(l-to-r: Branch Chairman Ben Harris-Quinney, Vice Chairman Leandro Pilbeam, Secretary Paul Gordon, Elliot Abrams, Social Secretary Catherine Gurri, Treasurer Pierre Shepherd)

July began with a major event on the Madrid branch calendar as 10 of our branch members travelled north to a mountain retreat for Campus FAES, a week-long event of lectures and seminars on International Conservatism.

It was a tremendous opportunity for our branch to better integrate with the Spanish conservative movement but also with Conservatives & libertarians from all over the world. Ronald Reagan’s former foreign policy team was well represented with Elliot Abrams and Raymond Tanter, which offered some fantastic insights into the Gipper’s thinking in bringing down the Soviet Union and indeed some transferred thinking on Iran and Islamism. The Nobel Prizewinning economist Edward C. Prescott and Thatcher historian and Director of the IEA, John Blundell also provided a differing viewpoint to Barack Obama’s adage that no notable economists disagree with the bailout package.

(l-to-r: Branch Vice Chairman Leandro Pilbeam, Chairman Ben Harris-Quinney, John Blundell, Treasurer Pierre Shepherd. Secretary Paul Gordon, , Social Secretary Catherine Gurri)

Our Honorary Patron Michael Portillo attended part of the conference and we were able to put across to the international body present some of the issues facing Conservatives in the UK as well as British citizens abroad. I get a particularly good reaction from Americans when informing them that British people who have lived abroad for more than 15 years are disenfranchised to the extent of still being taxed in the UK, and increasingly taxed, but have their right to vote removed. I am hoping some of the recent anti-tax tea party events taking America by storm find their way to Madrid.

(l-to-r: Rt. Hon Michael Portillo, President Aguirre, FAES Director Jaime Garcia-Legaz MP)

The policy of a government to silence its citizens and dependants living abroad by restricting and removing their right to vote was arguably the single biggest mistake Great Britain ever made, and we lost the United States as a result. Of course the devolution and subsequent opposition of Benidorm does not loom on the horizon, but now the problem is at home.

The cynical policy of reducing citizens' voting rights because they would probably vote against the incumbent is as endemic of the poverty in leadership and politics as the recent expense scandal, and in my view, a citizen’s right to vote is more significant than their right to know how much their MP has claimed on expenses for their wisteria trellis. I hope that we will soon see the mock incredulity of the media applied in fond helpings of outrage to the cause of our ex-pat citizens.

It is important to be clear on the issues facing ex-pats, even if one thinks they have no interest in UK politics generally, or even no right to that interest if they have lived abroad for 15 years.

Firstly, it isn’t just people who have lived abroad for 15 years that can’t vote in the UK, anyone who lives abroad will be officially told they can postal vote, but the system doesn’t work. Conservatives Abroad advise people not to postal vote unless they want their vote to sit in a postal sorting station for a week and then be binned.

All that remains is therefore proxy voting, which relies on ex-pats having a trusted party in the UK from their home constituency whom they feel they can ask to vote on their behalf. The right to vote should never rely on anyone else, or overcoming social awkwardness to ask a faint acquaintance to drive to a polling station after work to fulfil your democratic process.

Those who have lived abroad for more than 15 years often have begun to draw their pension, and on that pension are being taxed. I can’t imagine anyone who should be more interested in Government spending and the inevitable massive tax hikes which will follow than the retired people who are relying on every penny of income.

Ex-pats are often also in need of support from Westminster on a range of issues such as the LUV law, that has caused many ex-pat Brits to lose their homes in Spain without compensation. The Italian system of having two MPs to represent their ex-pats in the Italian Parliament is excellent, progressive and engaged with the kind of mobile world we live in now. The UK system is moving rapidly away from democracy, and is more reminiscent of the unaccountable EU, than the mother of democracy. When Italy is forcing questions on the authority of the British democracy, now is the time for change.

In order to remind us of what we are rapidly losing and what we once so proudly held, I am very pleased to be organising the first Winston Churchill exhibit in Spain to be held in Madrid in 2010, which will showcase the old man’s life.

In planning the exhibition, I was privileged whilst a few days in the UK to visit Churchill College in Cambridge and the Churchill archive. To see the original speeches with notes, edits, last minute omissions and additions was to view the blueprints of our history. The fact that, due to becoming woefully unprepared for rain whilst in Spain I was caught for 40 minutes under a tree in a rainstorm outside the college, was a small price to pay for the presence, and much needed reminder of greatness in our now heavily worn halls of power.

I am currently a Conservative Abroad in the United States touring our branches here and training with YBF; next month will hold the details.

(The tree which offered some shelter along the Cambridge backs during a violent rainstorm.)

TYC is enjoying the summer vacation (and planning some changes for the new season), but we’ve not taken our eye off the ball entirely. Our chums over at KeepRightOnline spotted my Facebook profile picture – lovingly borrowed from a World War II British morale-boosting poster (you may be more familiar with the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ version).

It struck me, though, that this poster - Freedom is in Peril: Defend it with all your might – is deeply apropos the current political climate. The government is moribund, and nothing is more dangerous than a wounded foe. Desperate to cling on to their political existance New Labour are thrashing about for populist, opportunistic initiatives, and you can be sure that Liberty will, as always, be the first victim.

So, as KRO ask, what are you doing to defend freedom?

And for propoganda of your own, http://www.freedomisinperil.com/ do a sound range of ‘Freedom is in Peril’ merchandise.

(I found the site via Facebook’s targetted advertising – how scarily well FB knows me!)

Shane Greer has posted a sound piece about PR on his blog regarding the need to incorporate photo-ops in your campaigning. There’s a lesson here that all activists learn. Up and down the country, whatever the party or cause, people are campaigning on issues. But doing that groundwork is only half the battle. It’s crucial to make the most out of your events and activities – and a photo opportunity can massively boost the coverage of your campaign.

Here at TYC we try to avoid being text heavy, because we know that people make a decision as to whether to read a story within a fraction of a second. A potent photo can easily grab attention and cause your audience to read your article or grasp your message, where as a lot of text may well go unread and your campaign unremembered.

““A picture paints a thousand words. Tempting though it is to avoid the use of that obvious cliché when writing an article about photo ops, to do so ignores the inherent value of the statement. It might be one of the oldest clichés in the book, but it’s also undoubtedly true. And for those active in the public policy arena it should act as a constant reminder that if you’re failing to incorporate photo ops into your activities you’re punching far below your weight.

The case for using photo ops in campaigns couldn’t be more compelling. Former Conservative party strategist David Canzini says: “These days people have less and less time, so messages need to be communicated quickly. People won’t always read the article about your campaign in the newspaper or your piece of campaign literature.” He adds: “A strong photo op allows you to tell the story without people having to read anything.” What’s more, as Jo Tanner, director of iNHouse PR says, a strong image will make an enormous difference to the page: “A photo op immediately increases your presence on the page of a newspaper.” And who wouldn’t want that?””

See Shane’s blog for more.

Today is the final day for purchasing tickets to the Young Britons’ Foundation Summer Party.

This year’s centre-piece YBF Summer Party is, thanks to the generous support of Peter Stringfellow, being held at Stringfellows Angels, 201 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 8ZH on Wednesday, 22 July 2009 from 9pm.

The evening is set to be the largest gathering of serious, committed young conservatives ahead of the YBF6 Conference in October – can you afford not to attend?!

Entry is by ticket only – prices are £20 (£10 for students in full-time education) including wine, beer and canapes and YBF has the exclusive use of the downstairs area of the club from 9pm until 11pm.

Pay for Tickets Online: you can pay for tickets using PayPal at http://www.ybf.org.uk/events-conferences/summer-party-2009/. The process is quick and straightforward and you don’t need a PayPal account. Most debit/credit cards are accepted.

Social media – Facebook, Twitter, forums and the like – have claimed numerous victims over the last few years. They seem to encourage gaffes. But the London Liberal Youth team have outdone themselves by bragging on their Twitter feed about how they’ve been destroying Green Party literature in Norwich North.

Surely a sign of how desperate their campaign in Norwich has become if they’re worried their vote will collapse to the Greens! The reality is that even one of the Lib Dem’s famous lying bar charts cannot spin them out of defeat in Norwich. The polls show it’ll be a close race between Labour and the Conservatives. The Liberals are, in fact, fighting for the bronze medal again the Greens.

This headline isn't mine, but James Delingpole's. In the latest issue of The Spectator he interviews a man who has the courage to go against the bite-size, easy to digest and fashionable mantra that "man is killing the planet." I absolutely urge you to read it.

Ian Plimer is an Australian geologist, who is seeking to blow open the debate on climate change. He doesn’t deny that the climate is changing (who could?) but he does question whether or not mankind is responsible.

“I’m a geologist. We geologists have always recognised that climate changes over time. Where we differ from a lot of people…is in our understanding of scale. They’re only interested in the last 150 years. Our time frame is 4,567 million years. So what they’re doing is the equivalent of trying to extrapolate the plot of Casablanca from one tiny bit of the love scene. And you can’t. It doesn’t work.”

Plimer isn’t a “right wing climate change denier” as the Left would have us believe. He is a practical, rational scientist who doubts the prevailing dogma. And he’s not alone. Whenever we hear about the doomsday scenario of dying polar bears, great floods and extinction we always hear from the same people; those that have made a career out of scaring us. These people in turn double up as “experts” used to justify ever higher levels of taxation. Until the BBC recognise that “climate change” is a debate (with various levels of opinion) then you’ll just have to dig around a bit if you want to explore the other side of the issue.

Of course we should recycle more. Of course it would be better not to pollute the atmosphere. Of course we should protect natural habitats. But as human beings (who have only been on this planet for the blink of an eye) we also have a responsibility to look beyond our own impact, and try to understand that the planet (and its changes) are bigger than us.

As Plimer points out, there’s a lot of scientific information that contradicts prevailing climate change theory:

“Polar ice has been present on earth for less than 20 per cent of geological time…extinctions of life are normal…climate changes are cyclical and random…the CO2 in the atmosphere — to which human activity contributes the tiniest fraction — is only 0.001 per cent of the total CO2 held in the oceans, surface rocks, air, soils and life…CO2 is not a pollutant but a plant food…the earth’s warmer periods — such as when the Romans grew grapes and citrus trees as far north as Hadrian’s Wall — were times of wealth and plenty.”

Just open you minds to the debate, and look beyond the alarmist headlines of the BBC and the Guardian.

The Guardian has a feature this weekend on women in the Conservative Party. It’s worth a read, but pretty predictable Tory-bashing stuff, including as it does the apparent assertion that Tory rejection of positive discrimination is a bad thing. Whatever happened to discrimination being, well, discriminatory (i.e. bad)?

The Guardian states: “The Tories have worked hard to help women candidates with training and resources but the supply of good women isn’t really the issue.” With respect, parachuting in candidates to fill quotas is an appalling idea. Tokenism, anyone? Where is the merit? Where is the consideration for people who don’t fit the quota criteria but who have a long, strong record of commitment to the Party? Surely special treatment is only likely to engender resentment. The Guardian, however, seems smitten with the controversial A-List, implemented earlier on in Cameron’s reign (its current status unclear/possibly retired).

However, the Guardian clearly doesn’t read ConservativeHome. If it did, it would have noted their recent feature tracking the A-List selected candidates, which revealed that over a quarter have abandoned their candidacy. That doesn’t seem like a very good way to improve the representation in the party (although I concede the percentage of non-A-list candidates to abandon their candidacy in the same period is unknown).

The proper way to fix it is to bring more women up through the ranks, train all party activists well and offer them all opportunities to advance in whatever direction they wish, subject to merit – i.e. determinate on their historic involvement and commitment to the Party. Anyone who has been monitoring the state of Conservative Future, the Party’s youth wing, will have noted how the number of young women has consistently been increasing over recent years. It will be this generation – comprised of dedicated activists like Liza – which, in the fullness of time, will markedly change the complexion of the parliamentary party.

Full article here | Gallery of six profiled Tory women here

A highly eventful month began on June 8th with the launch of our Conservatives Abroad branch in Madrid, marking the results of several months of lobbying and planning. On the day following the European Elections, the FAES (Fundacion para el analisis y los estudios sociales) headquarters in Madrid brought together members of British Conservatives Abroad, the U.S. Republicans Abroad as well as many Spanish politicians and journalists. Former President of Spain Jose Maria Aznar ably hosted his guests in his role as President of FAES, welcomed a new forum for Conservative debate in Madrid and increased connections to the U.K Party.

President Aznar announced his desire to see continued collaboration between Conservative Parties in Spain, the U.S. and the U.K. in a move toward a more “Atlantic Europe”. In my opening speech I congratulated the President for his leadership in defending a commitment to security, freedom and democracy that is sorely missed in light of current events in Iran. President Aznar’s government strengthened ties between the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain, and held Spain as a point of reference in International Affairs, whereas now, as anyone following the back pages, or indeed front pages of our tabloid media in the U.K will note, more people in the world can name the President of Real Madrid than the President of Spain.

My opening speech:

Some of you may remember the Rt. Hon Michael Portillo, if you are able to cast your mind back to the dark days of Twigg’s victory late that night. We were therefore happy to announce that he has accepted the position of Patron of our branch with a view to represent expatriate Conservatives in Spain and aiming to create “a network of conservatives abroad” to strengthen ties with the conservative foundations of Europe such as FAES and Republican Americans overseas. I can confirm that he remains a political heavyweight and we are all looking forward to employing his weight of experience and expertise in achieving much needed reforms to how we deal with our ex-pat citizens as a party and, one hopes, in the future, as a government.

On the 24th June we were delighted to host Lord Lawson, who was presenting the Spanish version of his book An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming. Following his influential role in shaping a report on “The Economics of Climate Change” by the Lords economic affairs committee, Lord Lawson felt that an argument opposed to the widely adopted consensus on climate change was sorely needed.

“One of the striking features of how concern over global warming has risen to the top of our political agenda is the extraordinary unanimity with which it has been taken up by our political establishment.

Not only have our main political parties unquestioningly accepted the more extreme claims of the threat posed by global warming, as exemplified by the Treasury’s Stern Review or Al Gore’s alarmist film. Our politicians have similarly endorsed without a murmur all the steps now being taken to avert this predicted catastrophe – which, if carried through, can only mean a dramatic transformation in our way of life.”

Those of you observing the current meetings on climate change on the G8 summit must surely be balking at the amount of EU imposed restrictions on energy production and industry that are about to find their rapacious way into U.K law, serving as a further impediment to our battered economy.

The primary aims of our branch are listed on the new Conservatives Abroad website: http://www.conservativesmadrid.com. “We hope to enable expatriate Britons to vote in the UK’s local, European and general elections. We hope to stand for the rights of expatriate Britons in Spain, to create a social network for Conservative expatriates in Spain, to foster stronger links with other Conservative political bodies in Spain, and to provide members access to leading political thought and leading Conservative politicians”. The branch membership welcomes” all Conservatives, libertarians & friends.”

Look forward to a full report on the Conservatives Abroad at the Campus FAES European political conference next month.

Last night, I did something that I’ve never done before. I watched The One Show on the BBC. I’ve never watched this before because I assumed that it was just mindless chit chat about funny shaped crisps, presented by an irritating Brummie and a dim-witted pretty face. (It turns out, by the way, that I was pretty much spot on with this assumption). However, I’m currently lacking Sky TV and so had to flick through the old fashioned channels to find something to watch. 

My attention was caught when I heard the Brummie pose the question, “Is nationalisation a good thing?” They then went to some oaf (or “roving reporter” as they’re known on The One Show) who told us that everything was perfect in the 1970s and that the “era of enterprise” that was the 1980s ruined this for ever. I promise you that I thought he was being sarcastic, but after watching a bit more it turned out that he actually believed this to be true. Well, I wasn’t around in the 70s but I’ve heard the horror stories of power shortages, bodies going unburied, aggressive trade unionism, inefficiency and a general sense of national decay. According to the BBC’s reporter, this was all blown away by the nasty rise of free enterprise and that evil word, competition. 

To back up his point, he asked a few members of the public what they thought of privatisation. Whilst one or two suggested that competition was a good thing, the editor clearly preferred those that followed the line “making money is evil…public services are vital…the public sector is marvellous….nationalisation is great.” I was so furious, that I had to update my Facebook status telling everyone how furious I was. (This is, after all, the easiest way for me to vent anger).

After neatly summing up that nationalisation was good and privatisation was bad, the reporter signed off and the irritating Brummie with his pretty co-host went back to talking about Strictly Come I’m Hardly a Celebrity on Ice. I humbly suggest that they stick to such mindless topics in the future, and leave political analysis to those that truly understand what the 70s were like, and why the Thatcherite revolution was so necessary. 

]]> http://theyoungconservative.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/i-wasnt-around-in-the-1970s-but-im-told-it-was-a-glorious-time-for-the-uk/feed/ 2 edwardhallam maybanner2 http://theyoungconservative.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/win-a-curry-with-eric-pickles-mp/ http://theyoungconservative.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/win-a-curry-with-eric-pickles-mp/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:01:38 +0000 Edward Hallam http://theyoungconservative.wordpress.com/?p=2995 ]]>

Conservative Future is offering activists the chance to win a curry with Party Chairman and campaign guru Eric Pickles MP.

The competition is divided into two parts. The activist who clocks the most campaigning on the ground in Norwich North, and the activist who spends the most time at the GenEVA telephone canvassing centre in Millbank Tower will both win a curry with Pickles.

To be in with a chance of winning, obviously, get stuck into the Norwich North by-election.

This weekend Conservative Future has two action days in Norwich North, and a free coach is going up on Saturday from central London. Those wishing to make calls on behalf of Tory candidate Chloe Smith should contact the GenEVA team.

In both cases, activists must make sure they record their attendance on sign-in sheets, and indicate on the sheet that they are CF.

Sounds like a great competition – just stop and think for a moment: what would you discuss with Pickles over a Vindaloo?

What will the other parties do to incentivise their activists?

]]> http://theyoungconservative.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/win-a-curry-with-eric-pickles-mp/feed/ 4 edwardhallam ERIC PICKLES