Should Marriage be Encouraged?

Should government policy encourage marriage? There is a lot of evidence to suggest that children who grow up in homes where both parents live and are married, are less likely to go to prison, get into drugs and are more likely to prosper at school and later in life. The Centre for Social Justice has done some excellent work in this area. They cite the following statistics:

If you have experienced family breakdown, you are:

-75% more likely to fail at school
-70% more likely to be a drug addict
-50% more likely to have alcohol problems
-40% more likely to have serious debt problems
-35% more likely to be unemployed

But is that enough to override the rights of individuals to live and bring up their children as they see fit and not be ‘punished’ for doing so?

For our monthly poll this April, we are asking a direct question: Should the government use tax breaks to encourage marriage?

Ken Clarke Lambasts Blair for Sofa-Style Government

The Conservatives Democracy Task Force, led by TRG President Rt Hon Ken Clarke MP, has launched a broadside attack on Tony Blair’s “sofa-style” government.

The attack comes as part of a report published by the Task Force that calls for a new ministerial code of conduct. The aim is to prevent further moves towards a Presidential-style system and a return to cabinet government.

Key among the proposals are:

-New ministerial code to clarify main responsibilities of the prime minister and secretaries of state

-Halving the number of special advisors and reforms to ensure the civil service is truly independent

-New rules on parliamentary decision making over decisions to go to war

The Democracy Task Force has previously called on the role of Scottish MP’s to be limited at Westminster by preventing them from voting on England-only issues.

Despite the name of the Tory “Reform” Group, and despite the fact that I am indeed its Chairman, I have been sceptical of some of the Conservative Party’s suggestions for reform of late. I have reservations about the move to a fully elected House of Lords and about the introduction of state aid for political parties.

But the recommendations by the Democracy Task Force are all truly worthy of support in all their dimensions: philosophical, moral and practical. Blair has turned the idea of parliamentary democracy at Westminster into a farce. Sadly, it looks like we will now have to introduce a set of rules to correct this anti-democratic trend now that Blair has trampled over the conventions that had served so well in the past.

Update - 28 March

There is an entertaining debate on this subject emerging on Iain Dale’s blog. Click here for more.

Modern Campaigning - CF Are Showing Us the Way

I was on 18 Doughty Street again last night.  One of the fellow guests was Mark Clarke, Conservative Future Chairman and recently selected candidate for Tooting. Mark has done a great job with CF and we talked before hand about the use of blogging and other on-line media in campaigning.

One example that impressed me recently was the short film by Matthew Scott of Bexley CF reporting on the selection process for the local Greater London Assembly candidate now that Bob Neill has moved on (up?) to the House of Commons.

Another example comes from what I saw at the Spring Conference last weekend. Two members of the TRG board who are also CF members, Chris Hampsheir and Richard Jackson,  both spent a huge amount of time tapping away on their phones. At first I thought they were just text messaging, but it turned out the were both blogging live from the conference for their respective university Conservative societies, Imperial College and UCL.

These are important new campaigning and communication tools and CF members are showing us the way it will all be done. Well done to them and I hope we will all follow soon!

TRG Wales Launch - Nick Bourne AM Becomes a TRG Patron

Yesterday might have been important to the country as a whole because of the budget, but it was also an important day for the TRG given that this was also the occasion of the launch of TRG Wales.

My personal thanks goes to Lee Summers, our inaugural convener for TRG Wales, who pulled the event together from our end and to all of those at the Welsh Assembly who made us feel welcome.

For the TRG, the purpose for forming TRG Wales is two-fold. The first is a response to the growing support for the TRG, and the Conservative Party as a whole, that has taken place over recent years, much of it thanks to Nick Bourne AM, leader of the Conservatives in the Welsh Assembly, who also became a TRG patron on Wednesday.

Nick said, “I am extremely honoured to become a Patron of the Tory Reform Group. I believe the philosophy and policies of the TRG chime precisely with the ‘One Nation Conservatism’ that David Cameron has been setting out to such brilliant effect.”

The second reason is to open up a channel from Wales into the rest of the TRG and the wider Conservative Party. I learnt a lot during our reception at the Welsh Assembly about the scandalous gerrymandering that has taken place there recently as well as the need for more help from the centre for Welsh Conservative activities. The shadow cabinet will visit Wales on Friday and over the weekend, I understand, and we would urge them to consider the highest level of practical support for the party there in the run-up to May’s elections.

Why Wales Matters to the Whole Country

The UK media has long said that the Conservative Party is condemned to be the party of England, with not chance of meaningful representation in the rest of the UK. Well that is no longer the case. The Conservatives in Wales stand a realistic chance of assuming a share of power in a coalition administration after the coming elections. There is therefore a chance to show the whole of the United Kingdom the transformation in attitude and fortunes that we have undergone. The message that such a victory, or share of a victory, that such a result would represent would be immense and would shake the Labour Party to its core.

The Conservative Party can once again reach out beyond its heartlands of London and South East of England. The TRG has led the way in showing how this can be achieved. Now the whole Party needs to follow that lead. We must do everything we can to help Nick Bourne and his colleagues in the Assembly elections in May and we wish them the very best of luck!

Here’s The Money… Oh, No, It’s Not…

In all of the coverage of the Budget over the last 24 hours, it is hard to find something new or different to say. But perhaps there is just one more example of Brown’s shameless attempt to grab a false headline that is worthy of note.

Essentially, Brown announced more money to encourage carbon neutral home building. However, as a friend of mine, who works in renewable energy and is therefore effected by this, has pointed out, the DTI has said that it will not be distributing that money just yet, after all. This is because it does not know how it should be allocated.

Expect that one to end up in the long grass along with the other tax cuts that will not take effect for over a year.

Update: The BBC have now started to report this, too. See here.

Progressive Tories Fight Against Slavery

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about how the Tory party should be proud of what we have achieved at some points in our past. The example I used was the intervention we made in Liverpool after the Toxteth riots 25 years ago.

But there are bigger interventions of which we should also be proud and should not be afraid to point to when challenged, as Tories often are, to give examples of how they have advanced the cause of human well being. One such example is the abolition of the slave trade two hundred years ago; a campaign led by a Tory, William Wilberforce.

Yesterday, in celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the Act passed to outlaw the slave trade, the House of Commons debated the motion once again and William Hague MP, who is in the act of writing a biography of Wilberforce, spoke with a detailed knowledge of the topic that is often seen to be lacking in Parliamentary debates.

The enforcement of the Act by the Royal Navy around the World throughout the early nineteenth century provides another valuable example, this time of the notion that despite the damage done in Iraq, foreign intervention can be justified and when carried out correctly yields results of which entire countries can be proud.

These are not lessons that should be consigned solely to history books, where we know Tony Blair is unlikely to see them.

As David Davis MP, as shadow Home Secretary, and Damian Green MP, shadow Minister for Immigration, laid out in January, the problem of modern-day slavery and people trafficking remains and, sadly, appears to be worsening.

According to Conservative Party figures, between 700,000 and two million women and children are trafficked across international borders every year. There were an estimated 4,000 victims of trafficking for prostitution in the UK during 2003 at any one time. 60% of illegal immigrants resident in the UK arrived in the UK illegally, the majority in the back of a lorry, in conditions reminiscent of the slave ships Wilberforce condemned to the past.

But this Government has shamefully failed to act with the convictions that Wilberforce embodied. There were only 30 convictions for trafficking offences in 2004 to 2006. To date no convictions have been achieved for trafficking for labour exploitation.

The Conservative Party has outlined a number of proposals to tackle the problem. First among these is to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 2005, which Blair has so far failed to do without explanation.

The campaign to end present day slavery is now being led by the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission who had an excellent stand at the Spring Conference last weekend which attracted many signatures of support, including George Osbourne MP, William Hague MP and mine (surely the one that will swing it!).

This is a campaign that every reforming and progressive Tory should support. Their petition is not yet on-line but you can register for more information.

Sign up on their site now.

Thatcher: The Movie

It seems that the BBC is planning a movie about Lady Thatcher during the run up to the Falklands War.

This was an exciting period with plenty of human and political drama, so it could well be ripe material for a good film that would show many of the then PM’s finest qualities. However, the question remains of who would be best placed to play the Iron Lady.

We would be interested in your nominations - and before anyone else says it - Helen Mirren is the first name on the list.

But who else? Please post a comment here with your suggestion and we will sift through them and come up with the TRG’s recommended choice!

Positive Feelings for the TRG at the Conservative Spring Forum

Several members of the TRG board travelled up to Nottingham for the Conservative Party’s spring forum this weekend.

I have to say that, in general, I thought this was a pretty good event. The venue and organisation were well done and things went smoothly - in stark contrast to the debacle at Bournemouth last year. The speeches were in line with what was expected and did a good job of rallying the troops prior to the May elections and outlining some of the new policy initiatives that are starting to emerge from the long process of deliberation.

What struck me most though, was the positive atmosphere. It may not have made much news to say that the vast majority of attendees were actually pretty happy with the way things are going, but that seemed to be what people I spoke to were saying. On topics such as the leadership, opinion polls and and new policies, there seemed to be a sense that everything was going in the right direction and more of the same is required. From a TRG perspective, I did not encounter one negative voice speaking against the core values and ideas that we advocate - all pleasing stuff.

Our own TRG event also went pretty well. It had started out as a plan for five or six of us to meet in a pub on the Saturday evening. We actually had about 120 people join us for a drink at some point, including our President, Ken Clarke MP, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Michael Gove Policy Supper

On Monday 19 March, the TRG will be hosting one of our regular policy suppers for members. Sadly, Michael Gove MP, who was due to be our guest, has had to pull out due to ill health. We would like to send our best wishes to Michael for a speedy recovery and hope that we will be able to invite him back to address the TRG in the not too distant future.

We are pleased to be able to say that the Rt Hon David Curry MP has been able to step in and we look forward to welcoming him on Monday night.

TRG to Launch in Wales

Everything is now set for the launch of TRG Wales next week.

The TRG has long been successful in finding support beyond the traditional Tory heartlands of the South East of England, and the launch of TRG Wales, together with TRG Scotland which was reconstituted last year, is a response to that. We hope that TRG Wales will arrange events in the principality and help support party activities such as campaigning for the Assembly elections in May.

The launch of TRG Wales will be marked by a reception at the Welsh Assembly building on the evening of Wednesday 21 March.

We are keen to make this an open event. While many TRG members and other Conservative Party activists in Wales will be concentrating on campaining, those who are able to spend an hour or two with us to mark this historic forst for the TRG will be very welcome.

Anyone interested in attending should email Lee Summers, our board member with responsibility for Wales, via: wales@trg.org.uk

Mercer Told to Walk

Patrick Mercer has been sacked from the front bench by David Cameron for making comments that some might perceive to be racist.

Now I suspect I am not going to be alone in saying that my sympathies here are with Patrick Mercer. I did not read his comments and think they were racist. The men that used to serve under him in the Army have, without provocation, come out in support of him saying he was scrupulously fair as a commanding officer.

The comments were probably unwise, though. However, that should not be allowed to get in the way of the fact that there was probably a great deal of truth in what he had to say about army life and we should listen. At the present time we are making more use of the army than we have for a generation and we are shockingly short of experience of army life among the politicians who issue the instructions. When someone with Mercer’s experience speaks on these topics, note should be taken.

While I understand Cameron’s reaction and the need for the party to make sure there are no mixed messages, when the dust has settled I hope that room will be found for Mercer and a return to the front line of politics.

Brown Can Take the Pain

People have often commented that there is something wrong with Gordon Brown. Now there is proof that he is mad.

Gordon “I am so manly” Brown has, it seems, had his teeth drilled without anaesthetic. Now, he might want to prove what a hard guy he is (perhaps he is after the same part of the female vote that David Davis’ SAS past seems to attract) but I think this is just the act of a madman.

With luck, he is not just attempting soften us up with a display to explain how he sees the NHS coping with the next round of cuts in front line services.

Leaving Bosnia - Relief for the Welsh on St David’s Day

Today is St David’s Day.

Fitting then, that it is the Welsh Guard that who are the subject of the very positive news that the UK is to pull most of our remaining troops in Bosnia out of the country. Total numbers will be cut from 700 to 100. Most of those that remain will

Speaking on BBC News 24, today, Col Bob Stewart, former UN Commander in Bosnia, said, “We could have done better, but we haven’t done badly.”

It is clear, though that we should learn lessons from the Bosnian experience. Top of his list was the need to “move fast, do not sit on our hands.” It is interesting to note that Paddy Ashdown made the same observation not so long ago, although Blair and Co do not have seem to be listening when it comes to current overseas operations.

The troops went for six months after the Dayton Peace Accord was agreed. They ended up staying for twelve years.

Yet, there are still things to do. There are several indited war criminals that have yet to be captured, for example. But it is encouraging that the Bosnian and Serb authorities are now strong enough to stand on their own and it is credible when they claim that they will be able to accomplish these tasks.

We must remember these lessons for future situations, benefiting from where we got it right as well as where we have made mistakes. There are circumstances when it is right to intervene militarily overseas for purely humanitarian reasons. It is what happens after that intervention that need to be calculated more accurately in future. Such lessons must be learned.