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.

“VodafoneUK is fed up of dirty homo’s and is going after beaver”
- a message on Vodafone’s official Twitter account, which prompted hundreds of followers to contact the mobile phone company.  The message appeared on their Twitter feed, which is used by the company to deal with customer complaints. Instead of the usual helpful hints on how [...]

“I guess iTampon will be the smaller version”
- a comment from one user on Twitter, in response to the much-hyped launch of the iPad yesterday, while another user asked “Does the iPad come with wings?”.  Others pointed out that Apple had plenty of opportunity to work out what people might think when they heard the name [...]

“If they really think it’s worth spending vast sums of money on these measures then [the Government] should be footing the bill, not the consumer.”
- Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, as Government ministers admit that proposals to suspend the internet connections of those who repeatedly share music and films online will leave consumers with a [...]

“Tiger hunting”
- the cruel sport practised in India that is causing a decline in the local tiger population a new internet game which challenges players to direct Tiger Woods’s car while his wife Elin runs behind with a golf club.  The objective is to score points by collecting golf club bags and trophies, and avoid [...]

“When you’ve got the families of soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan saying they haven’t got the kit they need, collecting reports of funny lights seen in the sky can’t be seen as a priority”
- UFO expert Dr David Clarke, a lecturer in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University, on the Ministry of Defence’s decision to [...]

“The recurring theme among all of the milestones on our list is the Internet’s capacity to circumvent old systems and put more power into the hands of ordinary people.”
- David-Michel Davies, executive director of the ‘Webby Awards’ that were awarded last night by the New York-based International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences to recognise [...]

Dear Tom Watson,
After a very quiet period in your political career, you have bounced right back into the headlines.  As you know, yesterday saw the release of ‘Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 2′, which is expected to be the fastest selling computer game of all time.  However, there have been numerous complaints about the [...]

Dear Alan Johnson,
Your desire to stay out of the limelight is clear enough, but every so often you get dragged into fiery debates.  Given Labour’s desperation with populist measures as you approach a crushing electoral defeat, I wonder what you have made of the new iPhone software in America that shows parents a map of where all the [...]

“I think it was a bit stupid of him to be caught out – he’s a teacher, after all, he should have known better.”
- Andy Hillell, now 18, who has admitted secretly filming his science teacher doing a chicken dance.  His teacher, Phil Ryan, put on the act to entertain Year 11 pupils at Broadgreen International School [...]

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 Pirate Party,
As of 30th July 2009, you have become an official political party in the UK after registering with the electoral commission.  This means that you can now have Pirate Party candidates standing at the next general election.  I doubt that this will attract any attention at a local level, but I wonder if [...]

“construct a green, healthy and harmonious internet environment, and prevent harmful information on the internet from influencing and poisoning young people”
- a notice from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, issued to personal computer-makers instructing them that every machine sold from July 1st must be preloaded with software aimed at restricting online pornography but which could also [...]

“It is the crack cocaine of the computer gaming world.”
- Sven Rollenhagen, author of a report on computer games from Sweden’s Youth Care Foundation, describing ‘World of Warcraft’, which has been called “the most dangerous game on the market” by addiction therapists after a 15-year-old Swedish boy collapsed and went into convulsions earlier this month [...]

Dear Alan Campbell,
As a Home Office minister, I’m sure Jacqui Smith takes all the high profile cases and leaves you with the issues that she isn’t particularly interested in.  I appreciate that regulating the internet is a horribly messy situation and doesn’t offer much in the way of glitz and glamour, but don’t think for [...]

“CAUTION! ZOMBIES AHEAD!”
- a message displayed by pranksters, who have figured out how to alter the text on electronic road signs in three US states which now display joke messages instead of detailing traffic problems.  The latest breach came on Tuesday during the morning rush hour near Collinsville, Illinois, where hackers changed a sign along Interstate [...]

Dear Andy Burnham
Being Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is generally thought of as the easiest cabinet position seeing as you can acquire high-level experience without actually doing anything.  You have clearly decided to ignore your predecessors’ lead by starting a massive argument about web censorship.   Your suggestion that websites could [...]

Dear Kenneth Branagh,
I understand your concerns regarding illegal file-sharing.  You and more than 100 other media personalities have written to the government asking for legal action to be considered if internet service providers (ISPs) do not act to prevent people from illegally sharing files containing films or TV programmes over the internet.  I can see why [...]

Dear Internet Watch Foundation (IWF),
As the organisation that filters out websites for internet users in the UK, you were never likely to escape controversy for long.  Your ruling that the Scorpion’s 1976 album called ‘Virgin Killers’ may have an illegal front cover and you subsequently blocking the Wikipedia website that contains the album cover has caused [...]

“We were just chatting and hanging out together. It was nothing really major. I don’t think I was really doing anything wrong.”
- David Pollard, 40, who is clearly bemused at being divorced by his wife after she caught him chatting affectionately to another woman in ’Second Life’ (an online virtual world in which players can move around, [...]

The ‘curse of the drunken email’ has crippled relationships, ruined friendships and destroyed relations with countless ex-girlfriends and -boyfriends across the nation.  It always seems like such a good idea at the time, but writing that email at 3am having consumed a large number of alcoholic beverages beforehand rarely ends well.  Thankfully, courtesy of our friends at Google, a solution [...]

Is it just me, or does reading THIS STORY make you feel a little nervous?

BBC website, 31st July: Video websites must vet content – “YouTube has been criticised by MPs, who say it must do more to vet its content. In a review of net safety, the Culture, Media and Sport select committee said a new industry body should be set up to protect children from harmful content. It [...]

I don’t normally stray into the philosophical elements of politics, but here is one to stretch those mental muscles – is it possible to steal something that doesn’t exist?