The Greatest Tory of all time…

Yesterday at the Conservative Party Conference Margaret Thatcher was voted the Greatest Tory hero of all time by a hefty margin. The former prime minister beat Sir Winston Churchill by 97 votes to 53 in a vote at a conference fringe meeting held inside the ICC secure zone. El Presidente was particularly pleased with the result… punching the air as it was announced!

Thatcher beat off other great Tories such as Winston Churchill, Edmund Burke and Benjamin Disraeli. However in the end the delegates decided that Thatchers personal courage and conviction, her achievements such as reviving the economy, transforming the opposition, becoming the longest serving PM of modern times, winning the Falklands against huge opposition and obviously being the first woman Prime Minister were too much to match.

Margaret Thatcher was, the panel decided, not just a Tory figure but a world figure. She commands huge devotion and indeed huge hatred however as the delegates rightly argued Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the greatest US President of all time was shot dead because he was so unpopular in some areas of America but he, like she, did what was neccessary and was right. She changed Britain, she changed the world and she is more than worthy of the title ‘Greatest Tory Hero of all time’.

In other news El Presidente finally got his chance to ‘have it out’ with Michael Hestletine. This was the conversation:

D’OD: Lord Hestletine, a few of us have just come back from a fringe meeting which voted Margaret Thatcher the greatest Tory of all time by a large margin. Do you not think given the fact that Thatcher still commands such respect and affection and the damage we as a party endured in the aftermath of her fall, that, in hindsight, removing her was a mistake?

Hezza: NO! It saved the party (tries to scurry off)

DO’D: With respect sir nearly 20 years of bitterness, anger, sleaze and disunity that arose from her fall hardly saved the party…it damn near destroyed it!

Hezza: I must be off

Update

Just to update you all blogging will be low over the next few days as the Conservative Party Conference gets in full swing. However we will be updating you as to our activites. Much has happened already and there is far more to come… keep you posted!

Quote of the Day

“We managed to put a few famous people on as well, including our own Guild President Jen Larbie and local Thatcherite Daniel O’Doherty.” (In regard to BULS’s Freshers Political Compass map)

Brown the Outsider

The figure of the brooding, solitary ‘outsider’, features large in the annals of political history. Indeed, not just in politics. In music, The Schubert Cycle opens with the words ’A stranger I come, a stranger I go’. And in art, Patroclus by Jacques-Louis David, depicts an introvert, naked man. 

The ‘outsider’ cast doesn’t fit all political characters. Although who saw Clement Atlee coming, or indeed Margaret Thatcher? Atlee was an inconspicuous, politburo man. Margaret Thatcher was a grocer’s daughter from an undistinguished Oxford College. 

Brown can also be cast in the ‘outsider’ role. In a revealing section of his Conference Speech Brown told his audience, “I did not come to London to become part of the establishment, I came to change it”. 

This reveals a self-awareness of his ‘outsider’ role. Unlike Tony Blair who embraced the establishment, or David Cameron who is related to it, Gordon Brown is conspicuously separate. 

At the beginning of Richard III, the Duke of Gloucester contrasts himself with a prominent member of the House of York, in a way that Brown might contrast himself with Blair or Cameron:

“He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber, To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. But I, that am not shap’d for sportive tricks, Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass; That I am rudely stamp’d, and want love’s majesty, To strut before a wanton ambling nymph; I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion, Cheated of feature by dissembling Nature, Deform’d, unfinish’d, sent before my time Into this breathing world, scarce half made up, And that so lamely and unfashionable, That dogs bark at me as I halt by them…”

Gordon Brown exudes none of the charm imbued by English public schooling, or the self-esteem afforded by Oxbridge, and he knows it. 

Consciousness of his ‘outsider’ role affects Brown’s behaviour. Unable to lord it, Brown shuns his audience and retreats into the shadows, while the critics pelt tomatoes at an empty stage.

Richard III continues…

“And therefore, since I can’t prove a lover, To entertain these well spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain, And hate the idle pleasures of these days…”

Freshers 2008

Well BUCF’s Freshers Fayre 2008 has officially finished. Sadly we were only able to have a stall for one day owing to some strained tensions between BUCF and the Guild of Students which resulted in late booking, strains which both sides are working to rectify in the coming weeks and months. The picture above shows a majority of the Committee, who remained behind afterwards to help with the clear up, looking rather ragged after what was a manic but enjoyable day.

Overall I would say that the day was a great success. Without sounding too optimistic, as all our new members and funds have yet to be fully counted, we feel that, by the end of our freshers festivities, we will have doubled our membership. We were also delighted to have a range of visitors to the stand including CF Birmingham, Solihull & Coventry Area Chairman Jimmy McLoughlin and YBF Christian May. We were also pleased to participate in an interview with the BBC’s Yvonne Murray full details of which will be made available soon.

I am also delighted at the response our Conference Drinks reception has recieved. As far as I am aware the Young Britons Foundation has added it to its list of the ‘best events in Birmingham’ and the National Executive Committee of Conservative Future has also recomended the event. What was set to be a quiet event looks set to become a hugely popular gathering.

I hope to see as many new and returning members as possible. Given our great showing today it seems that anything is possible. Sadly we didn’t take many pictures, owing to how frantic the day was, however the ones we did take have been uploaded to the ‘Past Events’ page.

Join BUCF 2008/9

Welcome to BUCF 2008/9

To all new and returning members welcome to BUCF 2008/9. Feel free to browse the site and review the archives for a wealth of blogs on a wide range of issues. BUCF prides itself on its active and highly successful blog which will be up and running again after the Freshers festivities! In light of it being freshers week I am delighted to update members on our planned events for the coming weeks:

Freshers Fair – Friday 26th September, 10am – 4pm

Throughout this week members of BUCF and the BUCF committee will be around campus in order to encourage new members to sign up. The committee will make sure there are plenty of posters, flyers etc to keep everyone informed as to our movements. The focal point of the entire week will be our Freshers Fair which will be held on Friday 26th September in the large marquee behind the Guild of Students from 10-4. This is where all new and returning members can come to sign up for another year with us for just £5.

Conference Drinks – Sunday 28th September

As most of you will be aware the Conservative Party are hosting their annual Conference in Birmingham at the ICC which falls on the first week of term. Myself, Laura, Dom and others have acquired our passes for conference, however we will also be trying to ensure that as many members of BUCF are able to participate in what promises to be a thoroughly enjoyable event for the party and for Birmingham. At present we have our honourary President and Conservative Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin confirmed to attend and we are hoping for many more local MP’s to join us. Full details can be found on the facebook group.

BUCF Drinks – Sunday 5th October, 7pm – late

The Committee has reserved the private function room of the Bristol Pear for our first event to officially welcome all new and returning members. This event will naturally be exclusive to BUCF members with the first few drinks being covered by the society with the generous support our local Conservative associations. Formalities and politics will be kept to a strict minimum… this event is to try and get everyone re-acquainted and show that a political society can be about more than just politics! Again register on the facebook group.

BULS/BUCF Football Match – TBC

The Committee is currently in discussions with the Chair of Birmingham University Labour Students about the prospect of holding a Conservative-Labour football match. The Conservatives were battered 8-0, or something tot hat effect in the last match however we will be unveiling a new starting line up for the game against Labour. Given the thrashing the Tories are giving them politically it would be brilliant to paste them on the pitch! Full details will be announced closer to the time. However we do expect that this event will be held early in the term.

                   

Quote of the Day

“The greatest good you can do for another is not to share your riches, but reveal him to his own”

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli

What if…

As the Presidential polls in the US edge closer and closer one has to wonder… what will happen if the Presidential Election result is split with each candidate securing 269 electoral college votes each? As always this election will be decided in the swing states. Obama and McCain can make the best speeches of their lives however if they don’t get the swing states… they don’t win the election. California will never vote Republican… Texas will never vote Democrat… at least not in this election so as the the map below shows each candidates are guarenteed at least 150-200 electoral college votes each.

The totally safe and likely states for Obama amounts to 200 electoral votes whilst for McCain, the total is similar at 174. Leaning to Obama at present are Iowa, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, bringing the Democrat to 222 while adding the Republican leaning states to his total, McCain has a slight edge for now in Florida, Missouri, and North Carolina, which would push him up to 227. That leaves in the toss-up category seven states with a total of 89 votes: Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The Swing States.

In 2000 and 2004 both Michigan and Pennsylvania went to the Democrats and given the momentum behind Obama’s campaign it is likely 2008 will be no different. This brings Obama to 260 just 10 short of the required 270 to win the White House. Colorado, Ohio and Virginia however are all up for grabs. Whilst they have generally voted Republican opinion polls show Obama has a very good chance in one, two if not all 3 of these states. If he does it is GAME OVER for McCain.

Having said this is McCain carries the 3 as previous Republicans have and Obama carries the two remaining smaller states, Nevada and New Hampshire, then the dreaded 269-269 split becomes a reality. A split in the electoral college would be a disaster. All in all a tie is unlikely however it certainly gives one food for thought. Full details of how this race could pan out can be found here.

Quote of the Day

“The Russian’s said that I was an Iron Lady… they were right… Britain needs an Iron Lady”

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

Daily Bite: David Mili-bland

Today I decided I would watch a bit of the Labour party conference, after all everyone likes to watch a good comedy, and who should be at the podium but David Miliband. Percy pouter, aka Gordon Brown, could be seen clearly in the background keeping a watchful, and at times critical, eye on his wayward Foreign Secretary.

In his article in the Guardian earlier this year I thought that Labour might actually have a ‘leader with a spine’ in Miliband. No matter how it has been spun since, Milibands article was a blatant and direct attack on Gordon Brown, focusing on a future, which at least according to Milibands article, didn’t include Gordon Brown as his name wasn’t mentioned once. That ploy, to present himself as an alternative, backfired. Miliband then realised, as the polls continued to plummet, that it wasn’t in his interests to take over quite yet.

The display of unity that was put on today was at best hollow at worst comical. Even rabble rousing one liners like ‘These Tories are beatable’, ‘Labour are the party of equality’ and other such fantasies failed to bring the delegates to their feet. All in all David Mili-bland delivered nothing more than a safe and crowd pleasing speech devoid of solutions and rife with soundbites.

However it was interesting to note that there was an underllying tone in his speech that focused on Gordon Brown as ‘past it’. The complements that the Foreign Secretary lavished on the Prime Minister sounded like extracts from a forth coming political Obituary rather than his confidence in the PM to lead Labour today and tomorrow. All in all I think Brown will be satisfied. For now Miliband is out of the equation, he showed that he, at least now, doesn’t have the strength to lead Labour.

Ultimately Miliand was Labours only real leadership contender with a tiny glimmer of a chance. So I would say that Gordon is secure and it will be the electorate that eject him from Downing Street. The handshake at the end of the speech between David and Gor-liath looked uncomfortable and forced, with Brown unable to fully embrace Miliband who was attempting in vain to put his arm around the PM in a picture postcard display of affection. If Miliband is the best Labour have to hope for in a potential future leader… Tories… REJOICE!REJOICE!

Heroic Materialism isn’t enough

Daniel Cowdrill

Kenneth Clark, the art historian, summed up his BBC series Civilization (1978) by stating that, “The moral and intellectual failure of Marxism has left us with no alternative to heroic materialism, and that isn’t enough.” 

Put another way, materialism doesn’t have what it takes to hold society together. This is perhaps evident in the causes of the recent credit crunch. Materialism has, once again, proved insufficient.

David Dimbleby claimed in the BBC series How We Built Britain (2007), that the steel and glass houses of commerce are today’s cathedrals. Lord Clark would have disagreed profoundly. The Church has enjoyed a level of success at holding society together that capitalism can only dream of.

The shortfalls of materialism are familiar to Conservatives. Through Disraeli’s One Nation Toryism, Arthur Balfour’s Retaliation, Joseph Chamberlain’s civic gospel, and Harold Macmillan’s middle-way (to name a few), Lord Clark’s critique that heroic materialism “isn’t enough” is recognisably Conservative. The limitations of materialism are also central to any understanding of the ‘Compassionate Conservatism’ of the early 21st Century.  

For Thatcherism too, materialism was not enough, far from it. Thatcherism was not motivated by heroic materialism and it was rarely couched in such terms. The pursuit of material wealth was only part of a wider notion of civil society, in which materialism interacted with and accommodated other elements of civil society. 

David Willetts, a former member of Thatcher’s Number Ten policy unit, explains that Thatcherism had “a broader civic goal”. “Civic Conservatism places the free market in the context of the institutions and values that make up civil society.”

In fact one of Margaret Thatcher’s main assets was her profound belief in civil society. Instinctively she was able to lend moral conviction to the government’s economic reforms, expressed in terms of civil renewal. 

Cameronite Conservatism, Thatcherite Conservatism, Heathite Conservatism and so on, have at least one major thing in common: a justified scepticism of heroic materialism and a need to contain it in the broader context of civil society. An emphasis on materialism cannot form the centre of a social fabric.

Quote of the Day

“You’ve taxed too much, borrowed too much and are a road-block to reform” (To Gordon Brown)

David Cameron, Conservative Party Leader

Lazy Sunday…

There is nothing better on a gloriously sunny Sunday than lazing in your garden with a bottle of red and a host of old classics playing in the background before tucking in to that hallowed British tradition: a Sunday Roast! This video in particular I thought was appropriate for our Daily blog… so enjoy!

Joke Blog

The Politics of Hate

Call me naive, but I believe that most people join political parties to serve the greater good. So imagine joining a party and then to be told or have it implied that membership of that group involves hatred of another group – some of whom you count amongst your friends. A former Labour councillor – who happens to be a friend of mine – is struggling with this conundrum – she doesn’t think that being a Labour supporter means you have to hate the evil Tories.

It doesn’t take much digging around to illuminate the fact that the “All Tories are evil” mantra is more than an isolated position from the governing party. Even if you can ignore the fact that Labour has enacted legislation that means that asserting similar generalisations about other groups could land you in prison or that the observation that stoking pathologies is ethically despicable, I think that in the UK this Mugabe-esque strategy is political suicide.

Even if a substantial number of ‘natural’ supporters sign up to the philosophy of hate and all it implies (and given that people tend to base their opinions on their own, this is a big if) to the floating voter this strategy smacks of an organisation that has given up trying to win the intellectual argument. The effectiveness of Labour’s Crewe & Nantwich campaign was a case in point.

From the Tory point of view, Labour’s strategy has plenty of spin-off benefits. Paranoid Labourites attacking each other for not displaying sufficient loyalty or engaging in pointless witch-hunts must be helping the wider Conservative cause. For the record, I hate what Labour have done to this country and am astonished at the residual support for Labour, but Tories won’t succeed by sinking to Labour’s level and allowing ‘hate campaigns’ to be part of mainstream political discourse. Please join me on the unite against hate campaigns group on facebook.

Quote of the Day

“I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”

Former French President Charles De Gaulle

Daily Bite

“Sixty years of totalitarianism and the secret police have left the Czechs scarred. The longer I lived in the country, the more firmly I renounced any leftist idealism I may have had lingering from my university days. Communism is a shocking thing. The more control the state has over your life, the more miserable and frightened your life will be.”

Australian born and Prague-based author Rachael Weiss. Her debut book – ME, MYSELF AND PRAGUE An unreliable guide to Bohemia (of which I have a copy) is reviewed here including contributions from the author.

Theresa May 4 Equal Pay

Today marks the launch of Shadow Commons Minister Theresa May’s campaign ‘Theresa May for Equal Pay’, which she has founded in order to raise awareness at the staggering and unfjustifiable pay gap between men and women, which in some cases is as much as 17.2%.

The campaign, aimed especially towards young people, is shown with the launch of a Facebook group ”Theresa May for Equal Pay” which also includes a collaboration with TVs June Sarpong and her recently launched website ‘Politics & The City’. According to the group in December an Equal Pay and Flexible Work Bill will be debated in the House of Lords which it is hoped will correct the gaps between men and women.

Gender pay difference is a cross party issue that affects women from all backgrounds and all pay brackets. On average a woman will forgo an estimated £300,000 over her lifetime. In this day an age such a reality is totally unacceptable, and so I strongly appeal to all people, no matter what your gender or political affiliation to show your support to this campaign.

“No matter what political beliefs women have, fair treatment should be something we can all support.”

Quote of the Day

“What is conservatism? Is it not the adherence to the old and tried against the new and untried?”

Former US President Abraham Lincoln

Daily Bite

Conservatives across the country will be elated today to discover that our poll ratings have breached the 50% mark! The Ipsos MORI survey put the Tories on 52 per cent among those certain to vote, with Labour unchanged on 24 per cent and the Liberal Democrats down 5 to 12 per cent (despite Cleggs assurance the Lib Dems were heading for government!) The 28 point lead if produced in a General Election would give the Tories a landslide victory bigger than that of 1997 and plunge the Labour party in to obllivion.

The last time the Tories hit the halfway mark in any poll was in August 1988, a year after Lady Thatcher’s third general election win at the height of her popularity. The poll also found that the Conservative party was rated ahead of Labour on a range of key issues, with respondents saying the Tories have the best leadership and best understand the economic problems facing Britain.

What was interesting to note about the poll is the fact respondents suggested they are sympathetic to Gordon Brown’s plight, with over half saying they thought he was doing a reasonable job in difficult circumstances. This suggests Brown is not entirely to blame for the surge in Tory support. It seems that people have more confidence in the Conservatives to sort the country out… AGAIN!

Quote of the Day

“Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain”

Former US President John F Kennedy

BUCF Upcoming Events

The start of the new academic year is fast approaching and that hallowed University tradition of Freshers Week starts this coming Monday. As such I have decided to keep readers up to date about our upcoming events:

Freshers Fair – Friday 26th September, 10am – 4pm

Throughout next week members of BUCF and the BUCF committee will be around campus in order to encourage new members to sign up. The committee will make sure there are plenty of posters, flyers etc to keep everyone informed as to our movements. The focal point of the entire week will be our Freshers Fair which will be held on Friday 26th September in the large marquee behind the Guild of Students. This is where all new and returning members can come to sign up for another year with us for just £5.

Conference Drinks – TBC

As most of you will be aware the Conservative Party are hosting their annual Conference in Birmingham at the ICC which falls on the first week of term. Myself, Laura, Dom and others have acquired our passes for conference however we will also be trying to ensure that as many members of BUCF are able to participate in what promises to be a thoroughly enjoyable event for the party and for Birmingham. We are in the process of inviting members of the Shadow Cabinet to a special BUCF Conference Drinks Evening which will be held at a bar in central Birmingham. Full details of the event and which Shadow Cabinet Members will be attending will be posted to members after the Freshers Fair for security purposes.

BUCF Drinks – Sunday 5th October, 7pm – late

The Committee has reserved the private function room of the Bristol Pear for our first event to officially welcome all new and returning members. This event will naturally be exclusive to BUCF members with the first few drinks being covered by the society with the generous support our local Conservative associations. Formalities and politics will be kept to a strict minimum… this event is to try and get everyone re-acquainted and show that a political society can be about more than just politics!

 

 

Quote of the Day

“History will be kind to me. For I intend to write it”

Former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill

The Republic of Australia?

The prospect of the Republic of Australia is looking ever more likely after it was announced yesterday that Republicans now head both of Australia’s main political parties. Multimillionaire former merchant banker Malcolm Turnbull was named leader of the opposition defeating his opponent by 4 votes. This election comes after Former Prime Minister, Royalist and conservative John Howard, who led the country for over 10 years, was defeated in the General Election earlier this year by avid Labour Republican Kevin Rudd.

It is a well known fact that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s centre-left Labour government supports Australia becoming a republic by replacing the Queen’s representative in Australia, the governor-general, with a President. However by becoming a republic in all intents and purposes the formation of the Australian political structure would not change all that much. The President would be entirely symbolic in the same sense as the Queen is now however the only distinction is he or she would be Austrailian by birth.

Despite being a Republican, the new leader of the opposition Malcom Turnbull has stated that he would not push the republican issue until the Queen, who is more popular in Australia than the monarchy itself, had died. He states that to push for a referendum now would be pointless because the Queen remains personaly popular in Australia which resulted in the previous referendum, held in 1999, being decisively defeated.

However one cannot ignore the fact that Australia is one monarch away from becoming a Republic. I believe it is highly symbolic that for the first time republicans now head both the main conservative opposition and the government. As the Queen herself has said on many occasions: Australias future is for Australians to decide. We must respect that however much we may disagree.