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 Ed Balls,
We all know that the Darling/Mandelson double-act has made you something of a peripheral figure, and the re-emergence of Charlie Whelan could see you slip even further down the pecking order.  However, I would urge you not to be discouraged because you still have so much to offer.  This was demonstrated yesterday as [...]

”No Chancellor is ever going to say they are never going to change the tax system over the next five to 10 years or whatever.”
- Alistair Darling, giving a suitably weasily answer about the upcoming Budget on Sky News’ Sunday Live programme. (full story HERE)

First came ‘Change That Works For You. Building A Fairer Britain’ – without doubt one of the worst election slogans I have ever heard.  It means nothing, it tells me nothing, it will inspire no-one and it’s basically the same as the other two parties.
Now we have Nick Clegg calling for a 10% tax on [...]

*yawn*
Yes, it’s still going.  Last night, Mandelson said that David Cameron’s failure to confront his billionaire deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft over his tax status exposes the “fundamental weakness” of the Conservative leader and undermines his claim to be a moderniser.  In an interview with the Guardian, he said that Ashcroft had Cameron “by the balls”, the affair [...]

“You may not recognise marriage in a tax system, but you sure do in a political system”
- William Hague taunts Harriet Harman over the fact that her husband, Jack Dromey, is to fight a reputedly safe Labour seat at the general election.

Dear Steve Hilton and George Osborne,
I don’t whether it is you or the rest of the Conservative Party staff who I should be writing this letter to.  Even so, the news about Lord Ashcroft’s tax status provides a wonderful example of how detached you are from the real world.  Lord Ashcroft has finally admitted he does not pay [...]

“They should be able to enjoy a drink in these times of hardship without being penalised by extra costs. They are already paying enough in taxes. Enough is enough.”
- Jeremy Beadles, chief executive of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association, responding to the news that drinkers face swingeing increases which would add several pounds to [...]

Dear readers,
I’ve seen a couple of interesting news clippings that have uncovered almost identical poll results from completely different questions, so to start off this week I thought I would find out what you make of them…
In the foxhunting corner:
In a landmark legal ruling, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Hunting Act does [...]

This is John Varley - the chief executive of Barclays.
He thinks London’s role as a leading financial hub may be “damaged” by the new bonus tax.  He told the BBC that “banks are competing globally – this bank, Barclays, competes with banks all around the world and we have to be able to compete on a level [...]

Dear David Cameron,
Everyone knows that Lord Ashcroft’s taxes have been a thorn in the side of the Conservative Party for years.  After a few recent snipes by Labour MPs, you have decided to take action by announcing yesterday that all MPs and peers would have to pay taxes in the UK under legislation that would be [...]

“We love Gordon and Alistair over here — we rather hope they get another term.”
- James de la Cloche, director of Edge, a property consultancy in Jersey.  It is reported today that the number of directors of British companies who have registered in the Channel Island tax havens of Jersey and Guernsey, along with the [...]

“The banking industry did not cause a housing bubble, it wasn’t the one setting monetary policy and it wasn’t in charge of the regulator.”
- Angela Knight, the chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association, as the banking industry today warned the Treasury that plans for a “supertax” on bankers’ bonuses would damage the City’s reputation [...]

Dear Alistair Campbell,
I know that officially you are not involved with the Labour Party, but seeing as just about every single broadsheet is discussing your return I have little doubt that you are part of the government’s spin machine yet again.  As far as spin goes, the class warfare initiated at Prime Minister’s Questions last [...]

Dear Nick Clegg,
No doubt you had in mind a dramatic, media-busting launch of your tax plans yesterday that would herald a resurgence in the polls.  Sadly, what you have ended up with is your party running extremely hard just to stand still.  It is clear that you have been forced to drastically alter your most infamous policy [...]

Dear Lord Turner,
As the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is in its final days now that the Conservatives have committed themselves to scrapping your organisation, you have evidently decided to make a nuisance of yourself with idiotic suggestions that pander to the Government.  Your plans for a multi billion-pound tax on banks to tackle the City’s [...]

Dear Barack Obama,
What a shocking week or so it’s been for you.  Having been caught up in a stupid racism row over a police arrest, you are still desperate to find some magical way of funding all of your healthcare reforms while watching your popularity fall to its lowest level since you became President.  After [...]

From the BBC: Prime Minister Gordon Brown could face a fresh backbench revolt over his 2007 decision to scrap the 10p bottom rate of income tax.  A group of Labour MPs – led by Frank Field and Greg Pope – are threatening to block this year’s entire Budget in a vote in the Commons on [...]

Dear Barack Obama,
Despite the economic downturn, you are still rightly committed to creating a universal health insurance system in America.  Seeing as it formed the backbone of your election platform, voters would not be particularly impressed if you walked away from such a bold plan.  Even though your reforms could save over one trillion dollars in the [...]

“The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax.”
- Chen Nianzu, a member of the Gong’an cigarette market supervision team in the Hubei province of central China.  Government officials in Gong’an have been told to smoke 230,000 packs of locally made cigarettes annually, state media reported.  Departments that fail to meet their targets will [...]

“For the really rich people, the effect of the 50p rate will simply be another challenge for their tax accountants”
- Boris Johnson on the Chancellor’s new tax

“We want them to register their activity as a business – it’s still taxable, even if it’s a hobby.”
- Dag Hardyson, a tax official in Sweden, discussing the authorities’ decision to examine websites that feature Swedish strippers in an effort to identify them and make them pay tax on their earnings.  The lost tax revenue is [...]

Dear Alistair Darling,
Watching you and the other major world finance ministers struggle to agree on the agenda, let alone any solutions, for the G20 summit next month is truly hilarious.  Gordon Brown has pinned all his hopes on kidding himself and voters that this summit will somehow signal the end of the economic crisis and [...]

Dear Nick Clegg,
It never fails to amaze me how lightly the Lib Dems get away with their lack of respectable policies.  People say that the Conservatives need to focus more on policy, yet the Lib Dems have been so quiet that no-one ever seems sure what their purpose is as a party.  Your pledges on [...]

Dear Vince Cable,
It seems that we share a common perspective on the latest Conservative proposal for changing taxes.  Fuel duty is certainly a sensitive issue at the moment and the announcement was timed to hurt Labour badly.  Unfortunately I’m a little cautious about singing the praises of this proposal as it seems a little isolated.
The mechanism [...]

Dear David Cameron,
I doubt I’m as fed up as you are about grassroots Conservatives calling for tax cuts every week.  Yet again I find some very sensible comments from you being warped into some kind of internal party struggle about future tax cuts, even though you are absolutely right.
I’m quite surprised that any Conservative anywhere [...]