Seems Ralph is quite the chatterbox...

Well there is no going quietly for Ralph "ever heard of UKIP?" Buckle. The now very expelled former chairman of York University Tories is back with a new blog, rather appropriatly named

Tory Outcast

.

Many out there would expect Ralph to have gone quietly, let the dust settle and come back in a year or two once everyone had forgotten about it all. It seems, however, that Mr Buckle is enjoying his new found freedom. Although TB doesn't agree with the some what

tin foil hat inspired posts

on the blog so far, it will no doubt make for interesting reading in the next few months. Always best to have these sorts pissing out of the tent rather than standing on the sidelines pissing in, but hey...

Bit late for that now.

How does this work?

This delightful bit of spam managed to get past TB's filters. Starts off all polite and everything...

Dear Esteemed Customer,

This is an important Barclays bank security Message .

We Recently reveiwed your account, and suspected that your Barclays Ibanking Account,
may have been violated from another IP.
Protecting the security of your account and of the barclays bank network is our primary concern therefore,
as a preventive measure,we have temporarily limited your access to sensitive account features.

To restore your account access,please take the following step to ensure that your account has not been compromised.

1,Login to your barclays bank internet banking acconut.
and you will have to fill in all required information.

2 Reveiws your recent account history for any unautorized withdrawers or deposites,
and check your account profile to make sure no changes was made.
If any unauthorized activities has been made ,report to any barclay bank close to you.

Kind regards,
Barclays Bank Plc

There was then a link to follow to "log in". The bold highlights were added by TB but seriously though, who would fall for that?

Anyone who received that email and then felt the need to divulge their bank details deserves to be robbed as they clearly have more money than sense.

Tory Bear's new office...

Home sweet home...

TB could get used to blogging al desko...

Gordon's alive...

There has been much talk this week of Macavity Brown laying low and hiding because the going is getting tough. This was one of his favourite tricks as Chancellor, but funnily enough people begin to ask questions when the Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, the leader of a nation, the first amongst equals, is not seen in public for days on end. However panic not loyal subjects, the dear leader Kim Yong Broon is in fact alive and well... Well... not that well.

Instead of focusing on the economy, or dragging the reputation of Parliament out of the mud, dear old Gordo decided to meet some young movers and shakers in order to discuss that burning political issue - votes at 16. Via the excellent, yet sorely deluded blog of

NUS President Wes Streeting

, TB was much relived to see that Gordon was alive and kicking:

...and no doubt throwing mobile phones after tonight's polling data.

Apparently he is making an appearance on the Andrew Marr program tomorrow morning, and about bloody time. Given that it is now 2am, TB doubts very much that he will be awake in time, but it should be an interesting show given that recent data suggests that Labour could finish behind

a jumped up pressure group

in the Euro polls, and behind the most

ridiculous group of tits

in the General.

Shall we have a guess? "UKIP is a problem that started in America..."

Don't fight it...

LabourHome

executive editor

Mark Hanson

has an

interesting little piece

on LabourList about the fact that Labour have started inviting bloggers to their lobby and press briefings. Now granted ConservativeHome have had a presence at pretty much every political speech or event TB has been to, this is, however, a bigger step in embracing the fact that new meeja is actually where it's at.

"There have been ripples of curiosity in the blogosphere about the decision by Labour’s press team to include bloggers in the daily briefings being given to journalists in advance of the Euro elections.

Jack Straw did one on crime and constitutional affairs on Wednesday with Ed Balls on Children, Schools and Families the following day.

I went along to the Straw session, held at 39 Victoria Street and this is how it went:
It was billed at 10:45 for 11am start but Straw was late, keeping everyone waiting in the holding room for about twenty minutes!

He then did a 5 minute summary of the choice facing the electorate on law and order. We’d all been handed an A4 document beforehand with Labour’s achievements on crime down one side and the Tories shortcomings on the other and his talk was a summary of that.

Unlike on the West Wing or at the PM’s monthly press conference, it isn’t a free-for-all in terms of asking questions. Basically Labour’s press team have a list of attendees and each one is called out and offered the chance to ask one question plus one follow up. I couldn’t work out what order people journalists were asked.

There were about 20 press from the lobby/home affairs beat, so that meant 40 questions about law and order…..er no, about 6 questions about crime and the rest about MPs expenses."

Without wanting to sound like a complete geek and waffle on about blogging and bloggers own self importance, TB would just like to say that the Tories really need to up their game and get involved in this sort of thing. Without the slow process of cutting down trees, making paper, printing on said paper and then driving these bits of paper around the country, bloggers can get a story out in seconds. Surly this is something that any party media machine needs to realise and whether they like it or not, should attempt to embrace. In other words... any chance of a lobby pass?

Oh go on... TB promises he will be good.

Yo yo, one time...

Now TB would normally suggest that amateur rap and politics is never going to be a good combination, but once you get over initial wtf!?!? and mild cringe, there is something remarkably catchy about this little video from a couple of young conservatives across the pond:



Our very own

Young Conservative

suggests that TB has a go at creating a British version. Tory Bear isn't sure his street credentials are quite high enough to be able to pull this off, however, any CF hacks out there agree that Owen Meredith and Christian May bare a remarkable similarity to these two? TB's card would be behind the bar if they can be persuaded...

TB canvass bags up for grabs for your own video submissions.

A change of heart?

OF all the vicious "cyber nats" out there,

Advanced Media Watch

is the only one that Tory Bear ever really gives more than the occasional glance. These web-based nationalist fighters often get into pretty vile scraps with Labour, ones that make TB look tame. TB is 99.8% sure he knows who runs AMW, although they have been very careful to protect their identity, they have left all sorts of obvious clues all over the blogosphere.

However outing anonymous ranters aside, it does always make TB chuckle when someone leaves himself open to such easy attack. AMW has castigated and shat upon the very concept of the union between England and Scotland for months now and is often blind in his loyalty to the SNP local administration across the border. However, what is the one thing that will bind even the hardest of cyber-nats with his unionist brothers in arms? What one event can bring the people of this grand archipelago together in unison?

Britain's Got Talent of course. How refreshing to see the Union Flag flying proudly on AMW's blog.

How proud TB was to hear AMW hype himself into a frenzy about how fantastic the program was, and although he was rooting for the Scottish acts, Mr AMW is clearly a big fan of the people of this island coming together for competition and entertainment. Perhaps it's time for AMW to open his eyes and look a little further beyond reality television and look around at how Scotland and England united is a something to admire not just on ITV.

No doubt with the passing of BGT the petty racism and romaticised, farcical, deluded nationalist dream will be back with a vengance soon.

Tory Bear has finally ventured from the north and it's already looking set to be a great summer. London, New York, Washington and even a cheeky few weeks in France. The blog has suffered a little this month through exam hell and post exam carnage, but fear not, TB is back and has big plans for the next few months. Anyway, in a tradition that slipped slightly in the last few weeks, here is a peek at some must reads from the Sunday papers:

• "A white man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw, Latina woman racist should also withdraw." The Telegraph reports on the Obama's latest mess.

• Carla Bruni's ex is now an advisor to Sarko according to The Times. Still no sign of that sex tape.

• David Miliband isn't very subtle in raising his flag in the NOTW.

• The Telegraph reports tht Labour have slipped behind the Lib Dems . Could Nick Clegg really be the next Leader of the Opposition?

• And finally... according to The Times... IT'S BALLS.

It's the little changes that will matter...

Hats off to

Craig Elder

and co at the CCHQ online campaigning team. They have just launched a Facebook app where you can give over your FB status to the tories who can use it to push links and remind people to vote in the run up to next week's elections. This is textbook Obama/McCain and it's looking like the Tories will be leading the battle in the first ever web dominated General Election.

Brown gets a frosty reception

Apologies for the lack of blogging today, TB is attempting to pack up four years of accumilated junk into ikea bags and boxes. Not as much fun as it sounds.



Classic stuff from the great

Tory Politico

.

Liberal Hissy Fit.

Oh how the mighty fall. There is no greater pleasure than seeing a Lib Dem show their true colours. Of all the pious and holier-than-thou sandal wearers, no man has the ability to wind people up more than London Liberal Youth's Campaign Coordinator Edwin Loo. This is the man that threatened to to sue London Conservative Future over the apparent theft of a policy idea and is not one to cross, apparently.

Well these Liberals aren't as fluffy and nice as they pretend to be. Much to Tory Bear's amusement Mr Loo went on a furious tirade last night on the

Liberal Youth Forums

allegedly threatening physical violence towards a fellow activist. Did anyone get a screen grab before the post was taken down?

There are conflicting accounts of what actually happened but Mr Loo tonight admitted to losing his temper and threatening to throw a drink at Liberal Youth trouble maker in chief Sara Scarlett. This is what the post mentioned after it was edited, twice.

Typical wishy washy Lib Dem - can't even decide what threat to use.

Send Hannan to Westminster.

Bracknell, Bromsgrove, Congleton, Gosport, Macclesfield, Norfolk South West, Skipton and Ripon, Sleaford and North Hykeham, Totnes, Woking.

All these ultra safe Tory seats are now up for grabs.

Someone call Dan Han.

Totty Watch: Libertits edition.

TB was warned by a concerned friend, apparently in the know, that he is on "thin ice" with his defence of Ralph Buckle. Well hopefully this won't get him into further trouble.

Libertas

, a party with a more coherent and stronger eurosceptic position that the Conservatives, in case you were wondering, have hired Page 3 girl Amy Diamond who apparently is very concerned about the over burdening European super state:

Now there's a way for a minor party to get attention.

Ralph speaks...

University of York
Wednesday, 27th of May 2009

Dear all,

As you may know I was suspended from the Conservative Party for writing a
column in an article which was

published

in Nouse, a student newspaper at the
University. I would like to apologise to the membership of the University of York
Conservatives. The article was published in my role as Chairman rather than from
my own personal perspective. I should have been more aware of that and for that I
am sorry.

First and foremost I will not be joining UKIP. The Conservative Party still has my
full support. While their decision to expel me has been described as harsh I fully
understand it. They have to weigh up the long standing conservative principle of
freedom of speech against the practicalities of running a political party. On this issue I am sure their judgement is more informed than mine.

However I do stand by my article. I would like to use this chance to clarify what I
wrote and perhaps defend myself against some of the criticism I have received.
The conclusions I draw in the article are entirely dependent on the premise I set out
in the first paragraph. I stated my belief that MEPs have very little real power and
their elections do little other than send out a message. If you do not believe or accept this then you should, of course, ignore my conclusions.

What I hope this incident has not done is to discourage anyone from voting. When I
was asked to write the article it was suggested it would be part of an anti-BNP piece.

This is why I set out the options as I did. The best way to prevent the BNP from
gaining a seat is to vote for any other to reduce their percentage. To this end (and
especially as I am no longer bound to a party) I encourage you to vote for any other
party on June 4th. I hope that this will be the Conservatives or UKIP but now, as
then, the decision is up to you.

Ralph Buckle
Former Chairman

Quote of the Day

"Gordon Brown is also backing United and will watch the game on television, his Downing Street spokesman confirmed."

Hat-Tip:

The Right Student

What a surprise.

It's not very hard to spot the vicious political agenda behind Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court vacancy; Judge

Sonia Sotomayor

of the Court of Appeals on New York's second circuit.

"Among the more controversial cases that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor participated in is Ricci v. DeStefano, involving affirmative action in the New Haven, Conn., fire department. A panel including Sotomayor ruled against a group of white firefighters who passed a promotion exam that was later discarded because no black applicants had passed."

When exactly America going move beyond judging people on their skin colour to the content of their character, as promised?

Can any one out there honestly argue that this "affirmative action" or "positive discrimination" (there's an oxymoron if TB ever saw one,) can in any way promote equality?

Try... TB dares you.

Sadiq Khan - Epic Fail.

Looks like the Communities Minister should pay more attention when staging photo ops.

Liberal Youth hits the fan. Again.

It seems that Elaine Bagshaw, the controversial chairman of Liberal Youth has already got into trouble just a couple of months after the bloody elections. One of the main concerns raised about her re-election in March was that she had the tendency to be a bit of a controlling, manic, irrational, socialist bitch. These arguments were dismissed by the likes of Edwin Loo, one of her biggest cheerleaders.

But it didn't take long for the wheels to fall off the Bagshaw truck now did it...

Couldn't happen to a nicer lady.

The Nouse tightens...

Apologies for the light blogging over the weekend. TB has been enjoying his last few days in Edinburgh and just as he sat down earlier this afternoon to catch up with some stories, his wireless died. Again. Fast forward three hours and it's fixed, don't ask.

A ridiculous story has

broken

this afternoon that has seen Ralph Buckle, Chairman of the

University of York Conservatives

expelled from the Party for suggesting that those who are eurosceptic might want to consider voting for UKIP. All of this was in an article that sought to explain the options available to people and although it concludes that those who are more eurosceptic should vote UKIP, this is no different from what certain more high profile Tories have said in the last few weeks. TB still is technically head of a university branch and has given less than guarded comments to student papers in the past. (One hack in particular had an uncanny way of always catching TB with a text after about three pints.) However TB was never particularly worried though, as lets face it, university branch chairman don't exactly have much sway, influence, or real power other than over their own cohorts. No one is particularly interested in anything they have to say, as countless press releases fired off and ignored show.

However an

article in Nouse

, York's student paper has led to the little guy being well and truly done over by the Party. When Norman Tebbit spoke out along similar lines, he was given a slap on the wrist in the form of a very very public warning from Cameron to shut up. Why was it felt that what Buckle did required a harsher and permanent punishment? Granted he could have been asked to step down from being head honcho at York and given a bollocking in no uncertain terms on the phone, but TB can't help but feel the reaction to the comments is totally over the top. Perhaps Buckle could have been more guarded with his comments but lets not forget that UKIP only exists due to the failure of the Conservative Party to listen to it's members views.

There cannot be one rule for people at the top of the Party and another for those on the lowest of rungs. Buckle will no doubt go straight to UKIP, and who can blame him, the Tories today have given them an open goal.

How many more eurosceptic Tories will follow?

Who is Tory Bear?

Saturday's

Herald

magazine had a big feature on the Scottish Conservative party after last week's conference. A range of candidates and party officials were interviewed, as well as Conservative Future types. It's a broad look at the state of play in the Party now and how they are slowly overcoming their unpopularity in Scotland. It concludes that slowly, very slowly the tide is beginning to turn.

They also had a little chat with Tory Bear...

Sadly the article is not online, and apologies for the quality of the BB camera, but this is what they said about TB:

It would be wrong, though, to paint a picture of Cameron's new model Army as made up of former socialists, working-class scions and union reps. Most are posher than that. Even among the Conservative Future newbies this often turns out to be the case. Someone who knows the scene well is XXXXX XXXX, aka Tory Bear. About a year ago he set up his blog and from the moment he started writing about young people in politics, he says, interest hit the roof. XXXX isn't a Scot. Hailing from Kent, he is a student at Edinburgh University who got involved in the political scene but has no plans for a career in politics. Standing on a balcony overlooking the foyer he glances down. "I've been doing conferences and political events for a couple of years now and I'm amazed how many people under 30 there are here," he says. When he started the blog, he says, it was the "hackery" he was witnessing among the young involved in politics that he wanted "to call out". "It's a lot tamer, though, here in Scotland than it is down in London."

XXXX has noted the scarcity of Scots among the young Tories, even in Scotland: "One of the big taglines of the Conservative Future election was that Scotland needed a Scottish chairman. And it does. "It doesn't really go down very well, all the English involved in Scottish Conservative politics. When I'm canvassing around Edinburgh, it's like, why are you here?"

Seems the TB bags got some good coverage too.