David Davis on the TRG Website

For sometime now, we have been working to help TRG members outside of London and the South-East access more of what the TRG provides. We have begun the process of recording some of our more important events and making them available online.

Here you can watch the Rt Hon David Davis MP, Shadow Home Secretary, deliver one of the TRG’s flagship annual addresses, the Macmillan Lecture 2008. David introduces his thoughts as chair of the party’s Social Mobility Task Force.

Please comment here!

Rt Hon David Davis to Give Macmillan Lecture

This evening, Rt Hon David Davis, Shadow Home Secretary, will deliver the TRG’s annual Macmillan Lecture for 2008. His subject will be social mobility and he will make the point that social mobility is currently at its lowest point for many years and will suggest practical actions that an incoming Conservative government could take to take the issue.

We are interested in what you think about the problem of a lack of social mobility. Do you think it even exists? If so, what would do about it? If you attend the lecture this evening we would also like to know your thoughts on the event.

So, get posting here!

The TRG Campaigns in Lewes

Yesterday, a group of TRG members joined local activists in Lewes, Sussex, for a campaign day in support of local candidate, Jason Sugarman.

Jason is attempting to overturn the majority of 8,500 held by Liberal-Democrat Norman Baker MP and if effort and natural ability are any guide, Jason should pull through at the next election! Key local issues involve parking within Lewes and the planned development of an incinerator plant in Newhaven.

The day started with Jason and his team of local supporters running a very professional-stall in Lewes market while the rest of us began a leaflet drop, which we kept working at until darkness fell. By the end of the day we had distributed the best part of 10,000 leaflets across Lewes and Newhaven.

Many thanks to all of those that made us feel welcome in Lewes, in particular, local agent, Charlotte Beaupere and Carola Godman Law, Chairman of Lewes Conservative Association, and all of those that helped guide us, drive us around and for providing lunch to some hungry TRG members!

This was the first time that we have worked to support local candidates like this, but the TRG hopes to take part in more events of this kind in future. The only problem is that there are so many good candidates out there, it is hard to know where we should go!

Whatever else we do, we wish the best of luck to Jason and all of the members of Lewes Conservative Association - we have every confidence you will be able to deliver a superb new member of parliament at the next election!

TRG and the State of the Union

To mark the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union, last night we held a debate on the state of the union, today. Our four speakers were each asked to put forward one idea for reforming the current arrangements and they were well placed to make suggestions. David Mundell MP spoke for Scotland, Nick Bourne AM for Wales, Dominic Grieve MP for England and Sir Malcolm Rifkind gave his unique perspective as a former Scottish Secretary now representing the very-English Kensington and Chelsea.

The audience vote at the end was perhaps not a surprise. They chose to adopt a policy of English votes for English laws through a grand comittee, sitting at Westminster and made up of English MPs.

And it was a good audience, numbering over 110 and they provided some great questions, too.

What was a surprise was the level of press interest. There were two film crews, a dozen print journalists that wanted to talk to members of the panel and Newsnight’s Michael Crick. Sadly, I did not managed to catch any news last night so I have no idea if anything was carried. If anyone saw us mentioned, please let me know and post a comment!

The event did at least make the footnotes on the BBC website with comments from Sir Malcolm and the Western Mail for Nick Bourne.

Two Down, Two to Go

Last night the TRG hosted two events, back to back. First off, Lord Hurd introduced his new biography of Robert Peel. He made the case for Peel as the first man to really deliver on the idea of One Nation. Disraeli may have had the finer way with works but it was Peel that delivered on them, not least by cutting tariffs on corn, timber and other basic goods, so that the masses could afford bread and other basic necessities more easily.

Lord Hurd’s address was followed by a book-signing and judging by the faces on the Politico’s staff, they managed to sell a good few copies, too!

We moved smoothly (!) from book-signing to the TRG-Mainstream reception. This was another well attended event with plenty of MP’s, MEP’s, businessmen, academics and ordinary memebers in attendence. The guest of honour was Oliver Letwin MP and Damian Green hosted the event. Oliver offered some insights into the policy announcements we can expect to hear this week. This is a crucial time for policies in the party and we will have to wait to see how this plays out.

It was also a joy, given previous experiences of recent years, to see that there were only a few people still in need of passes on the first night. The organisation of this conference does seem to have moved on somewhat, which is certainly welcome!

Thanks, as ever, to Clare and Tim C for putting these together. This was a good start for TRG@Conference 2007!

One final note… It looks like posts sent from my phone have slightly different formatting to the normal ones. Apologies for that. We will tidy those up when we can.

TRG@Conference 2007

As the Conservative Party Conference opens in Blackpool, today, I find myself flicking through the official handbook. It has the complete listing of main hall and fringe events. One name that keeps coming up is that of David Willets MP. He seems to have the most hectic schedule of any speaker at the fringe, this year. If you think anyone else is doing more, then let us know.

The TRG’s own programme for conference looks pretty impressive and I should stress that I don’t have much to do with organising these things, that is mainly down to Tim Crockford, our events committee chair, and Clare Whelan, our National Director, so thanks (in advance!) to both of them.

We are hosting “4 Days, 4 Events”, with speakers including Lord Hurt, Oliver Letwin, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Damian Green, David Mudell, Sayeeda Warsi, Nick Bourne, Dominic Grieve and others. It should all be informative and, hopefully, a lot of fun.  As things develop, we will try and get some things posted on this blog to offer the TRG’s perspective on the conference as it unfolds!

Just What is Cameron Thinking?

One of the photos taken at the TRG Summer Party has recently been passed on to me.

It has prompted one simple question: Just what was David Cameron thinking while I was talking?

Tim Crockford, seen lurking in the background of this photo has suggested that DC was ruminating on the nature of my beard. If that is the case, I suspect it is only because he was congratulating himself on his boyish good looks and the fact that he could never grow a beard as fine as mine.

However, I am sure that readers of this blog might prove to have more insight than either of us. Do you have any ideas as to what wheels might have been turning in the Cameron mind?

This is not quite a caption competition, but if there is a sufficiently funny or insightful suggestion, we may well be able to find something in the TRG office that we could send on!

The Macmillan Dinner with George Osborne MP

Last night was one of the bigger events in the TRG’s annual calender: The Macmillan Dinner. This year we were particularly pleased to be hosting the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP and George Osborne MP, the last Tory Chancellor and the next Tory Chancellor, together on a platform for the first time.

The event was held in central London with some 150 guests in attendance. We were very pleased to see many of our most loyal members there along with some new faces whom we hope to see again soon!

We thought it was all rather good, but then maybe we were biased! We’ll upload pictures and so forth shortly, but do post up your comments if you attended to let us know what you thought.

Update - 24 May 2007

Following the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity it is nice to see a reference to the Macmillan Dinner in the Spy column in the Daily Telegraph, today.

The Future of the NHS

Last night the TRG held one of our regular policy suppers for members. The guest was Andrew Lansley and the topic was what we need to do to save the NHS. We had an excellent discussion and Andrew was very good indeed and a couple of photos will appear on our Flikcr site shortly.

Our policy supper events are held in private and we do not publicise what is discussed. However, it was really positive to see such an important plank in the Party’s renewal dealt with so well. I confess that I have had my doubts in the past as to whether we would be able to make a success of placing the NHS at the heart of our agenda, but I am now convinced that we can.

There are significant issues, though. There are many complicated issues that need to be communicated to the electorate and that will take time, but we can do it and we should all feel confident that the NHS is safe with Conservatives.

Update: 25 April 2007

Lovely little piece on Nick Robinson’s Blog about  Tory’s being cheered by NHS junior doctors. If we have them on side, maybe we really can make the changes the NHS needs.

What is wrong with British Foreign Policy? Quite a lot, it seems

Tomorrow, Tuesday 3 April, sees the TRG launch a new publication, “What is Wrong with British Foreign Policy?”. We have drawn together several leading figures from public life to examine important aspects of the current system for developing foreign policy. This is a timely topic as Lord Hurd observes:

“Not since Suez has there been a time of such general anxiety and disappointment about our overseas policies. As we remember the Suez failure fifty years ago, some of the lessons are the same; it is just that our rulers have not learned them.”

The pamphlet will form part of our series, “Radical Ideas in the One Nation Tradition”. What makes this different is that each contributor has been asked to make a definite proposal to fix the problem they have identified.

TRG board member Tim Crockford, who edited the pamphlet, has done an excellent job in pulling together a first-class selection of authors:

- Rt Hon William Hague MP, Forward
- Rt Hon Lord Hurd of Westwell CH CBE PC, “The Trouble with Our Foreign Policy”
- Sir Christopher Meyer KCMG, “It’s the National Interest, Stupid”
- Rt Hon Michael Mates MP, “The Role of Intelligence in Foreign Policy Making”
- Rt Hon Sir Macolm Rifkind KCMG QC MP, “The Special Relationship”
- John Bercow MP and Victoria Roberts, “Welfare and Weapons”
- Dr Charles Tannock MEP, “Challenges for Europe”
- Rt Hon Lord King of Bridgwater CH, Postscript

In his article, Sir Christopher Meyer, formerly British Ambassador to the United States, argues for a revival of the British national interest as the defining rule of British foreign policy. He writes:

“It is increasingly fashionable to assert that globalisation has rendered the idea of national interest redundant… [This] is dangerous and misleading. It removes the indispensable foundation of British foreign policy…it’s time to get back to basics. Accept that there is such a thing as the national interest. Define it. Ask what advances it; and what damages it. Then construct a foreign policy around the answers.”

The publication will be launched at a reception at the Royal Overseas League in St James, London at 6.30pm on Tuesday 3 April 2007. Lord Hurd and Sir Christopher Meyer will be present.

All TRG members, Conservative Party Members and representatives of the press will be welcome but prior notification of attendance is required.

Given the high-level of foreign policy issues that dominate the news and political agendas at this moment, this publication is timely and I am extremely proud of the TRG for having produced it. It will be made available to all TRG members soon and will be on sale to the general public.

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!

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 Finds Favour With Students

Last night saw the annual Student TRG Parliamentary Party. For many of those attending, this was their first visit to Parliament and it is part of our ongoing efforts to help stimulate an interest in politics among young people. Some photos of the event, which was more social than serious, will no doubt appear in our Photo Album which you can browse by clicking here or in the box in the right hand bar on this page.

In recent years, the TRG has done particularly well among students, who make up more than half of our new members each year, representing a great cross-section of universities. I spoke to students from UCL, the LSE, Exeter, Durham, Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, Bath, King’s College London and Queen Mary and I am sure there were others.

It was also great to see a good turn out by Members of Parliament who did an excellent job of meeting as many of the attendees as possible. Regular TRG friends such as Ken Clarke, Damian Green, Lord Hunt, Ian Taylor, Tim Boswell, John Bercow and Charles Hendry were there along with some newer faces at our events such as Andrew Mitchell and Dominic Grieve.

However, it was Iain Duncan Smith who proved to be the star attraction. As the evening came to an end, he made several attempts to leave that were interupted by gangs of students who wanted to be photographed with him and there were clearly more who didn’t get their chance.

Thanks to everyone who came and to Clare, Tim C and Chris H who made it such a successful event - well done!