Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
For a party facing certain defeat at the next election, these Tories are strikingly upbeat. Osborne’s speech has put lead in their pencil, they sense—to use a phrase—that the über modernisers have been slain and the focus now is about lower taxes, Conservative values and none of this “nasty party” stick they have taken from
Steve Richards has just asked Osborne what he meant by “über modernisers” in his interview with me last week. Here’s his answer. “Some people who had urged modernisation on the party, not necessarily Conservatives, pick us up the moment we talk about law and order or other crucial issues…. We’re accused of lurching to the
I’m sitting in a George Osborne fringe event, where he’s being given the Parky treatment by Steve Richards from the Indy. He’s discussing his new tax on the non domiciles: a £25,000 annual charge. Won’t this turn them away, asks Richards. No, Osborne replies, the average non dom earns £100,000 he says, so £25k ain’t
Unlike the Labour conference, there is a bookshop here in Blackpool (what does that tell you?) and I have found a gem: The Little Book of Boris. It’s one of those compendiums Iain Dale edits, a collection of the man’s greatest aphorisms. Boris’s genius is splitting people’s sides, or making a devilishly complex point, in two sentences. No
The ice-breaker at the bars in Bournemouth during the Labour conference was “when will the election be?” Here in Blackpool, the conversation starter is “is it over for Cameron?” But unlike previous Tory mutinies I’ve witnessed, it’s being asked from concern, not malice. No one wants him gone. There’s encouragement at the tougher line he’s
Great to see Hezza back in the saddle, talking about the plight of British cities. But I’m not sure I agree with his analysis. The main problem, which he did not mention in his speech, is that in Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool and (yes) Blackpool, one in four is claiming out of work benefits. No wonder
William Hague has been given the task of Brown baiting. His speech went quite well until this bit: “After ten years of failure and disappointment, he cannot be the change the country needs.” There’s something strange about hearing this Ghandi ‘be the change’ patter put into Hague’s mouth. As I suspect he knows, the public
Given that David Cameron has given himself a tiny fund for tax cuts, I’m not at all convinced that cutting stamp duty should be his priority. Are first time buyers really going to think “I’ll vote Tory to save 1% off my home” when the flux of the housing market can take values up or
Just six weeks ago, David Cameron was enthusing to friends about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s speech to the Conservative party conference. The governor of California had been on the phone, saying how much he was looking forward to visiting Blackpool. It turned out that Schwarzenegger knew what he was in for, having toured England’s seaside towns during
A new map hangs in George Osborne’s office, showing the latest parliamentary boundaries for the next general election. It could have been designed to soothe the nerves of a Conservative party election co-ordinator, for it is dominated by Tory blue. A few tricks have been used to achieve this optical illusion. There is no Scotland,
I loved the Fink’s tracing of passages in Brown’s speech back to those of American politicians. But why stop at rhetoric? Brown’s policies are burgled from America too. He used to go to America for ideas in the way that Colleen McLaughlin goes there for clothes. Tax credits were a Clinton device. Sure Start nursery
My interview with George Osborne in tomorrow’s Spectator has caused much interest, particularly his contrasting of himself with the “uber modernisers”. This phrase has travelled so fast that a Cabinet member I just met for coffee in Bournemouth had already heard it. “A split story right before conference,” he grinned. “Just what they need. Osborne
Much discussion over what Ed Balls meant when he said that the “gamble” was to delay the election, not hold it now. What could he mean? The only interpretation being given is that he thinks his chances of winning will increase from the 11% lead of today. But I’d like to offer another one. Can
When I zipped through security, I knew something was up. The conference here is almost dead. The normal buzz of a Tuesday has vanished, even if Brown’s up for a soft focus Q&A with Mariella Frostrup tomorrow few are hanging around to see it. Alan Johnson’s NHS speech was underwhelming. David Miliband’s speech was full
Here’s a recap of the gossip around the bars last night.. 1. Early election: Perhaps Brown started this hare running to wrong-foot the Tories, then came to take it seriously himself. Now the hype is so big, that perhaps Brown can’t stop it and will look cowardly if he doesn’t go now. He’s leaning
As I type, a frustrated cleaner has just come in my room in Bournemouth. To my amazement, she’s English. We get talking about Brown’s “British jobs for British workers” mantra, and it dawns on me that she’s a living example of why it won’t work. She says she’s one of only three Brits in the
Was that it? Gordon Brown’s speech was no launch-pad for an election or anything else. It was competent and workmanlike but its shopping list of initiatives recalled his duller budgets. The NHS saved his sight, he says. Maybe so, but biographies of Brown tell how frustrated he was with years of duff advice from the
It will be, for Gordon Brown, a sweet irony. For years he has longed to address Labour conference as its leader. Now, when it is finally his turn, he can no longer do so — at least not in the way that he had foreseen. His mission is to stand at the podium in Bournemouth
It’s Sunday evening, and John Hutton has just come back from one of his regular weekend in Ypres. The Secretary of State for Business and Enterprise is an enthusiastic first world war amateur historian and is currently writing a play based on one of the stories he’s unearthed. It’s about John Elkington, a British colonel
I have just been telephoned by the BBC about my “interview with Margaret Thatcher” where she laid into David Cameron. Em, not quite. It was a comment of hers I reported in my News of the World column in April and repeated on Coffee House yesterday. It was picked up on ConservativeHome and ran in
