Put your questions to Theresa May

Short the UK

With Financial Armageddon just about to hit UK plc would it not be better for the Tories to lose the next election? I believe the party that wins will be destroyed by the Brown depression.

john miller

Why have Government ministers been able to spout the most outrageous lies over the last few months, effectively unopposed by the Conservatives? The Tories seem to lack a short succinct rebuttal that gives a voice to the feelings of the public.

Taxed to the Hilt

Now we are bust is it not time to resign from clubs that we can no longer afford e.g the EU

Joe

Are you married?

Verity

Why Theresa May? When did she get accorded astute political thinker status?
I would be no more interested in anything she had to say than I would be in reading David Cameron's opinions about anything.

Why not get Kenneth Clarke to share his thoughts with us?

Neil Turner

Everything has gone quiet on the EU Constitution at present. However, many feel that we have lost too much sovereignty to Brussels.
What will the Tories do to reclaim the powers that have been lost and restore Parliamenary democracy?

Rajesh

There has been a lot of comment about the Damien Green case and how this relates to MP's specific rights as the opposition.
I'm concerned that MP's are considering themselves a special case instead of considering the overall civil liberties perspective of such an overbroad law. Do you have any thoughts as to whether the law in general should be modified instead of MP's rights being clarified?

PayDirt

If there is an election soon, how is your party going to attract voters? There is much blame on these pages about Brown’s economic policies leaving the country poorly prepared for the global meltdown (financial rather than climate change as it has turned out) however I don’t think you can claim to have forewarned the country about a Brown boom and bust and show an example of where a C govt would have been that much different. On the Iraq war for example, only the LibDems can truly claim to have been against it, both C and L apparently were all for that adventure. On the global banking meltdown, no party is in much position to claim, and be believed, to have been able to avoid it. If it eventually comes to “helicoptering” money to shorten a depression, as some economists predict, is it not true that the likely recipients of the largesse will be the voters to attract? In other words how are you going to counter Labour’s likely promise to the electorate to give us all a nice windfall to spend?

Alice Keynes

You have recently launched your equal pay campaign and appear to be basing the "problem" on the fact that men earn 17% more than women. What figure do you think is more desirable?

Also, you have said that women earn 17% less than men, a clear contradiction to the previous figure, do you think that someone running a campaign based primarily on statistics aught to have a basic grasp of statistics?

Matthew

What is your attitude towards an opposition member of the front bench who, over the course of two years, regularly meets a civil servant, and receives confidential information from one of the Departments of State? Some of this information could be deemed to be in the public interest, some of it is opinion based or party political. The civil servant is obviously breaking the civil service code, but despite any misgivings about what he is asked to do as part of his job, has not approached his superiors in the approved way.

Should your party win the next election, would you be happy for an opposition front bench spokesperson to acquire information in this manner?

I appreciate that leaking has always been part of political life, but had assumed that anonymous brown envelopes were the usual method, not regular meetings between politicians and civil servants.

teledu

Do you trust the people?
If "yes" - give us a vote on the Lisbon Constitution, regardless of whether it has been ratified by the Irish. Better still, give us a referendum on EU membership. What are you politicians afraid of?

Jack R

Will the Tories reject Labour's Equalities Bill?

Nicholas

Do you agree with David Starkey that this Labour government has overwhelmed the democratic and independent traditions of parliament (traditions that should facilitate holding the government to account and protecting our freedoms) and transformed it into a legislative rubber stamp for its own political agenda? If so, what are the Conservatives going to do about it?

Time will Tell

You did us huge long term damage with the asinine "nasty party" remark.
What assurance is there that you will not do the same again and are you really satisfied with your own HoC performance?
Many activists are not impressed.
What can you offer the electorate that is of significant value?
Please, no platitudes.

Sebastian Friedman

Where do you stand on affirmative action?

Damien Vaugh

Boris Johnson announced the following £3 billion of transport cuts for London including;

●The Thames Gateway Bridge, running from Newham to Greenwich, costing more than £500million.

●The Cross River tram intended to ease pressure on the Northern line, costing £1.3billion.

●An extension of the DLR to Dagenham Docks, costing £750million.

●The Greenwich Waterfront Transit, a bus route linking the O2 Arena with bus and Tube stops and East London transit, costing £370million.

●The Croydon Tramlink extension, that would have reduced journey times between Croydon and Crystal Palace to 18 minutes, at a cost of £170million.

These cuts are deeply unpopular with commuters and Londoner's struggling with congestion and overcrowding and undermine London's ability to hold its place as a world class city to visit and do business in.

What can the conservatives do to persuade voters that they really understand the transport problems in London and are they prepared to insist that the Mayor invests in these essiential improvements in the transport infrastructure?

George Laird

Dear Ms May

Recently people have been saying we live in a fascist state under New Labour.

I saw this piece by Dr. Lawrence Britt and thought I would see if anyone would agree this has New Labour’s game plan written all over it. I have added to Dr. Britt's piece by way of comment directly below his definations.

Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

Gordon Brown preoccupation with Britishness? Labour Minister

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

Jack Straw recently wanting to deny human rights. Labour Minister

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

Jacqui Smith on Muslims, Labour Minister

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Gordon Brown in glamorising the army, Labour Minister

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

Gordon Brown and his catch phrase, hard working families, Labour Minister!

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

Peter Mandelson who uses the media to deflect criticism away, Labour Minister!

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

The entire Labour Cabinet.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

This one Labour has remained neutral or less pro active because of the trying to acquire the muslim vote.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling recently protected bankers bonuses, Labour Ministers.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

The entire Labour Cabinet.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

Down grading of courses by Labour Ministers!

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith, Labour Ministers.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

Gordon Brown and Jack McConnell, Labour Minister and ex Labour Minister exhibit cronyism beyond belief.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Gordon Brown ensuring the “Greengate” affair is kicked into the long grass.

Would you think if this was happening in another country, it would give cause for concern here?

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University