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.

“Anna is liberal and open-minded but politically she supports The Labour Party, for all its sins.”
- a note on the website of Anna Arrowsmith, a porn film director and the new PPC for the Lib Dems in the constituency of Gravesham.  Her website also mentions that she is “into all sorts of things, mainly partying [...]

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 [...]

“No, only when I met members of New Labour”
- Tony Benn, when asked whether he had any UFO experiences and had encountered aliens.

Dear readers,
If you have a spare moment today, why not join the hilarious fun over at Comment Is Free.  They have asked (in full anticipation of what would follow, I’m sure) the following question:
What slogan for Labour? – Gordon Brown is set to unveil Labour’s new election slogan this weekend. Can you think of a [...]

Dear Alistair Darling,
I’m sure No 10 and No 11 are tempted to feel quite smug at the news that more than 60 senior economists have signed two open letters that back the chancellor’s decision to delay government spending cuts until 2011.  The letters in the Financial Times say that any measures to trim the budget [...]

 
“shouting at staff, jabbing an angry finger, throwing down papers, kicking the furniture”.
“unforgivable”
“extraordinary flashes of anger”
“typical self-delusion”
“psychological flaws”
“pathetic”
“self-pity”
“He is psychologically and emotionally incapable of leadership of any kind.”
So says ‘Where Power Lies: Prime Ministers v The Media’ - a collection of interviews with current and former No 10 staff conducted by Lance Price, deputy to Tony [...]

First we had this:
Ed Balls reveals his struggle with secret stammer (23rd January 2010) – Schools Secretary Ed Balls spoke last night for the first time about his lifelong struggle to overcome a stammer. He revealed that he faced a daily battle to deliver his words and had to memorise all his speeches because he [...]

Dear Gordon Brown,
It wasn’t long after Kraft’s audacious takeover bid for Cadbury got the green light that the unions starting stomping their feet about potential job losses.  The deal ends more than more than 150 years of independence for the maker of Dairy Milk, which will now be subsumed within the world’s second-biggest food company.  [...]

“What comes out of No 10 is lots of barmy ideas. It’s the worst possible kind of policy making, which is ‘here is a problem, let’s have a kneejerk reaction to it tomorrow on what we’re going to announce’ and quite frankly the less contact with No 10 the better.”
- how a director-general in one [...]

“This is not so much a government in crisis as a crisis pretending to be a government.”
- the verdict from the Mail on Sunday

Dear readers,
If there is any thought in your mind about voting Labour at the next election, let Ed Miliband’s article for the Observer quash any such rumblings.  Not only is it a blatant pitch for Brown’s favour as well as pumping up his own leadership credentials (well, trying to anyway), it demonstrates why misinformation, ignorance [...]

Dear Civil Service,
Accusations of creeping politicisation within your organisation have been around for quite a while.  Peter Oborne and others have expressed their concern at the increasingly questionable role that you perform for the Labour government, particularly in terms of your dwindling independence and authority.  What shocks me is the fact that your overtly political actions are now so [...]

Dear Ed Miliband,
Having achieved the sum total of sod all as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, you have now been passed the mantle of Labour’s election manifesto coordinator.  Oh dear.  To suggest that your political inexperience is wholly unsuitable for such a role is an understatement of epic proportions.
In your interview with [...]

Dear readers,
I’ve finally figured out why Labour’s election manifesto is going to be absolutely amazing.  Even after all this talk of a financial crisis, rising debt, rising unemployment and political chaos, they’re still going to put together a really enticing package.  How is this possible, you say?  Simple – they don’t care.  Nothing that they [...]

“I suppose if you repeat a lie enough, some people will start to believe you.”
- John Prescott, explaining New Labour’s approach to government attacking the Conservatives’ progressive credentials.

Meet Jack Dromey.  He is the deputy general secretary of the Unite union and is “very likely” to be chosen as Labour’s candidate for Leyton and Wanstead according to senior party sources.  He is also Harriet Harman’s husband.  Let’s take a quick look at this:

The constituency has a Labour majority of 6,857 over the Liberal Democrats, [...]

“It has got to such a bad state that, when John Prescott and Margaret Beckett left the Cabinet, its average IQ fell”
- William Hague, on the “increasingly low ministerial calibre of the Government”

From the BBC, over the last two days:

“Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne said there was the need for a “power shift” away from civil servants and towards the public. The Guardian reports that the shake-up in public services will include entitlements to personal tuition in schools, minimum GP waiting times and access to [...]

 
The Labour Party have today changed their party emblem from a rose to a condom as it more accurately reflects their modern political stance.  A condom results in inflation then deflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and tries to give you a sense of security while you are actually [...]

“When this matter involving contributions to the Labour Party became a story I was abandoned by the political leadership of the Labour Party without regard for the impact this would have on me and my family. I was resolute then and now in my belief of my innocence and that I had acted in good faith. [...]

Dear Nick Clegg,
Today’s papers are reporting that you have privately authorised secret approaches to up to a dozen unhappy Blairites, trying to persuade them to join the Lib Dems instead of forming their own breakaway party, in a move that brings back memories of the split that led to the creation of the SDP in the [...]

Dear Gordon Brown,
You must be wandering what hit you.  Any thoughts of a quiet Easter weekend were shattered by ‘Smeargate’.  What everyone seems to have missed was that yesterday, you made a policy announcement that beared no relation whatsoever to any dodgy emails or dodgy expenses claims.  However, your ‘new’ policy clarified two things: firstly, [...]

“At the back of my mind was, ‘God, I hope nobody finds out about this’.”
- Tim Russo, 41, a convicted sex offender, who was paid more than £2,500 by the Labour Party to help their 2005 election campaign.  In 2002, Russo was convicted in America of trying to arrange sex with someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy.  [...]

Dear Michael Portillo,
In amongst the insanity that is British politics right now, I think you have rightly seen where this is all heading.  Most people call this time of year ’silly season’ as there is little political news worthy of being reported.  I would suggest to you that this period should be renamed ’serious season’, [...]

Today’s Guardian: “Senior officials in the Labour party, including Gordon Brown, could become personally liable for millions of pounds in debt unless new donors can be found within weeks, the Guardian has learned.  The party has five weeks to find £7.45m to pay off loans to banks and wealthy donors recruited by Lord Levy, Tony [...]