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.

Dear Gordon,
We both love the Labour party. I have worked for it for 20 years and you for far longer. We know we owe it everything and it owes us nothing.
I owe it to our party to say what I believe no matter how hard that may be. I now believe your continued leadership makes [...]

Dear James Purnell,
Seeing as you are quite happy to upset the socialists in the Labour camp with your welfare reforms, I thought that might want to hear about this little story I stumbled across in today’s papers.  If you are genuinely serious about tackling benefit fraud and getting those who are capable of work back [...]

Dear James Purnell,
It’s not often that I support a Labour policy.  Your recent welfare reforms, designed to bring private and voluntary firms into the mix, was a notable exception to this.  So long as people are looking for work, the government will help support them.  Not only is the reduced role of the government to be welcomed, the [...]

Dear James Purnell,
Where does this end?  We don’t have to wait more than a few weeks to hear of yet another government or government-contracted official carelessly losing the personal details of thousands, if not millions of people.  This time, a memory stick with user names and passwords for a government computer system was found in a pub [...]

Dear James Purnell,
It was very instructive to read your plans to make benefit claimants pick up litter and clean graffiti.  In principle, I’m happy to admit that it makes sense for people to engage in meaningful activities should they be unable to find work.  People often forget that the benefits of work go way beyond merely [...]

Dear James Purnell,
I have always been of the opinion that Gordon Brown appointed such a ridiculously inexperienced cabinet for two reasons: firstly, to wash away the look and feel of the Blair years to trick us into thinking that his leadership will be a ‘fresh start’; secondly, to make sure that the new cabinet would [...]

Dear James Purnell,
Not sure if I should offer congratulations or commiserations on your appointment to the Department of Work and Pensions.  Your brief for Culture, Media and Sport was without doubt one of the cushy numbers as far as ministerial posts go, but I wonder how well this promotion will work out for you.
Let’s be [...]