Douglas Carswell & UCL Libertarians

I missed the NW London drinks night as I had 'one of those days' at work and only managed to get to the UCL Libertarians' event with Doug Carswell.

I am very much a Classic Liberal/ Libertarian Tory and believe the political battle for our generation will be over issues of freedom, liberty and privacy, which are all intrinsically linked.

The fiasco regarding the negligent loss of data proves how dangerous a large, pervasive database state can be. We are heading into a true information age yet have a Government and administration that is clueless when it comes to protecting our privacy.

By reducing the influence of the state, as we Conservatives should instinctively encourage, I believe we will deliver a more prosperous, affluent and happier society.

Brown is Dead and Buried

Brown is right in the, err, brown stuff. Vince Cable's great quip about Brown's transformation from 'Stalin to Mr Bean' is the stuff of political legend! Fantastic!



I've suffered over 10 years of my adult life under a Labour Government and I have never seem them so weak, disillusioned and in such rapid freefall. It is quite a pleasant experience!

Brown is genuinely not up to the job, in terms of methodology, presentation or vision. For all of Blair's weaknesses, and there were many, he could never be accused of being a poor politician. In fact, Blair's greatest weakness was that he was too good a politician.

No-one will ever accuse the Mr Bean Brown of that.

UCL Question Time

Mark Coote, PPC for Cheltenham and Fund Raising Director for Cancer Research UK, and Nick Webb, Gloucestershire and Bristol CF Area Chairman, were both on the panel with me at UCL's Question Time.

A huge range of questions were asked over the hour and half, from conscription to the EU treaty to the BNP. No questions on tax, oddly enough!

Nick reviews the night here and the UCL post is here. I thought the evening was a tremendous success! The responses from the panel were similar but had some points of divergence...we're a broad church, remember!

I was particularly pleased with the questions from the floor: some serious, wide-ranging questions were pitched and it was good to reply with some opinions that aren't always voiced at Conservative events!

The TRG Reformer Drinks and Dinner

The Tory Reform Group held an anniversary dinner last night to celebrate the 30th year of 'Reformer', their magazine, and marking the 10th annniversary since Sir John Major retired as Conservative Leader.

I called in at the Student TRG drinks reception beforehand and was pleased to see representatives from all over the country, including Bath and Warwick. Sir John gave a serious speech, peppered with his customary humour, and gave an over-generous Q&A session afterwards. It is a pleasure to hear students engaged with such a range of political topics from defence to transport to devolution.

I have met Sir john before and he is genuinely a sound chap, whose stock has risen considerably since leaving office. His speeches are warm enough to apear genuine yet he always has the delivery of a true statesman. I think it is a tremendous shame that he doesn't receive the recognition he deserves for basically solving the Irish problems: all the groundwork was in place by 1997 following Sir John's many years of dedication. The same can be said for the sound economic reforms of the early 90's that Labour have so carelessly frittered away.

I then had the pleasure of dining at the Carlton, which was attended by Sir John Major, Lord Hesltine, Lord Hurd and the Rt Hon. Ken Clarke. It was a rare treat to see the backbone of the Major government together in one room, which was apparently the first time publicly in ten years.

The TRG are often given short-shrift by some within the Party but as Sir John commented, it is a great organisation that can introduce people to Conservative politics. As a moderate group, they can promote a range of ideas without censure, which can only be a good thing for the overall Consersative movement.

It's Only a Teddy Bear!

Seriously, I'm thinking of getting all my news from The Daily Mash, instead of the Beeb, it makes just as much sense. 6 months in prison or 40 lashes for allowing children to call a teddy bear Muhammad?

Dr Khalid al Mubarak....said Ms Gibbons' job as a teacher, as well as Britain's diplomatic ties with Sudan, would also be taken into consideration.

Dr Mubarak said: "The way the British think of the teddy bear - as far as Christmas is concerned, and toys are concerned - we don't have any teddy bears over here, so in Sudan, for us, it is a fierce and dangerous animal."

The next thing will be censoring cartoons.....

Come up with a slogan that Rocks!

Having been born with a distinctive surname, I've become used to an array of nicknames and insults revolving around 'Rock'. I enjoy banter as much as anyone and actually think CF should be enjoyable! I'm hoping a light-hearted competition might inject some humour and creativity into what is going to be a long and, at times, heavily politicised election campaign.

So I've invited friends and CF members on facebook to come up with a slogan for my soon-to-be-officially-launched CF campaign. The notion is to play off the 'Rock' and so I want all the slogans to contain that great word! Have some creative fun - the possibilities are endless! You can also submit images for the slogan. A prize will be given for the chosen idea!

To submit a slogan leave a comment below, email me (michael@michaeldavidrock.com) or join the Facebook group here.

I'll be launching my Manifesto of Principles in early December, giving my views on the state of organisation and an indication of how I plan to make CF bigger, bolder and better. I think it is too easy to lose sight of the things that matter in CF: that members feel involved, want to be a part of the organisation and enjoy their membership! Enjoy!

CF Green Action Day/ Stand Up, Speak Up

I went back to my old stomping ground in the North East of England to help out with a social project and attend a debate with some CF members in the Tynemouth. Having lived and worked there for three years, I understand not only many of the social problems the Nort East suffers from but also the relative isolation that many Tories can suffer.

I'm glad to see there are so many target seats that we are fighting hard for in the region. Wendy Morgan, PPC, and Matthew Page, of Consult, led the debate which covered a range of topics that affect young people. The usual issues of interaction, drug abuse and a lack of aspiration came up.

The North East is an interesting area as there are pockets of staunch Tories. We'll know we have a chance of forming a Government when we win seats outside of our traditional areas.

Thanks to Bethany Lightley for all the work she put in to arrange the day and for her CF work in general.

Boris @ King's College

Well done to the King's Conservative Society in organising a very-well recieved Boris Johnson event. What struck me was how much more serious Boris has become. I was a chatting with a friend about this and about how Boris seems to have taken a stepback from the limelight: my theory is he is distancing himself from the joker role and is now focussing on the serious task of taking office as London Mayor. Guido posted something along those lines the earlier.

I think Boris is the one man in the Tory party that can match Ken in terms of personality, individuality and media presence. He hadn't changed his delivery but seem far more determined to actually address direct issues, even though I didn't agree with all of them.

As I don't live in London, I can't vote but I will be out campaiging for Boris as soon as it re-starts. I think the Oyster Card holders are superb and even non-voters were taking them when I was helping out at Oxford Circus!

Star Social, Rubbish Football and Bruises

I went ice-skating at Somerset House and I thoroughly recommnend. A superb setting was only marred by the very iffy weather and subsequent bruises I collected from hitting the deck. It was good fun though! :P

To recover we popped into the pub for a swift half to catch the football. Good lager, rubbish performance. Why we persist in pretending that our football team can ever actually win a tournament when we can't even qualify,I have no idea. Croatia showed the gulf in ability by demonstrating better teamwork, exertion and basic skills. I hope this is a wake up call to the FA to get the academy at Burton back on track before we lose another generation of footballers to mere hyperbole. Let's get the basics right first...

Which is just what the mighty CLWCF have done! Like a phoenix from the ashes, in past half a year or so, Sam Billet and his fine committee have rejuvenated their CF Branch and established a monthly must-attend in the form of Star Social. Even though I missed the speaker this month, the event is well attended by a range of people ensuring a good mix of politics and chat. Pencil the next one into your diary, see you there...

And they want to introduce ID Cards?

The fiasco of 25 million people's details begin 'lost' by HMRC should be used as a case study in ignorance, stupidity and ineptitude.

Apparently, HMRC's information system was not flexible enough to cope with the transfer of selective data for their audit: at least there was an initial awareness from the National Audit Office that the data needed to be filtered. However, instead of establishing a secure encryption process for the appropriate data, the practice of burning the total data set onto cds began. This started to happen as early as March 2007.

This is absolutely shambolic. How many more cds are floating around with every single personal detail stored on Government databases? Who are the employees who think it is acceptable to share highly-sensitive data with outside parties?

I am tremendously opposed to the Identity Cards scheme primarily for this reason. I agree with the civil liberties arguments against the scheme but argued in my disertation that the security, integrity and functionality of the scheme are its weaknesses. This episode goes to prove that there are so many fundamental failings with the information management at the heart of government, that we should not even contemplate allowing the state to control our identity.

NW London Curry Night...and another campaign launch..

North West London CF held another of their curry nights at Jaflong in South Harrow. Amongst the guests were Rachel Joyce, PPC for Harrow West, and Ian Oakly, PPC for Watford, and Stephanie Leven of CFOI.

I'm not sure whether they were there for the curry or for Mr Peter Smallwood's Election Launch! Peter has done very well indeed in his present capacity as branch Chair and is looking to step up a division and go for the North West London CF chair. I wish him all the best in his election campaign!

Lib Dems: handbags at noon

Question Time on Thursday was as dull as dishwater, with neither Calamity Clegg nor Huhne really distinguishing themselves from your average Lib Demmer. Which is probably not a bad thing if you're trying to be elected as their leader....

I have long wondered who the Lib Dems want to apppeal to. I sympathise with much of the Orange Book and actually think Clegg would be a decent Tory if he got some balls. That he trotted out the infamous Baroness Thatcher quote, "No such thing as society", shows the venality of so-called-liberals. This is a note to everyone: read the whole article please and quote it in context:

"I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it. 'I have a problem, I'll get a grant.' 'I'm homeless, the government must house me.' They're casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."

The message is all about the individual assuming repsonsibilty. Can anyone who genuinely subscribes to liberalism, in whatever form, not entirely agree with these sentiments?

That the Lib Dems are intrinsically bound to EU membership is also illiberal. In fact , I could go on forever about the contradictions of the Liberal Democrat party but I'm not that interested.

The heat was slightly turned up on Sunday's Politics Show with Jon Sopel producing a tasty morsel of a document from Huhne's campaign team entitled 'Calamity Clegg', which Guido is offering to download. I think it an entirely unedifying performance for both candidates. Clegg looked as if he spat his dummy out and Huhne doth protest too much, methinks.

No such thing as a clean fight, eh?

TPA Rickmansworth

I've just become the Rickmansworth organiser for the TPA. this was my pitch:

As a UK taxpayer, I only have to look at my own net pay, my council tax, my petrol bills, my road-tax to see how totally out of hand the tax take of this government has become. The stark reality that strikes me is those who govern us have no idea just how much of a negative impact a decade of tax increases have had. The burden on the ordinary taxpayer has reached a level that is unsustainable, damaging to the economy and should now act as a galvanising point of reference for those who do not believe in big government but in the freedom and the liberty of the individual.

A low-tax economy has consistently proved to be the best way of increasing tax revenues, stimulating the economy and increasing wealth. Without a commitment to reducing taxes, we will lose our international competitiveness, our position as a leading nation for banking and financial services and an attractive proposition for foreign investors and business.

That any UK Government hasn't learnt from the reforms of the Eighties is a strong indictment of the blinkered, ignorant dogma certain sections of our political classes subscribe to. However, the TPA transcend party politics and the message they deliver is not only for people involved with politics directly: tax affects us all, whether it be direct or indirect taxation, and higher tax means lower personal wealth, particularly for those on the lower rungs of the ladder.

Everyday millions of pounds our money is frittered away on meaningless jobs, pointless arbitrary targets and negligent inefficiency. The one message I personally like to reiterate at every given opportunity is a simple one and I think we need to make that message heard: there is no such thing as Government money, just our earnings, taken by edict.

The email for the campaign is tpa@michaeldavidrock.com. If you're not in my area but want to join the campaign for lower taxes, please go here, it's free to join!

UCL and Greg Hands

Greg Hands came to UCL and gave an open and interesting speech on his career, his political opinions and the present fortunes of the Conservative Party. Greg has had a varied career which always makes for an interesting talk.

As has been for many years, the UCL Conservative Society is a popular and large society. It is always good to visit my old stomping ground and meet people I don't recognise! Their website has been freshened up and the latest edition of The Caerulean has just been published. Some very impressive authors in there..... ;)

Cheltenham campaigning

Went across to Cheltenham on Saturday to do some leafleting with Bristol and Gloucestershire Conservative Future. They have a very strong group building up over in the South West and Nick Webb is quite rightly re-standing for election as Area Chair.

I genuinely enjoy visiting different seats, it is always re-assuring to see that we have such a great national coverage, supported by hard working local teams.

The STRG quiz

Being a kind-hearted fellow, I forced our team to apply the brakes and only take third place in the Student TRG quiz!

A jolly good night, with Jonathan Isaby as the quizmaster and the answers as the entertainment. How many people in the country can name all 28 members of the Shadow Cabinet, without googling it?!

The Bow group debate and a few beers with the Freedom Association

I couldn't miss the opportunity of, metaphorically, beating a few Fabians! As a council officer of The Bow Group, I felt some pressure building up to the event that we hadn't invited enough people from our side. But then again, how could I even imagine the left wing defeating a motion that 'We are less free under Labour"?! It was uncomfortably close, actually! Kindly sponsored by the British Property Federation, who paid for some great food and an open bar. I'm a fan already.

The night clashed with a debate held by the Freedom Association which I went onto after. It was a shame to miss the debate but good to catch up with some libertarian friends, which a handful of us did following the Bow Group. I hear the debate was robust as ever!

Imperial College Reception with Justine Greening

It was really good to see a strong turnout at the Imperial event: historically they have never been a large Conservative Society but are going from strength to strength. Well done to all the team, led by Rob Goldie! Justine gave a personal speech about her road to election, her first years in the House and some insights into where she sees CF and the Party heading in the future. She's a very engaging speaker and comes across as very sincere and committed.

It has been interesting to see how her 'intake' have progressed so well and so quickly within the Party since 2005: members such as David Gauke (my MP, South West Herts) and Greg Hands, alongside Justine of course, are increasingly becoming household names.

An Evening with Michael Portillo

On Monday night, Dan Large organised a cocktail party with Michael Portillo, the media pundit and former Tory MP.

It was a pleasantly candid evening, with Portillo effusing the expected charm and wit. I have to be honest, I was somewhat disappointed at his views as he has 'mellowed' from the MP I remember. I suppose '97 made him re-evaluate Thatcherism before the rest of the parliamentary party did and came to a different conclusion than I did. Although we could still blame Diane Abbott for corrupting him! He did say how much he missed the Association but didn't mention the House too much.....

Campaigning in Lewes

The TRG organised a campaign in day in Lewes where Jason Sugarman is contesting a soon-to-be-very marginal seat. At the next general election, due to boundary changes, the 8000 majority should be slashed to just under 3000, giving us a great change to win what appears to be a no-hoper of a seat. We spent the day leafleting areas that had historically been neglected by the local associations.

Lewes town itself, apparently, is a solid Tory area but they have no CF to speak of. It may well be worth arranging a CF day down there. I've had some minor criticism for not going to Pendle with other CF members. Whilst the Pendle trip was an entirely noble and justified, I had agreed to the TRG event many moons ago and, out of gratitude for all the support they have provided UCL over the last five years, I couldn't let them down. We didn't heavily promote the day out of respect for the national CF event. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't even a Student TRG event so I was acting entirely altruistically!

It is fair to say that the communication from the NME needs to be more strategic and planning needs to longer-term so we don't have overlaps like this. I address this kind of issue in my manifesto of principles, which will be launched in December.