A message from David Cameron

This email from David Cameron was just sent to the Conservatives' mailing list:

Sam and I have been overwhelmed by all the letters, cards, emails and flowers we have received about Ivan. Sending an e-mail this week just gives us both a chance to say a big "thank you". It means a lot to know that others are thinking of us and him.

We always knew Ivan wouldn't live forever, but we didn't expect to lose him so young and so suddenly. He leaves a hole in our life so big that words can't describe it. Bed time, bath time, meal time - nothing will feel the same again.

We console ourselves knowing that he won't suffer anymore, that his end was quick, and that he is in a better place. But we all just miss him so desperately.

When we were first told the extent of Ivan's disability I thought that we would suffer having to care for him but at least he would benefit from our care. Now as I look back I see that it was all the other way round. It was only him that ever really suffered and it was us - Sam, me, Nancy and Elwen - who gained more than I ever believed possible from having and loving such a wonderfully special and beautiful boy.

Man on fire

Apparently a man set himself on fire outside Parliament today. TB can't seem to find out anything else about it other than this

BBC report

. Can't help but think of that Ricky Gervais sketch..."Wait you're going to set yourself on fire..."

Weird.

UPDATE: 23.00:

FoxNews is speculating that this could be a Tamil protest

.

Another day, another Dolly boo boo...

Good morning Derek,

TB hopes your head isn't too sore after a night out at the Labour Party party. How was hanging out with blogging sensations Alistair Campbell and JP? After you got your little friend's lawyers to get on to this bear about certain awkward photos stolen from OK! magazine, Tory Bear was a bit grumpy about letting a washed up, disgraced oaf get one over him. Just moments later though, he couldn't help notice, upon accidentally clicking through to your site, that you are a bit of a hypocrite Derek.

You made a big fuss about what others are doing, but once again you failed to check your own shop

was in order

. As TB is sure you know, you have to pay a minimum of $1 to use any istockphoto legally. They display all photos with a watermark as a sample only. If you wish to reproduce the image you have to purchase it.

Oh dear Sir, not only are you a liar but a hypocrite too.

But then we all always knew that didn't we.

All best

Tory Bear

PS. If the above photo of the ballot box disappears it's becuase it's hosted on LabourList and Derek has removed it. Don't worry TB saved a copy too...

Essex boys up the game...

There is growing concern across the country that Conservative Future isn't receiving enough support from CCHQ. Given there are once again no staff running operations this is hardly surprising. While things like freshers campaigns and some guidance from the top is necessary, the best work that Conservative Future does comes from organic grassroots ideas. A prime example of this would be the three councillors from Essex, who have set up a network that will train young people in how to get elected to your local authority, guiding them through the application and selection processes. TB will be keeping an eye on what is going on down in Essex because if it is successful it would be an excellent model for regional coordinators to roll out across the country.

Councillor Nicklen, one of the founding members, himself of CF age commented “Its an exciting opportunity to increase the number of young people in local politics and dismiss the assumption young people are apathetic. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure this committee works effectively in achieving its goals” Cllr James Cottis, added,"Since I was elected in 2006 when I was 24, I have seen a range of younger Councillors being elected and I believe that we have the duty to mentor younger Councillors.”

Though support my be dwindling for CF from the central office, the movement on the ground is growing. This is not the time for CCHQ to engage in a war with CF as we should be on full election watch. On the eve of battle it's not wise to piss off your troops. The numbers of people going through

YBF

training, people like these councillors and recently Clare Hilley too, show just how serious the conservative youth movement in this country is becoming. While a top down organisation wouldn't be ideal, a little support from the top would be appreciated.

There is an open letter brewing in TB about this whole issue, but in the mean time well done to this lot and to others around the country who are working every day on a volunteer basis to change this country for the better.

Does he really have nothing better to do?

Yesterday was a sad day and yet strange too. Today's press has picked up on what was immediately clear in the Commons at noon yesterday - the death of Ivan Cameron may have significantly changed Gordon Brown and David Cameron's relationship. Yesterday the empathetic Brown was a human being, and his genuine and heartfelt statement shows just how false he has been in the past. No one can argue that wasn't the real face of Gordon Brown, rather than the line drilled into him by the army of spin doctors and advisers that make up the poison he normally spouts. While the House was in unity yesterday, so was the blogosphere. Friends and critics of Cameron, from both

left

and

right

, came together to voice their sympathy. It was a rare and poignant moment. Even Labourlist

managed

a nod through gritted teeth.

But back to the partisan wars for Derek Draper today...

TB had to chuckle when Dolly responded to a post on this blog with some thinly veiling threats. This is what he said after TB reproduced some photos of Derek and his wife:

Derek Draper

said...

firstly, you wanna make sure richard desmond's lawyers don't see this rip-off and secondly on my "drinking" you are making a complete fool of yourself. I have never drunk to excess and indeed havn't even been mildly drunk for over twenty years. pathetic smears. pathetic.

22 February 2009 16:13 [sic.]

What a surprise it was to get a letter then from the very same lawyers today then! Seems like they got a little complaint from Dolly. TB is surprise the publicity craving, attention seeking twat didn't revel in the fact his mug was broadcast around the internet. The guy is a joke. He claims to be wanting to run a serious internet project, yet spends his day grassing in his opponents to his wife's mates. Grow up.

From now onwards TB will make a point only ever to use this picture in reference to Derek Draper:

That should do the trick.

Busy Bear...

TB is a very busy bear. Currently up to his neck in dissertation. Apologies for the lack of blogging.

Normal service will resume soon.

Ivan Cameron

TB is shocked to have woken up to the news that Ivan Cameron has died. His thoughts are with David and Samantha and he can't imagine the hell they are going through. The statement from Brown has been just realeased, perhaps because of the empathy involved, it has for once captured the sentiment of the country:

"Sarah and I were very saddened to hear of the death of Ivan and we have sent our condolences to David and Samantha. The death of a child is a loss no parent should have to bear.I know Ivan was a child who brought joy to all those who knew him and his was a life surrounded by love. The thoughts and prayers of the whole country are with David, Samantha and their family."

PMQs is understandably off. Statement from Brown and Hague at 12.

Good news.

Another former Conservative Future excutive member has been

selected for a seat

. Though the majority is 13k

Karen Allen

will have the double pleasure of fighting her home constituency and taking on the increasingly embarassing David Milliband.

Could she be the Stephen Twigg of 2010?

TB hopes so and wishes her the best of luck.

Cue backlash...

Tory Bear has written a comment piece about the recent farcical student protests for the Edinburgh newspaper

The Journal

. It seems he has already "tickled a few trouts" even though the article has only been up for a few hours.

"When a dozen or so students stormed their campus, university officials cut the power, wifi and access to loos. They refused to negotiate, and very soon the whole thing began to fizzle out. That was New York University. The reaction at Edinburgh was a very different affair, one that has left the reputation of the university tarred and set a worrying precedent. A strange phenomenon has spread from campus to campus this term in the form of a small bunch of well organised, well equipped and well out of line protesters illegally occupying various buildings across American and European universities. The general model for these sit-ins has been the same: get in there, take some photos, set up a blog and watch the chaos ensue as you block thousands of students from receiving the education for which they are paying. How much these protests have actually achieved is open for debate. Last time I checked I don't think the Israeli government was considering a radical change in policy based on twenty-odd students, a guitar and the "creative space" they made for themselves to change the world in.

When the George Square Theatre was occupied last week, it at first seemed that the university was giving tacit consent to the actions of the protesters. They kept the wifi on, allowing them to pump their thinly disguised anti-Zionist thought across the world via their website and Flickr. This really was a 21st century protest, as the glimpse into their press operation showed. I wonder what the protesters of '68 would have thought about sitting around drinking herbal tea while furiously typing into your Mac and checking the Blackberry. The university even opted to keep the heating on, fearing that because of health and safety laws, the building had to be kept above a certain temperature. "

You can read the rest of the article

here

.

The Journal's normally semi-level headed leader writer seems to have a

wee dig

at TB for unduly criticising these protesters, but it's hardly unfair to raise the point that real hippies don't have Macs and Blackberries. (The evidence of which was strangely recently removed from their

website

.) Whatever you want to call them, be it champagne swampies, eco-rahs, or middle class idiots throwing their toys out of the pram while pretending to be oh-so-bleeding-heart socialists, they deserve to be ridiculed. They might have tried to hide it but luckily TB saved the evidence for just this occasion:

Though it has been temptestuous in the past, TB is beginning to enjoy the relationship he has with The Journal. Though they were

far from helpful

during his own

delve

into the horrible world of

student politics

, and every week less than fair to friends, he does enjoy banter like this and the platform for

upsetting

lefties. They have been in financial trouble recently and had to be bailed out by the student's association for office space for the next year, after they couldn't make the rent and get an edition out. While it would be a shame to see the entrepreneurial venture go under, news is reaching TB this morning that there might be further trouble for the team...

Details are sketchy but Tory Bear understands the ball is in motion for legal action to be bought against the paper by an Edinburgh student.

+++developing+++

Off with their heads...

Apparently this is an

"offensive symbol"

:

Apparently it is the

"butchers apron..."

Though the nats use it all the time about their beloved Saltire, TB would like to remind you all of what Henry Beecher once said: "A thoughtful mind, when it sees a nation's flag, sees not only the flag, but the nation itself; the government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the nation and sets it forth."

Long live the Union flag and the great nation it represents.

These cyber-nats are bordering on treason.

Hat-Tip -

Scottish Unionist

Mr Bear went to Westminster...

TB is having an excellent day shamelessly abusing his visitors pass, strolling the corridors of power. He had a couple of close run in's with some people who aren't exactly fans of the blog, but managed to get away with hiding behind pillars or a quick dive into his collar. Had to chuckle that Mrs Spellperson has get her own coffee now she's moved out of CCHQ and back to Portcullis House, TB wonders what she would have said if she'd known her favourite bear was in the queue behind her.

The Chris Grayling and Cameron event was apparently excellent this morning, TB didn't crash it, honest. Though not the greatest speaker, Cameron's attack dog proved that he was more than simply David Davis 2.0, giving a competent insight into his brief and his vision for giving oiks a "21st century clip round the ear." There was a wealth of shadow cabinet talent out in force, with Gove lending some helpful advice. The warm embrace that Damian Green gave to Phil Booth the national coordinator of NO2ID before things got going, suggests to TB that those two might have talked about one or two things before. Ran into some young councillors who are unveiling an interesting new project that TB will go into more detail about later.

Lunch with a co-conspirator and various coffees with hacks and old faces has left TB with a plethora of gossip and stories for the next few days... Off now to meet

Shane Greer

, that bloke off the telly.

Oh how there is scandal brewing... watch this space.

Why Gordon should go, in six sides...

TB couldn't put it better himself!

Another Monday morning treat...

Via the twitter feed of

TV's Shane Greer

, TB is most amused at what the BBC chooses to show their waiting guests at the Stage Door reception area at around midnight on an idle Sunday:

Once again the taxpayers money is being put to good use - a subscription to Movies4Men.

Bill Clinton loses his pussy...

Ah the jokes are endless and Tory Bear isn't sure what admitting to reading OK! and

Perez Hilton

's blog in one weekend will do for his image, but via the Hollywood bitch he has learnt the sad news that Socks the White House cat has "

gone to the big basket of warm laundry in the sky

."

Socks was Chelsea Clinton's adopted moggie and had free reign of the West Wing in the Clinton years. Humphrey the Downing St stray paled in comparison to the notoriety this kitty received. World leaders would make a point of posing for a photo with Socks when they were visiting. TB couldn't help but notice the alarming similarities between these two photographs though:

So farewell then Socks.

New T-Shirt...

Ever pissed off Dolly? Hate LabourList?

Blocked from his Twitter feed? Think Derek is a bit of a twat?

Been unlinked from LabourList or felt the wrath of his tongue?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above then Tory Bear has the t-shirt just for you:

Available for a limited time only, and yours for just a tenner from

here

.

Poor Birmingham...

Anything the two main parties do, the Lib Dems are

quick to follow

. After the Tories took over the ICC in Birmingham last autumn, Labour are set to follow this year, followed of course by Nick and the rest of the Johnny come latelys. The ICC is a big place and TB wonders if perhaps the Liberals are being slightly optimistic about being able to get the numbers to fill it.

TB wonders what the Rocket strip-club will do to greet their bearded and sandal-ed yellow punters...

Answers on a postcard.

Back where he belongs...

It has often been said that Derek Draper is stuck in the mindset of a student politician. Well it seems he is embracing this and has waded into the Durham student elections:

The poor candidates, an endorsement from Dolly is enough to put any voter off!

There have been better weeks. A pot of coffee and two bacon sandwiches later:

• Week Four of Matthew d'Ancona being Labour's Sunday morning headache in the Telegraph.

• Peter Hitchens wonders why Brown invited the Pope to a country that hates/clearly persecutes Christians in the Mail.
  

• Patrick Hennessy catches up with Ken Clarke for the Telegraph

• John Rentoul asks what a Cameron government will do in the Independent.

• The Mail has got fantastic extracts from the secret diary of a Labour Minister.

Great slogan...

Like any normal person TB is spending his Saturday evening having a look at student elections in universities hundreds of miles from where he a) lives and b) goes. You have to laugh at this one from though:

TB can't find much about this guys politics but from the look of the people TB know's in the facebook group he must be pretty sound. The fact he is willing to go with that slogan doesn't seem particuarly lefty.

But regardless of politics, with a slogan like that he deserves to win.

Tory totty...

TB was having the standard right wing girls are fitter chat with a member of the Labour Party the other day. It's an argument that has got him into trouble

before.

Give this video about thirty seconds and then try argue that it's not the Tories that have the totty:



TB rests his case.

He's everywhere...

Tory Bear tends to avoid OK! magazine but found himself flicking through it at the airport yesterday. Amongst the pages of washed up eighties singers and footballers wives in all their airbrushed designer glory, he spotted a familiar face:
Unite clearly aren't paying Derek Draper enough to run his little website, as he and his Mrs are selling their souls. She even made the cover, though, looking awkward as an ass, Dolly was saved for the inside...

TB thought he would share the pics with you, to save you having to buy the magazine for good old laugh.

The article was headlined saying it would talk about drinking and smoking etc, strangely Dolly's drinking habits weren't mentioned...

UPDATE: DOLLY RUINED YOU' RE FUN AND HAS GOT OK! ON TO TB ABOUT NICKING PHOTOS. OH WELL.

Home sweet bear.

Tory Bear has gone home for the weekend so blogging will be light to non-existant. He'll be in Westminster on Monday though if anyone is around for one of those promised catch ups...

One step at a time...

Not even a spike through the foot can stop this keen candidate:

1min 20secs into it is well worth watching...

She's got some balls...

So it was a quite night in for the Balls family last night. Poor Yvette must have been wondering why her husband kept popping outside talking to someone in hushed tones on his mobile. Seems it's not just Harriet Harperson who has a ruthlessly ambitious husband pulling the strings. 

Could it be any more obvious where

this briefing

came from?

Point of order...

My my aren't those young Liberal Democrats a pesky bunch. TB's story earlier got them into a

whirl

. We've had statements from candidates and now the

returning officer,

 all asking who this evil Tory Bear is and why is he upsetting the big yellow boat. There has been briefing that would make any spinner blush this evening and TB's inbox has made for the most interesting of reads...

The official line seems to be that there is no problem and that everything is fine. Original. However TB must ask a few questions:

• If there is no problem, why the hell are senior members of your youth movement briefing, and countless grassroots members complaining - to a tory!?!
  
• If there is no problem then why is there a growing campaign for
  RON
  ? If there is no problem then nobody would be calling for the Reopen of Nominations.
  

Oh dear the calamity at the of the top of the Liberal Democrats is trickling down.

Twatter banter.

You can follow

TB on Twitter here

.

Over to you Gordo..

Anything you feel you should

apologise for

Prime Minister?

Worst job in the world.

Just spotted this on

Toby Young's twitter

:

Yoof watch.

Tory Bear was right in his hunch that Liberal Youth were in real trouble. It's amazing what drops out of the tree when you shake the branch a little.  After surviving an

attempted coup

, current chairman

Elaine Bagshaw

 (right,) is being given a good run for her money in a bid by

Sara Scarlett

 (below,) to stop Bagshaw being re-elected, but the whole affair is getting rather bitchy and messy. There is a

growing movement

developing amongst the membership calling for the nominations to be re-opened on account that neither of the candidates would be right for the job.

The opposition to Bagshaw is growing daily, especially as this "Vicky Pollard like" media performer (according to Quinton Letts!) can't seem to keep her mouth shut about how great she is. Just a quick scroll of her

campaign group

sees her taking full responsibility for lobbying the Cowley Street great and good single handed, and even claims she can give dear old Vince Cable some advice on the economy. This woman makes the very worst of the CF self aggrandises look tame. TB is amazed that she hasn't started a social action project yet...

Things apparently came to a head at last week's Coventry hustings where the two candidates were questioned on why they were Liberal Democrats, a good question to ask any member. Scarlett gave in interesting answer about growing up as a woman in the Middle East giving her an inherent liberal streak, but it was Chairman Bagshaw that really fluffed it. She rambled on about always being a liberal and there never being an eye opening moment or epiphany. Her vague answer left out one pretty significant fact though...

Tory Bear reckons there must have been something significant that made her jump ship from the Labour Party to the Lib Dems.

This little piggy stayed at home...

The Jacqui Smith saga is far from over... This morning the excellent

news has broken

that the Home Secretary has faced further questioning and potentially an investigation after all. 

Captions contest anyone? 

Answers below...

Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic...

Spin spin away Peter.

Exclusive: Lib Dems hoping for a miracle...

Tory Bear has his eyes and ears everywhere, and none more so than at the Liberal Youth

conference

last weekend at Warwick University. Take a look at Lembit Opik's strategy for the Lib Dems retaining the number of seats they have in parliament at the next election:

Poor Lembit, he's been through a lot recently and it looks like

too many nights

on the lash are beginning to have an effect on him. 

Unless of course that actually is the official Lib Dem policy.

Tears of laughter...

TB had to watch this three times before he could even contemplate posting it...



"Don't worry Kate, this wont be on GMTV"

Hat-Tip -

Donal Blaney

Better dead than red.

Never one to lose his temper lightly TB has come to the conclusion that Tom Miller is a bit of a twat. When he's not

cosying up

with the bigger boys at LabourList, (he's almost a mini-Draper without the famous wife,) he pours drivel and preaches socialist state loving hate on his "Newer Labour"

blog.

This morning the world was greeted with the

sad news

that, in a referendum as straight as a nine bob note, Hugo Chavez is set to remain in power for the foreseeable future having poured millions of pounds into a state sponsored campaign to change the constitution.

As

other blogs

have picked up, this isn't good news for the people of Venezuela. Yet the little twerp Miller can

barely contain his joy

, or his communist sympathies.

If you like it so much Tom, why don't you put that silly hat of yours on and go live there.

Liberal Yoof are at each others throats.

It's never a good sign when even the former returning officer of an election starts bitching about what bitches the candidates all were. Well that's the Lib Dems for you. It seems that the newly created

Liberal Youth

are being dogged by petite politics and back stabbing...

"For me, the most disappointing aspect is the lack of unity. It has been put to me that an organisation that is doing little is most vulnerable to infighting, and I have to say that it has been a recurring theme of my time as Liberal Youth Returning Officer that most of the conversations I have been part of revolve around who isn't getting on with whom. How does such distraction help in the building of a better organisation?"

Read the rest of the damning statement from Liberal Bureaucracy

here

.

So as the dust settles on their spring conference that was held this weekend at Warwick University, (check out the organised fun in the agenda

here

,) it seems that already this little project is beginning to fall apart. Activists are bitching, no work is getting done and not a by-election for love nor money.

Tory Bear suggests the cause of all your problems may lie with this

chap

.

Labour say jump, Student press says how high?

Now despite some vocal people having no interest in student politics, a big chunk of the readership of this blog do care, so Tory Bear was quite excited about the idea of writing a weekly column for the duration of election season for the student press. However when the word got out - shock horror oh my god a tory being allowed somewhere to express his views arrrrgh, the editorial decision was taken to replace TB with a staff writer. As he gets on very well with some of the

Student

hacks TB doesn't want to point fingers, and understands that perhaps the decision was out of the hands of those who had previously encouraged it, but he does however know who it was that made the big fuss about it, claiming that TB wouldn't be neutral. Well luckily the ever growing

HackWatch

website has no qualms with printing the rejected first column and as you can see it's all very fair:

"The next few weeks will be a flurry of plotting late into the night, knocking on thousands of doors, leafleting and putting up posters, injected with the occasional hour of sleep. At the end of the day EUSA elections are not won with fancy videos or flashy websites, they are lost and won on the doorstep. It’s all about who can meet and talk to the most students to get their message out there...

...years of dreaming for some, months of planning for others, and what seemed like a good idea in the pub for one or two candidates is set to come down to a pitched battle on campus."

Oh well, their loss. Read the rest

here

.

If you thought the British blog wars were bad...

While Derek Draper continues to

embarrass himself

on a daily basis with his constant obssesion with triggering some sort of blog war with Guido and Iain etc, spare a thought for Xu Lai the Chinese blogger behind the risque

Pro-State in Flames

blog. He was

stabbed

this weekend after doing a bookshop interview with readers of his blog. Apparently someone didn't like something he posted...

He was taken into the loos of the bookshop by two armed men

and told

“You brought this on yourself. You know why we’re doing this, don’t you?”

Don't get any ideas Derek.

Rules of Political Life #56 - Dodgy kodak moments can easily go wrong...

If they are running in an election, however important, candidates love to show themselves recycling all manner of things. Though is it really a good idea to

be photographed

for your campaign throwing away the election guide put together to explain the rules and regulations of the election?

Given the quagmire of appeals and rule breaking that normally goes with student politics, Tory Bear doubts that the excuse of "Oh I didn't realise I was breaking the rules" will wash if this candidate gets busted...

Whoops.

The real life West Wing...

TB has a Monday morning treat for West Wing fans, who will love this

fascinating insight

into how Obama is running his ship. It gives a detailed account of who the main players in the administration are, and more importantly, where their desks are in relation to the Oval Office. 

The similarities between Obama and Santos, Rahm and Josh etc are uncanny...

Is it time for a Season 8?

So farewell then Gossip Girl...

Over the last few months various universities across the country have seen blogs emerge that are inspired by the hit US tv show "Gossip Girl". Brilliantly scathing and sarcastic, these blogs give an insiders look on the lives of trust fund kiddies while at university. 

GG Edinburgh Edition sadly had the MSM go to town on her this weekend, and although this

piece

in Scotland on Sunday was arguably pretty damn funny, apparently the Daily Mail were up for stirring things up.

The piece describes the "tell-all website has proved so popular it has had 12,000 hits in its first three months, and now receives more than 600 new visitors every week.

According to the blog, Edinburgh students' lifestyles include:

• Renting Georgian property in the city's New Town, where a flat in Dublin Street costs around £4,500 per person, the equivalent of a year's allowance of a student loan;

• Mid-term skiing holidays in the exclusive Swiss resort of Verbier, which costs around £3,000 for a week;

• Parties at the Royal Scots Club, renting out the place for a champagne reception and venison dinner for 120 people;

• All-day brunches fuelled by dozens of bottles of Moët & Chandon champagne at £30 each;

• Three nights a week partying in nightspots such as the Opal Lounge, where customers must spend at least £135 to reserve a table with a bottle of Mercier champagne."

Some lazy hack has clearly had their day made when they stumbled across the website but TB is never a fan of seeing a fellow blogger

go under

. He understands though that the negative PR this sort of thing causes can be rather unpleasant. 

So farewell then Gossip Girl, whoever you were.

Gordon says more tax...

Tory Bear rotates the t-shirts he sells every so often. This is your last chance to get your hands on one of the very popular, £10 bargain price Gordon specials:

See other designs and order

here

.