hello Bloggers.
All I can say about this blogging business is that it is very hard work. Please can you wait until tomorrow morning when I will be posting an incredibly exciting article from the Daily Telegraph about radio masts…In the meantime, I am passing you now to my brilliant parliamentary secretary, Melissa Crawshay-Williams, who is coming with me to Bournemouth next week for the Tory conference. She (I hope) will say a little about what she thinks the Tories have to do now to capture the political initiative, and what she wants from the conference. Over to Melissa.
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Boris put me on the spot here.
Tories – you are the sun to me. Let’s crystalise ideas that will bring out the best in each individual and deliver the best of British to the nation.
There is so much bonhomie at Conference – it’s got to be the best party of the year.
Let’s hope that the movers and shakers really blow the clouds away.
Melissa
Conservative Party Conference 2004
Highlights include:
Monday
1.00pm Boris will be speaking on “The Arts and the Next Government”
5.00pm Lord Saatchi, Advertising guru, “The Way Ahead”
5.45pm William Hague will speak on William Pitt the Younger (paving the way for his return to frontline politics?)
Tuesday
9.45am Michael Ancram and Michael Gove (The Times) to speak on “The World After Iraq”
10.30am David Willetts, Rob Parsons (Care) and Ed Mayo (National Consumer Council) on “The Debt Time-bomb”
11.45am Address by Michael Howard
12.45pm Daily Telegraph debate. Chair: Jon Snow Speakers: Boris, Matthew D’Ancona, James May, Alice Thomson, Liam Fox
5.00pm Malcolm Rifkind speaking on “Britain’s Place in The World” (making a bid for strong recognition on his impending return as MP)
5.45pm Michael Portillo, Mark Simmonds and others on “Skills for People Or skills for Business” (Portillo’s swan song at conference?)
Wednesday
10.00am John Redwood and Daniel Hannan MEP on “EU and its Constitution”
12noon Ann Widdecombe, John Midgley “Putting a Stop to Political Correctness”
12.45pm Andrew Tyrie “Re-engaging the Electorate”
1.00pm Boris and Lord Strathclyde – general discussion
4.00pm Boris and Malcolm Rifkind to take questions from the floor in the main Conference Hall
Thursday
12.00 Michael Howard’s Final Speech
Ambassadors from Iraq, China, Israel and Saudi Arabia will also be addressing meetings at Conference.
Boris,
remember blogs can be short and given your use of English exceeds most readers I hope we can look forward to blogs throughout the coming conference!
Can someone please kick Michael and Co and ask them to come out fighting? And let us stop all this ridiculous anti-Bush carry on – he is going to win by a mile and we need him more than he needs us!
In Northern Scotland we SEE the increase in our vote, we SEE the SNP flapping at us not Labour and we SEE London cutting our legs out from under us by backing off when Labour shout back about some of our policies which Labour then pinch!
Be PROUD to be a party that allows people to take responsibility for themselves but helps those who need it rather than give to all willy nilly in order to secure the welfare vote!
Boris for Prez!
Welcome, it is nice to see a Conservative MP on the Blogging scene, where are all the rest of you?
There is only one item on any political party
Sorry, slightly (well completely really) off topic but I was wondering if Boris or his secretary could confirm that he’s visiting my school sometime in the near future. It’s William Parker sports college in Hastings and I was told by a teacher (so admittedly she was probably drunk or sleep deprived) that he was coming into give a talk on the Arts but that we in the politics class could ‘access’ him as well. Is this absolutely earth shattering news true?
P.S. Boris, you are truely the badgers nadgers, put garlic in Michael Howard’s tea and take over and I’d vote Tory (if I was old enough to vote that is).
dave t makes a good point. If you believe in what you are saying then you should keep saying it. If it draws attacks from other parties then it can only be because they fear the message that you are putting out. One often gets the impression that the Conservative party actually believe the propaganda that Labour puts out about them. And so they ‘back off’.
The fact that Blair spent more time attacking the Liberals than the Conservatives in his speech should be an embarrassment to those running the party. They need to find some direction fast, and stick to it.
Boris Johnson’s Second Post
I don’t know why this made me smile, but it did…
All I can say about this blogging business is that it is very hard work. Please can you wait until tomorrow morning when I will be posting an incredibly exciting article from the Daily Telegraph ab…
I am glad to see that Boris has been given plenty of opportunities to shine at the conference. This will raise his profile even more which will pave the way for him to take over the Conservatives!(and then the World, obviously.)
Why don’t the Tories promise to do something about the BBC and the TV Licensing Authority? I got rid of my TV months ago and informed them and they did send me a credit on my direct debit – since, as you doubtless know, they take the money in advance. However, since then I’ve had several impolite and threatening demands from them – although I’ve told them repeatedly I haven’t got a TV. They evidently do not keep good records.
They’ve now sent me a letter – duly binned – informing me that I’ve informed them that I haven’t got a TV. (I knew that.) They take their usual “insolence of office” attitude and virtually accuse me of *lying*. They seem incapable of understanding that not everyone wants a TV. They cap it off by saying that they will be sending an official to my door and they hope I will “cooperate”.
“Cooperate”. It sounds like something from the “Godfather”. Bloody Gestapo. I thought this was England. I hope this doesn’t mean that this jack-in-office is yet another NGO (non-governmental official) who has some kind of “right of entry” – because he’s not coming in here. I’m not having my home searched on behalf of the BBC for a TV I haven’t got.
I just read “The Right Nation”, John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge’s book on conservatism in the US. Can you imagine such goings on there? There is a regard for choice and for liberty there that has been lost here.
Mobile phone mast initiatives are all very well, and I agree with the principal of acountability and choice that Boris refers to. But phone masts are small beer. Why are the Tories not promising to do something about the BBC and its funding? I gave up my telly because there is nothing but drivel on it. Why should I pay over �£100 a year for degraded trash like Eastenders and Changing Rooms just so that I can pick up the odd interesting historical or scientific programme on Channel 4. It’s interesting to note that the world’s first simultaneous worldwide broadcast of an opera took place on commercial television (Channel 4 again). I really don’t know what the BBC is for. It’s not even as though the Tories have anything to lose from reining the BBC in. Their political bias even on so-called News programmes is scarcely hidden. Greg Dyke was a major donor to the Labour Party, and his reason for being deeply grieved these days seems to be that he thinks the BBC is to the left of government, and the government should catch it up.
Just a thought, Boris old chap – any chance of letting us know precisely what Michael Howard’s up to at the moment? ————-
The first two slots on the Wednesday look rather like an excuse to continue the party’s current lurch to the right – Redwood ranting about the EU being the root of all evil (and somewhat forgetting it was the Tories who got us in in the first place) and Widdecombe attacking that favourite of right-wing bugbears, the tendency for people not to use derogatory racial epithets for describing their fellow man. ——————-
When are you Tory chaps going to work out that trying to bring back the right-wingers who’ve fled to UKIP and the BNP isn’t the way forward – it’s the centre ground where the votes are to be won. Tony Blair twigged this in ’97 and as may have been spotted in Central Office, the voters responded… Might be worth a try, you never know.
Melissa Crawshay-Williams is such a fabulous name, slowly rolling off the tongue . . . was the Melissa from Lawrence Durrell?
If Boris doesn’t learn to blog properly, we could just drop it and have Melissa’s Blog instead . . .
Boris, Are you any relation to Robb Johnson the well known foke singer?
Come on Boris, stop being a lazy arse and put pen to paper. Typical Tory, getting someone else to do your hard work for you.
Keep up the good work.
Boris,
Love the site, but more blogs from you that haven’t already been printed in the Telegraph would be great. Also, how about selling signed copies of your novel through the site? I’d buy one!
Stephen
Boris,Melissa,
Excellent article in The TG. Pleased that the Mast Issues raised by Richard Spring have been recognised.
If you want to represent opinions of the people of Green Lane and Greys Road, and if you need some bullets to fire at next weeks bash, let me know or get Melissa to email me. [Ed: done – thanks for tip]
For example: Kent County Council have forbidden the erection of Mobile Phone Masts on all Council Property in their County.
Barry Fentiman
Marlow
CAIMS
(Campaign Against Indiscriminate Mast Siting.)
Would the webmaster like to comment on why my posting in this thread, which I considered to be insightful and perspicacious, was deleted?
[Ed: yes, too acute for this site I’m afraid – but we welcome your comments; you might be a lot sharper and credible than we give you credit for]
The issue of ‘phone masts is NOT small beer. No-one knows the effects of low level RF forces on the human body but I can tell you it’s not very sensible. At the very least this issue is symptomatic of Labours behaviour in government. That is to commit the country to a policy that is in complete disregard to the peoples needs and concerns. I can’t give you the details here but legislation means phone companies have no option BUT to saturate the country with masts and as the frequencies have already been sold (nice little earner for BT) can succesive governments really do anything to change it?
The electorate can’t help but wonder if any government would want to back pedal on a source of revenue. If Boris was leader I’d vote Tory and Fox is good. There are some fantastic PPC’s but where are they when the conference is over? I never hear mine! So far the darling of the conference is an engaging boy who spoke the bleedin’ obvious very loudly whilst banging his fist. With respect oh woop de doo. The woman before him using her dads business to illustrate a point was more intelligent, fresh and convincing. As have been many after. Are the conservative big chiefs just pushing GQ politics Boris? So far the policies raise as many questions as they seek to answer.
PS: A round of applause for Melissa please, for behind every succesful man is an intelligent woman orchestrating the whole shooting match.
Hello Boris and Melissa
Huddled around our small tv set – we watched our leader’s speech on Sky from our civilized ex pat community in the Lot valley. Fair doos. Not bad. Some nice touches. We’ll wait then, before signing a further ten year lease on the chateau. You should be aware though, that no sooner than MH had left the stage than those traitorous vermin at the BBC were pontificating on the NEXT leader! As we picked over our confit, none of us were impressed by the offerings. Still, down but not completely out. Have to curtail this blog as Richard from the village has turned up to report France Telecom has just erected a phone mast 3km to the south. In true French style we are breaking out the chain saws to immediately ‘resolve’ this matter. Not everything is bad in euroland. Bon chance. David
Why are people criticising Boris for ‘not blogging properly’, and for being a ‘typical Tory’ in having Melissa post entries?
Surely the commentors on this site are smart enough to have realised that this isn’t a blog in the strictest sense of the term – but in fact more of a Boris-related-news update system?
Boris, please grab the party by the scruff of it’s neck and take power. MH has realised we are not going to win this election and is looking to the next, but we need somebody who is popular enough to get us elected. Concentrate on the party image and sort out the policy later.
Blimey guv’ner, Fedexing sackcloth and ashes suit (XL?) from the Lot for your trip to scouserville. What we say is nobody’s perfect, and although we all agree 100% with your position, alas it’s time to eat crow. Word of advice. The people will love you of course – so ‘apologise’ to them – steer well clear of local council reps, skypilots, ‘officials’ etc etc. Oh, and don’t forget to remove your hubcaps and keep them safe under your bed.
for Gods sake man, you shouldnt bother going to Liverpool its exactly as you say it is and on top of that its a bloody awful place – I thought we had free speech in this country? I have decided because M Howard made you do that I am going to vote Liberal…whats up with the chap/ Micheal Howard should know bwrtter than to interfere. I wonder if there is going to be a boycot of the Spectator in Liverpool……? could be difficult for you!
T M Stothert
Garstang
lancs