uncontrolled immigration from other EU countries is having a seriously detrimental impact on the UK.
BBC News has the story [...]