1 Comment October 11th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
University campuses are often regarded as breeding grounds of the Left. But, really, they’re not all that much so any more. Certainly in my experience at Essex, once a hot-bed a Lefty radicalism, the lecturers were far more so than the students. But I don’t think that these new posters [via Shane Greer], produced by the Young Britons’ Foundation really work very well.
They don’t really mean anything, or say anything. I think they are underestimating and over-sexualising students by proposing such posters.
Shane thinks that they are “just the ticket for university conservative groups across the UK” because they are “fun, edgy, and… exciting”. I think they’re just pretty sad, really. They don’t seem “edgy” at all, but a retreat to mere sexualisation.
No-one is going to be persuaded to join the Conservative Party by pictures of topless men or girls looking deeply into the camera. They might be by posters which actually represent what the Conservatives mean. The Boris posters that were given out last year by Conservative Future societies at Freshers Fairs last year are far superior to this offering. At least they were actually somehow connected to the party itself, and not just a transparent attempt to be mildly pornographic.
Life’s better under a Conservative - but these posters aren’t the best way to make it happen.
1 Comment September 30th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
David Cameron and the Conservative Party are calling for Brown to “stop dithering” about whether or not to call an election, and effectively tells him to ‘bring it on’. At the same time, William Hague says at the conference in Blackpool that “the Conservative Party is ready, it is hungry for victory and if Gordon Brown ever summons up the courage to call an election we are going to beat him.”
The polls appear to say the opposite, giving Brown leads of 7-11 points - if the election was tomorrow, of course. But it is also claimed that much of this increase in the polls is focused up in the Labour heartlands of North England, with the electorate in both Scotland and South England not being anywhere near as enamoured with the Great Clunking Fist. But the recent boundary changes “give” the Tories an extra 10-5 or so extra seats straight off. This is also compounded by the fact that in 35 council by-elections since Brown took over as prime minister, the Tories have a nine-point lead over Labour. And these are real votes, not just opinion polls - especially based as they are on the Brown Bounce and Labour conference.
If Brown calls an election, he can only lose. If he does anything less than come back with a majority greater than his current 66, he will have effectively lost, no matter that he still has a majority in the Commons. Thus, for him to win it would require a virtual decimation of the Tories - something that is unlikely, even with his poll lead.
By calling for Brown to stop “dithering” and just call an election, the Tories are aiding and abetting Brown and his government in painting him into a corner - very soon he will have to either call an election or look like a dithering coward, which isn’t exactly a characteristic desirable in a prime minister. By allowing himself to be boarded in in this way, Brown has missed at least one trick. He should have either ruled out an election or called one in his conference speech - even if it was simply to say that there would be an election this autumn, but without mentioning a date yet. As his loyalist ministers have been stoking up the election fires, if he does not go it will be a big blow to his credibility.
I’m still not convinced he will though.
Sources: The Times, The Telegraph, BBC
Add a comment September 27th, 2007 by ThunderDragon
It is very rare for me to quote pretty much an entire blog post, but I just have to with this one by John Moorcroft:
One of the most pleasing things to come out of the Top 100 Right of Centre Bloggers list was just how many of the websites featured are maintained by CF members. The highest CF Blogger was Caroline Hunt, with the excellent Sinclair’s Musings following in swiftly behind. Others included on the list were Martine Martin (who is now giving blogging up…), Paul Bristow, ThunderDragon, Birmingham University CF, Tim Roll Pickering, Nicholas Webb and my good self. Donal Blaney, a former CF National Chairman, also featured in the list. When one adds in the success of CF Diary and considers that CF bloggers such as Iain Lindley, Mark Clarke, Aber University, Sam Tarran, Anastasia Beaumont Bott and Damon Lord are also out there writing exceptional blogs, it becomes apparent that the young conservative bloggersphere is streets ahead of its labour and liberal democrat rivals.
Any additional comment is superfluous.
