Emergency Talks In Prague

Nicolas Sarkozy is paying Prague an 'emergency' visit to try to get the Lisbon Treaty back on the rails. He'll have his work cut out. Mind you, he's also holding a drinks reception at the French Embassy this afternoon so don't kid yourself that he's that bothered about the Lisbon Treaty hitting the wall.

I'd love to spend more time on the DD campaign in Haltemprice & Howden, but for now, I'll just share a few thoughts on a contest that is shaping up as not just a battle for liberty, but one against the Westminster village who condemn themselves every time they ask what David Davis stands to gain by his decision. My suggestions for the campaign are as follows.

1. Emphasis that David Davis is a moderate libertarian and that basic civil rights are the platform - it's not about extreme libertarianism or special interest groups. So it's not about drug-taking, prisoner votes or undermining professionals in positions of authority.

2. The campaign must be anti-Labour, but not pro-Conservative. That means no rosettes, no branded literature, no unprincipled concern for the impact on the polls. If I visit from the West Midlands I would like to travel up with non-Conservatives supporters such as Colin Ross or Dr Dave.

3. Someone should set up an online roll-call of those who have supported (and opposed) David's campaign. Let the record show who stood on both sides of the debate in the 2008 Battle of Haltemprice & Howden?

Over and out. Offline again for a bit.

We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made Of

David Davis' resignation isn't the moment when the mainstream meeja took leave of their senses, but it will be seen in that way. This episode is similar to the way that Labour failed on the economy far before the public acknowledged this self-evident truth. When I heard of his resignation I was rattled... for about 30 seconds. It is a political masterstroke. Politicians have a range of tools at their disposal, but no British MP has ever gone leftfield like this. For innovation, DD scores 10 out of 10.

2007 was a year when a raft of anti-democratic measures were proposed or enacted by Labour. The consequent news mostly ended up being chip paper. In 2008 David Davis made a stand. From ID cards to private coroner inquests, from 42 days to the bribes that helped force it through, Labour has disgraced our country. Regardless of who stands against him, Haltemprice and Howden 2008 will be a jamboree for liberty and freedom and I and many others will be there to make a stand. The political 'impact' is immaterial. I support DD and his stance on the issues upon which he is making a stand.

Having Like-Minded Friends

You're the best!!!

Where Next For Labour?*

*Due to its methodogy ICM generally overstates the Labour vote.

Time For A Break

To understand where we're at, this post-Crewe analysis is worth reading. Brown-bashing has in truth become a national sport - and he deserves it. Whether online, at the ballot box or even in Question Time audiences, the national mood is anti-Brown and anti-Labour. As a long-standing critic of the government, this is pretty gratifying stuff. Financially and morally bankrupt, the Labour Party has a choice between electoral oblivion and the blood-curdling task of finding someone willing and able to overthrow the most stubborn and self-righteous leader in recent Western history*. Re where they go next, Labour grassroots seem to be generating more heat than light over at Labour Home.

We are in different times, so it makes sense for me to have a little break before deciding what to do next. It seems likely that I will be in Birmingham for the near future, so if you have any ideas for political projects, please mail me at praguetory@googlemail.com. Have fun.

*Labourites may be interested to know that I have a 70 - 1 accumulator bet that comes in provided Brown leaves before the next general election. I also made a fair sum on the General Election that never was - I'm enriching myself on the back of Labour misfortune!

May

May 23

I couldn't have scripted a more ineffective Labour campaign if I'd been writing the election literature myself.



Gordon Brown and Steve McCabe are my heroes of the day.

May 22



May 21

Two Michaelangelo quotes.

'Faith in one's self... is the best and safest course.'

'The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we hit it.'

May 18

Something completely different. Kasparov telling it like it is.



May 12

It seems that in the one isolated spot where Labour won on May 1st, they can't take power. Hehe.

May 8

Outgoing Labour councillors and malcontent Labour MPs have been doing the Conservative Party an incredible service since the local elections. They've all been busy spouting myriad complaints about their party's leadership of the country. In the wake of poll losses this serves to make them look like hypocrites not martyrs and when Labour politicians are giving you reasons not to vote Labour why should the public at large. The result of this infighting - Labour's lowest ever poll rating. They are in a hole, but I think that after a pasting in Crewe the Labour Party will wake up and get more disciplined. can't see the Tory leader increasing further.

May 7

I'm caught in two minds whether to have a mini-break from politics or keep the momentum going. What I should be doing is trying to recruit new members to the party which should be like shooting fish in a barrel, but the Conservative social diary looks pretty full. Speaking of which, I'm looking forward to catching up with Maggie Throup and some of the Bromsgrove CF group at an event this Friday.

May 6

I want to say hi to Geoff V who based on his frequent appearances in the mybloglog avatar list on the left has been a most frequent visitor to my blog through thick and thin. I wonder what makes him return? (See comments for Geoff's reply)

May 4

On PoliticalBetting Labour MP Nick Palmer made the comment that Labour has kept the ‘Guardianista’ and ethnic votes but has lost the white working class vote. The results in Birmingham and my time spent campaigning there corroborate this theory. Take the seat of Birmingham Erdington, home of Sion 'Just Like You' Simon with a 10,000 and 30% majority from 2005 that doesn't even feature on any Tory target list.

Check out what has happened in the locals between 2004* and 2008 here.

Erdington Con 2678 (1441) Lab 1187 (1845)
Kingstanding Con 1296 (823) Lab 1376 (1585)
Stockland Green Con 1946 (1077) Lab 1874 (1746)
Tyburn Con 1125 (1016) Lab 1144 (1507)

Total Conservative 7045 (4757) Labour 5581 (6673)

* 2004 results in brackets taking the second placed Tory/Labourite in the all-out elections that took place then. CCHQ - it's time to select a candidate here.

May 3

My old friend Peter Smallbone won the final council seat in Birmingham Edgbaston. All 12 councillors in this Labour-held seat are now Conservative.

The full results for the Edgbaston constituency were:
Bartley Green Ward - Vivienne Barton - Con Hold Majority 2418
Edgbaston Ward - Deirdre Alden - Con Hold - Majority 1517
Harborne Ward - John Alden - Con Hold - Majority 1328
Quinton Ward - Peter Smallbone - Con Gain - Majority 376

A full on-the-spot report from Deirdre Alden our PPC in Edgbaston is here.

May 2

After a very very hard fought campaign all four seats in Northfield were won by Conservatives last night!! This means that there is now a full slate of Conservative Cllrs in Northfield.

The majorities are as follows:

WARD CANDIDATE MAJORITY
Northfield Les Lawrence 1308 CON HOLD
Kings Norton Geoff Sutton 853 CON HOLD
Weoley Eddie Freeman 598 *CON GAIN*
Longbridge Ken Wood 277 *CON GAIN*

May 1

Good luck to

Deirdre Alden
John Alden
Bob Beauchamp
Matt Bennett
Jenny Brewer
Nigel Dawkins
Eddie Freeman
Graham Green
Len Gregory
Andrew Hardie
Bob Harvey
Carl Husted
Maura Judges
Gary Sambrook
Derek Johnson
Sam Pearce
Peter Smallbone
Neville Summerfield
Geoff Sutton
Ken Wood

and any other Tory candidates tonight...

Update - those in bold won seats from Labour! Hip hip hoorah.

Disgraceful Labour Campaign In Crewe & Nantwich

Update 16 May

I'm going to Crewe. Here's something for the weekend.



Hat tip 4wd.

Update 14 May

Others 54 Labour 0 - luckily someone was keeping score over at the Grauniad. Labour's tax reversal is being dubbed the Crewe Cut. If only they could have put the bribe directly in the voters back-pockets, but I suppose the logic is that if you spray enough money around some of it will hit the mark. It seems that when Mervyn King said yesterday that we were at the end of the nice decade, he may have been right in more ways than one.

Update 13 May

Labour's managed it again. A party on the brink of bankruptcy has managed to spend a few billion on an a by-election. It's wholly irresponsible.

Tax cuts + increased borrowing = pre by-election bribe.

However, it would be hypocritical of me not to welcome the small (for now temporary) increase in personal allowances. I hope one day that extracting payroll taxes from people dependent on benefits - making them slaves of the state - will come to be seen as an absurd historical aberration & this panicked move by the government certainly shifts the political debate to the right. As the legendary free marketeer Mart Laar once reminded me in a speech, a highly effective way to reduce public spending is to starve the beast.

---

Visited the area today and apart from the preponderance of Tory posters that sums it up. I go into more detail here, where the good councillor host is bored and will not be taking further ridicule (everyone was laughing at him). Amusingly, the said councillor refers to this extraordinary article by the sub-standard Tim Hames where he sweetly urges the Tories to limit their majority at the next General Election.

Hames rightly gets a hammering in the comments, but I take especial issue with this quote.

'Conservatives... should instinctively support Mr Brown's (10p tax) reform.'

I know a lot of Conservatives and I know of not one who applauds Brown's tax trick. Apart from its regressive impact, no Tories would favour making the benefit trap even deeper which is one of the obvious side-effects of the doubling of tax on the lowest paid. A passing reader might mistake Hames for a simpleton, but I take the view that he is also a Labour sycophant trying and failing to dress up favours to the Great Leader as political commentary - he certainly has form. Guido is looking for dead tree targets. Hames is a nice juicy piece of low-hanging fruit.

Vote Conservative This Thursday

The national picture shows a Labour Party that can find £50 billion to prop up banks, but whacks the low paid for an extra £7 billion by doubling the tax rate for them. A government that tries to deny rights to the families of dead soldiers whilst indulging hardened criminals. A cabale that lectures on democracy, but won’t keep its referendum promise. But when you come to vote on Thursday, it will be for local representation. What Birmingham Conservatives have achieved is a microcosm, but worth repeating.

When Labour was kicked out of Brum in 2003 we had worsening council services, rising council taxes and behaviour from some of their politicians that would disgrace a banana republic.

Under the progressive partnership Birmingham council has risen from the indignity of being a zero star local authority to reach three stars whilst keeping council tax rises below the rate of inflation. We are holders of the ‘Cleanest City’ award beating 65 other cities.

Men and women of integrity, the current City Cabinet have hardly put a foot wrong. A vote against the Progressive Partnership that runs Brum offends common sense.

That Flag Does Not Suit You, Sir

Steve Bedser is one of the last Labour councillors in South Birmingham. In his election leaflet he has wrapped himself in the Union Jack in a desperate bid for re-election. This from the party that has brought us a decade of constitutional vandalism that has left us with a dog's breakfast devolution settlement that could tear the union apart.

April

28 April

On the doorstep.

"If you were a Labour activist I'd have given you a mouthful of abuse"

(pleading) "You have to get rid of them"

"Labour voters should be prosecuted for treason"

"Things have never been so bad. The country is being destroyed"

On the other hand, one woman put our leaflet in the bin as I passed it to her. I got her to retrieve it and give it back to me. lol.

26 April

Did you know that Conservatives are on average happier than Lefties? Makes sense to me. ;-)


21 April

Re the 10p tax rise, it seems I am a year and a month quicker on the uptake than the embryonic Labour rebels. Why does that not surprise me? Hammering the poor is bad enough, what really takes the biscuit is the way that Brown denies that this move made poor people worse off. He'd tell you the day is night if he thought he could get away with it.

19 April

Can't wait 'til the elections are over.

15 April

If I were a Labour activist, (stay with me, chaps) I'd be sick of defending Gordon. Over at Labour Home, after months of brassing it out and/or keeping their heads down, we finally see the first signs of honesty from Labour fans.

14 April

Something's bugging me. Obviously Mr Brown is struggling with popularity of late, but I don't like one particular developing narrative. That narrative goes like this. Labour has been in charge for a long time; now that the 'inevitable' economic downturn comes they will be punished at the polls. This lets them off the hook.

I'd prefer Labour to be seen to have failed and for there to be a general recognition that the trends that they have set in motion (family disintegration, softness on criminals, welfare dependency, bureaucracy, regulation, nannying, intrusion, higher public expenditure, appeasing extremists, cronyism, spinning etc) have been deeply damaging and need to be reversed.

So what the Conservative Party needs to do is more than just make the case that Labour have failed. Whilst emphasising that there is no quick fix we need to describe where we want to get to (cohesive communities, competitive business environment, safe cities, high quality of life) and describe concrete examples of what we propose to do to get there (e.g tax simplification measures, clearly explained welfare reforms, education programme etc).

In sum, not only do we need to make the argument that Labour have failed, but to present the case for change and show that we have the ideas and determination to deliver! That's how we will enthuse the electorate and bring about meaningful political and cultural change.

13 April

Been ill this weekend which has been a respite from work and campaigning - so I had a look round the blogs. Snafu is still churning out good stuff and wins the award for awkward questions.

Thinking about staying in Brum longer term at the mo. Oversupply of city centre apartments has its plus points. You can get something like this right in the centre of Brum for 695 quid a month (and undoubtedly less if I'm negotiating).

12 April

How do you think Einstein would play chess? Here's your answer.

9 April

I'm acting as the election agent for Sam Pearce who will be standing in the South Birmingham ward of Springfield for the Conservatives. Our first leaflet has been prepared. You can see it here. We're getting a team together to deliver our message to ward residents this weekend - which we'll make a sociable occasion. If you want to join us, mail me at praguetory@googlemail.com.

3 April

I watched Question Time in Birmingham with my parents this evening. Sarah Teather was truly risible. Sometimes I do worry about how you combat stupidity in political debate.

1 April

As some of you know, I am not actually in Prague or indeed Czech partly because of the local elections here. This is what I am missing out on. Politics meets chess. If I was there, I'd have paid the £3,000 to play Kasparov in the beautiful castle setting.

On a more serious note, I am watching Zimbabwe. Mirroring the nation, many Zimba blogs have died, but Still Here, Kubatanablogs, Eddie Cross and David Coltart are still going.