The Shining City on the Hill

There is no denying that Labour are dancing to the Tories tune, and have been for over a year in terms of stealing policy, changing direction and accepting inevitable cuts.

Today's Mail reports

:

The Tory leader will go on to a General Election war footing in the New Year with a sunnier message that there is 'light at the end of the tunnel' after the economic crisis. Mr Cameron will launch a campaign blitz in January with three or more trips a week to marginal constituencies to promote new policies that will form the cornerstones of his election manifesto. He will be studying a draft of the manifesto over Christmas. Senior Tories believe they have won the economic argument with Labour with their calls for austerity measures to slash the deficit.

Good news indeed. It must not be forgotten that the person with the most positive message wins the day. Yes there is over a trillion pound deficit but aspiration that one day this rotten government will be gone, one day the British people won't be punished for being successful and wanting to enable the very best for their children, without the meddling hand of the state butting in, must be the key theme.

Cameron has a golden opportunity to change this country forever, to undo the poison Labour have dripped into every walk of life in the last twelve years. He has the chance to reform from Whitehall to town hall and must, must, make it clear to the public in the new year that he is the man to bite the bullet. We need to see him breaking away from what is popular with focus groups stuffed full of people that probably wouldn't vote Conservative anyway, and making clear the message that decisions will be made for the country, rather than the public sector workers, even if it hurts.

Every Labour government collapses into chaos in the end and requires a heavy dose of conservatism to fix it. This doesn't have to be prophecies of doom and gloom though, the message of conservative remedies must ring out proudly. Look at Obama - he stood and won on a policy of refusing to raise taxes during a recession. Didn't do him any harm.

It should never be forgotten that aspiration is a very very powerful message.

James Macintyre Wins a Pulitzer

Exclusive!

he screamed out, but once again one of James Macintyre's stories has unravelled quicker than he could say "I didn't have sex with Derek Draper." Real grown up journo Macintyre is a little bit chuffed that he got hold of an advance copy of the menu choices that were emailed to attendees of last week's tory bloggers lunch that TB covered here. Sadly for the thirsty hack that was about the closest he got to a bit of detail.

Where to start? Well there certainly weren't thirty people there, Pickles definitely wasn't as TB would have had to hide under the table if he had been. Oh sod it - Shane and Keep Right Online have both said it all already. See their comprehensive rebuttals

here

and

here

. And if that wasn't enough checkout the comments underneath Macintyre's

original piece

from Tory Rascal, Louise Bagshaw, Donal Blaney and CCHQ's Sam Coates - all of whom were there.

Lastly a confession - Membersnet was mentioned, by TB. He was taking the piss out of it to the person sitting to his left.

Quote(s) of the Day - SNP in Trouble

“I have already looked into the matter as far as my group is concerned and I am satisfied that no SNP councillor has been involved.”

-SNP Council Leader for Dumfries Rob Davidson expressing his “shock and dismay” at the Universality of Cheese blog on 1st December.

“Yes. Clearly that has not been accurate.”

-SNP Council Leader for Dumfries Rob Davidson acknowledging he lied over his involvement in the blog on 18th December.

For the record and your amusmant, check out just how far he was

involved

through his emails sent on 21st November:

“I wonder if you might like to draw attention on your blog to the fact that Scottish Labour’s general secretary (Councillor Colin Smyth) was expelled from full council for offensive conduct and refusing to respect the chair. It might also be a good one for ‘black ops’ to note the fact that no women present voted any other way than to exclude him. This one needs you to work your magic – I can’t go that far myself.”

No doubt Kevin Pringle will be drafting

another

resignation in the morning.

H/T:

SNP TV

We're Closing In #KerryOut

The left seem to have been caught somewhat off guard by #kerryout. They started with scorn but they shut up and have come back in scream mode now they are seeing the money pouring in. In just a matter of hours well over £300 quid has been raised. The fun and games are only just beginning comrades. Keep and eye on

kerryout.net

:

Launching on the 4th Jan.

In the mean time keep

donating

.

#KerryOut

As you may have noticed yesterday, TB put a new widget on the right hand side column of the site. It allows you to donate to Adeela Shafi in Bristol East and track her progress through

MyConservatives

. TB bunged her £20 yesterday and strongly encourages you all to do the same. The campaign is gaining

traction across the blogs

.

Kerry McCarthy,

expenses fiddler

and general embarrassment, not only to the Labour Party but to all MPs, especially those on her own side who cringe at her omnishamble existence, needs to go.

Cue kicking, screaming, toys out of prams and no doubt she will call us all sexists or maybe even racists again. Either way TB will keeping the

#KerryOut

campaign going.

There will be a surprise escalation in the new year - keep an eye out for details of how you can get involved.

Simple Simon's Sister Scandal

Sion Simon who you may remember from making-a-twat-of-yourself-on-teh-interweb fame has admitted he is a troughing thief and is attempting to get away with just paying back the £21k he stole in order to pay his sister in rent out of his ACA.

How he has the barefaced cheek to remain in government beggars belief. What ever happened to a little dignity in power eh? The only reason he is paying the money back is due to the fact The Telegraph were about to

out him tomorrow

.

He should be sacked immediately.

Save Bellamy's Bar

Many a disgruntled bagcarrier has got in touch with TB today to vent their spleen at the prospect of Bellamy's Bar being replaced by the Speaker's nursery. Bet Bercow wouldn't have got rid of a bar when he was still trying to hit on drunk chicks. Researchers take their gin seriously and won't be deprived of a subsidised watering hole without a fight. As the official campaign states:

"The Speaker is planning to replace the newly refurbished Bellamy's Bar with a nursery. Join this group to suggest the Speaker looks elsewhere - his own expansive House has much nicer views and access to a lawn for the kids to play on, for example."

Voice your concern at the pint sized one taking away pints

here

.

Gordon's Out of the Closet

TB had some fun this morning with Gordon's latest special moment:



What a twat.

Cameron Braces Himself

As TB reported the other day, Jo Johnson, younger brother of Boris, has been selected to fight the safe seat of Orpington. Their father Stanley stood unsuccessfully in 2005 and is still seeking a safe seat to contest this time round. What struck TB as mighty odd is the fact that team Cameron directly intervened in the Wycombe selection process a few months back. Stanley Johnson was the front runner to become the PPC, when at the last minute a CCHQ selection list was imposed upon the association. It is commonly accepted that the last thing Cameron wants is a cheer leader for his future leadership rival in the Commons, and the chance for Boris to easily maneuver his way back into the House in either 2012 or 2016 through a safe seat that Stanley was keeping warm.

There is no way that Jo Johnson's candidacy could have gone through Cameron's office without some nod of approval, or at least the chance to scupper it being turned down. Why has Dave personally ended the prospect of Stanley Johnson MP but allowed Jo Johnson to fight a very safe seat? Unless he is more worried about Boris than anyone has yet thought?

Put yourself in Cameron's shoes for a moment, what would you do? Make even more of an enemy of a family, or smile as you damn with your embrace? Boris is clearly popular with the grassroots and has already notched up arguably more executive experience than Dave will have if he walks through the door of Number 10 in a matter of months. He is the natural contender to the crown when things start to run out of steam four or so years into a potential premiership. Where better to have the rival than twiddling his thumbs in local government while actively encouraging a rival to your rival in the House. Bringing Jo Johnson in to the picture is an extremely canny move by Cameron. If he was to be fast-tracked up the ministerial ladder he would split the "Boris" factor that is so clearly part a key plank of Boris's appeal. Allowing the "Boris" factor to become broad church rather than a one man show severely weakens Boris.

Jo Johnson could never challenge Prime Minister Cameron, but he could potentially make it hard for his brother Boris to do so. If come a by-election in 2016 Boris returns triumphant, Cross Rail open, the Olympics a roaring success, London's budget balanced, the city onside he could create quite a storm. Who would be the biggest rival, an outgoing PM or the high flying, equally ambitious sibling?

There is definitely more to the Orpington selection than first meets the eye.

Copenhagen Collapses

Great news out of Scandinavia - further proof that the left can't organise a piss-up in a brewery. The Copenhagen Climate Summit has descended into chaos with toys being thrown out of prams left right and centre and well needed spanners being thrown into the huge overexcited hysterical cogs. The hippies are closing in, putting the entire centre

under lockdown

and TB believes there have been several sightings of man-bear-pig himself. The champagne and canapes have been replaced with rows and dramas. Looks like the world might not send their economies back a hundred years or so after all.

If Gordon even dares try claim he has saved the world again when some cock-a-hoop deal is spun as a historical moment, don't let the left get away with it. This conference has been a farce and the radical union that it's supporters wish for it to achieve has failed spectacularly.

Shame.

The Perfect Gift...

...for that elected representative in your life. Is your uncle a Labour Peer? Want to see some changes to those pesky laws? Then head over to the

Chocolate Library

:

TB definitely didn't get bribed with free chocolate.

Who Could They Mean?

The season finale of the

Thick of It

set things up nicely for some election specials. Particularly amusing was the great modernising reformer vs aggressive "Fucker", to rhyme with Tucker, who made an appearance in the opposition camp in the closing scenes.

Black suit, white shirt? Aggressive tabloid style? Who could they have had in mind??

The Morning After the Night Before

Apologies for the radio silence, TB has been nursing his aching limbs and battered paws this morning after last night's blog wars. What better way to see off the pain than a lunch with right-wing bloggers. A little too easily, they shook of their independence and gathered in the central lobby for a rather tasty session. CCHQ's online team and a few others, plus several of the top right-wing blogger types and twitterati got together for some game pie and as

KRO

put it, game chat.

Jeremy Hunt was keen to chat through the state of the current British blogosphere, what the Tories can learn from the US, and some err interesting ideas about how the righties online will progress after the next election if the Tories are in power. TB wonders whether such an optimistic outlook on how long the bloggers will toe the line is really realistic. On an aside Henry Macrory is seemingly a very modest chap as he failed to mention it was his birthday. Happy belated Birthday.

It was a session well worth having. While Labour bloggers and tweeters take their lines from Victoria Street, and if they are really lucky Downing Street, the organic growth of the right-wing blogosphere has meant it has been a much more disjointed growth. It was very useful to sit down for a rare and constructive chat. The closest the bloggers have come until now was Shane Greer's wedding.

TB is also rather chuffed with the miniature sellotape dispenser he got in his cracker, but that's beside the point.

UPDATE: #BlogWars

TB is very very excited about the prospect of

close encounter urban conflict

against CCHQ, LabourList and other mystery guests tonight.

Shane thinks

there can be some bear baiting but be warned:

He's a pro.

UPDATE: 13.25 Time for some lunchtime target practice. Got to zero those sights:

TB isn't the only one taking aim:

Which mystery CCHQ staffer is semi-pro too?

UPDATE 14.45: Mrs Shane Greer is apparently a force to be reckoned with:

"Don't mess with Texas" indeed.

LabourList

's Alex Smith has previous:

TB is tempted to open up a book on tonight. Any punters?

Revenge is a Dish Served Cold

Another truly special Brown moment:



Remember this one?



Karma eh.

Mandy Investigates

TB has to wonder what the point of some research positions at universities are. Leeds University have really taken the biscuit with this one though. For a cheeky £30k you can spend a year

researching

"The rise and regulation of lap dancing and the place of sexual labour and consumption in the night time economy.":

"You will work on an ESRC funded study on the rise and regulation of lap dancing and the place of sexual labour and consumption in the night time economy. The post will involve qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. It is based in Leeds, although some travel to other cities may be necessary."

Are the hookers of Leeds not quite up to scratch then?

A spectacular waste of money made only worse when you realise it is in fact taxpayer funded. The ESRC

get funding

from the Department of Business Innovation and Skills to the tune of two hundred million quid a year.

Which begs the question why is the BIS Secretary Lord Mandelson so interested in researching the "night time economy" to put it gently?

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Dave went to Afghanistan last week so Gordon followed over the weekend. Who do you reckon the more competent wartime leader would be? There is apparently some footage of soldiers refusing to shake Brown's hand while he was out there.

TB will try track it down today.

Berlusconi - The Punch Footage

The moment someone punched Rolling Stone Magazine's Rockstar of the Year has found its way onto youtube:



John Prescott has been asked to hand himself in for questioning.

H/T:

SNP TV

Most Unparliamentary Language

A little late to this one but it is hilarious:



Nick Clegg looked like he was close to going down this route at the last PMQs...

Quote of the Day

Alistair Darling reminds me of one of those kidnapped Colombian judges in sweat-drenched polyester shirts, who are forced to record messages of support for their captors, but try desperately to signal to the camera that they are doing so under duress. With every blink, every hesitant reply, every furrowing of his brow, even his hint in yesterday's Daily Telegraph that the hugely expensive ID card scheme may be scrapped, the wretched Chancellor seems to be saying: I know, I know, I want to bring down the public debt, too. But my captor, Gordo el Furioso – he will not let me!

-Matthew d'Ancona

His whole column is as ever

well worth a read

, not sure about the headline though. As is Patrick Hennessy's scoop

also in the Telegraph

. Labour have some bloody cheek if they want to whack the Tories for putting up VAT - something Darling is calling for - especially given the fact they will be pounding everyone who earns over 20k with yet another rise in National Insurance - a tax on the jobs and incomes of middle Britain, to paraphrase.