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 Nick Clegg,
As no-one in the media is really bothered what you are up to right now, I thought I would take you back 12 months to an article that you wrote for the Independent explaining why you thought that Britain should consider joining the Euro as it makes for fascinating and embarrassing reading in hindsight.
“I [...]

“The UK is a must to avoid. Its gilts are resting on a bed of nitroglycerine.”
- Bill Gross, co-founder of California-based fund managers Pimco (who are one of the world’s biggest buyers of bonds), dealing a severe blow to the Government’s hopes of claiming credit for reviving the British economy.  His remarks, whose pronouncements on [...]

Wow.  Just a matter of hours after Obama gets humiliated in Massachusetts, he hits back in spectacular style with major banking reforms.  His proposals are twofold: first to stop banks from proprietary trading – where a bank bets on markets for their own gain, not for their customers; and second, to limit the pace of consolidation to [...]

…well, it was if you believe this man (pictured centre):

Meet Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aling from Sudan, head of the G-77 group of developing countries.  In response to the epic fail that was the Copenhagen climate summit, he had this to say:
“[The draft text of the summit deal] asks Africa to sign a suicide pact, an incineration [...]

Dear Alistair Darling,
After Gordon Brown was humiliated on the international stage over his unexpected proposal for a so-called Tobin tax on the financial sector, it falls to you to try and convince us that everyone still loves his idea.  Unfortunately, as with every announcement on cracking down on tax havens, rogue bankers, greed, excessive bonuses [...]

From The Telegraph: Barack Obama’s honeymoon period appears to be coming to an end in America as polls have shown his ratings have fallen to their lowest point yet.  USA Today/Gallup survey suggested that six months into his presidency, his popularity was lower than George W Bush’s at the same stage of his tenure.  mid [...]

“Yes, there may be a typing error.”
- Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s Finance Minister, delivering what can only be described as a bit of an understatement after admitting that a typo could have added an extra $120 million (£79 million) to a supplementary budget. Independent watchdog Mars Group and some legislators have alleged Kenyatta inflated figures when [...]

Dear Timothy Geithner,
With pressure gradually increasing on Barack Obama’s handling of the financial crisis, your testimony to the US House Committee yesterday was another chance for his administration to set out your stall.  You outlined a number of strategies to strengthen the US government’s oversight of your domestic financial system, some of which sounds fairly sensible and some of which [...]

There will always be those on the Left who rage and rant against the evil force of capitalism and complain that it is destroying nations around the globe and effectively wiping countries off the map.  Unfortunately for market-friendly folk like myself, on the evidence of today’s news they are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

Of all the ways to get Wall Street out of this crippling economic crisis, I have to admit that I didn’t see THIS coming.

Dear Senator Christopher Dodd,
As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, you proudly announced yesterday that all parties had reached a “fundamental agreement” on the principles of a deal to bailout Wall Street to the tune of $700 billion and claimed “we are prepared to act expeditiously … and send a message to the markets.”  This is [...]