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Tory warning on multiculturalism British multiculturalism has left a "terrible" legacy which has allowed extremists to flourish, shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve has warned. A type of "cultural despair" has led "long-term inhabitants" and newer arrivals to feel alienated and unsure of UK values, he told the Guardian. Mr Grieve, speaking on the eve of the Conservative Party conference, argued this had led to support for extremism. He also warned against downplaying Britain's Christian heritage. Mr Grieve told the Guardian: "We've actually done something terrible to ourselves in Britain.

THE Conservatives have smashed through the 50 per cent barrier in the polls for the first time since Margaret Thatcher's heyday, a further blow to Gordon Brown's struggling leadership. An Ipsos MORI poll published today showed the Tories up four points on 52 per cent. The news comes amid reports that another member of the government is set to quit within days over Mr Brown's leadership. Eric Joyce, the Falkirk MP and parliamentary private secretary to John Hutton, the Business Secretary, is reportedly considering resigning after the Labour conference which begins this weekend. And James Purnell, the Work and Pensions...

Jahingir Hanif was shown to have handled a military style rifle during a trip to Pakistan three years ago, in 2005. The video may have been leaked to the net because of an acrimonious divorce. His party has been one of the most vocal with irrational hatred of firearms, and reacted to the video by suspending him from the party, even though he is out of the country and cannot present a defense. It is rumored that he even allowed some of his children to learn to use firearms. While Mr. Hanif is not alleged to have done anything illegal,...

Cameron hails by-election victory   Conservative leader David Cameron has hailed an "excellent result" in the Henley by-election, which saw Labour beaten into fifth place.Mr Cameron said his party's win showed people were starting to think of the Tories as an alternative government. But Gordon Brown - speaking a year after he became PM - said "by-elections come and by-elections go". Labour lost its deposit with just 1,066 votes - fewer than the BNP, Greens, Lib Dems and Tory victor John Howell. Mr Howell took the seat with 19,796 votes - a majority of 10,116 to the Lib Dem...

CREWE, England: Voters in this old railway town in Britain's industrial Midlands sent a powerful message to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the governing Labor Party on Thursday, electing a Conservative candidate by a wide margin in a parliamentary constituency that had been a Labor bastion for decades. Overturning a Labor majority that had been more than 7,000 votes at the general election in 2005, the Conservative candidate, Edward Timpson, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Labor candidate, Tamsin Dunwoody. In the results of the by-election, which were announced in the early hours of Friday, the Conservative majority over Labor...

For years, American and British politics were in sync. Reagan came in roughly the same time as Thatcher, and Clinton’s Third Way approach mirrored Blair’s. But the British conservatives never had a Gingrich revolution in the 1990s or the Bush victories thereafter. They got their losing in early, and, in the wilderness, they rethought modern conservatism while their American counterparts were clinging to power. Today, British conservatives are on the way up, while American conservatives are on the way down. British conservatives have moved beyond Thatcherism, while American conservatives pine for another Reagan. The British Conservative Party enjoyed a series...

Boris Johnson has won the race to become the next mayor of London - ending Ken Livingstone's eight-year reign at City Hall. The Conservative candidate won with 1,168,738 first and second preference votes, compared with Mr Livingstone's 1,028,966 on a record turnout of 45%.

LONDON -- Britain's Labour Party suffered its worst local election defeat on record and lost control of London on Friday, forcing Prime Minister Gordon Brown to rethink his strategy to avoid losing the next national poll. Conservative Boris Johnson, a journalist-turned-lawmaker prone to gaffes, wrested the prized post of London mayor from Labour's maverick Ken Livingstone, who has run the sprawling metropolis of some 7.5 million people since 2000. The election results were a major blow to Brown, who enjoyed a brief honeymoon with voters after he took over from Tony Blair, but has since been beset by economic turmoil,...

LONDON (AP) — An eccentric Conservative lawmaker appeared likely to become London's next mayor after an election that brought only gloom Friday for Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Labour Party. Brown's first test at the polls Thursday brought Labour its worst local election results in four decades; his credibility has been dented by accusations of dithering and economic blunders since he became leader last June. The party lost more than 300 municipal council seats and the Conservatives made strong gains in its longtime weak spot in northern England. In London, bookmakers and legislators alike predicted former magazine editor Boris...

Illegal immigrants are leaving the country in search of warmer weather and better health care (file picture) Failed asylum seekers are sneaking out of Britain - because they are fed up with the poor healthcare and bad weather. Scores have been caught trying to break past border controls in recent weeks, according to immigration staff. The majority of those who have been found are from Afghanistan and Iraq, said Les Williams, a chief immigration officer for the UK Border Agency.

The government's attempts to placate Muslims will cause long-term damage to communities, a charity said yesterday. The warning came from Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, chair and co-founder of the British Muslims for Secular Democracy, a new organisation claiming to represent the "silent majority who feel no conflict between their faith and democracy". Speaking before the launch, attended by Baroness Kishwer Faulkner and former Islamist Ed Husain, the journalist said the government was pandering to Muslims by granting too many concessions, fuelling their separation from the rest of society. "The government has found a way of placating Muslims in a way that will...

Boris Johnson has won the race to become the next mayor of London - ending Ken Livingstone's eight-year reign at City Hall.

Boris Johnson is the new Mayor of London, his rivals conceded tonight. The Tory MP scored a stunning election victory to end Ken Livingstone's eight-year reign and round off a disastrous 24 hours for the Labour Party. After a nailbiting count, Mr Johnson was so far ahead on first-preference votes he could not be caught by Mr Livingstone, even after second preferences were taken into account. Labour officials conceded privately that the Conservative was too far ahead. At 5pm, Mr Livingstone's campaign chief Tessa Jowell said: "The reports I'm getting suggest Boris Johnson is ahead. "If Ken has not won,...

The Labor Party was headed for a third-place finish in local elections in Britain in early results Friday morning. The big winner was the Conservative Party, The Telegraph reported. The party's campaign headquarters said it expected to top its goal of picking up 200 seats on local councils. The big loser was Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the newspaper said. The local elections were his first big test with voters since he succeeded Prime Minister Tony Blair last year. "Gordon Brown has had his 'Life on Mars' moment," a Conservative spokesman said. "He went to sleep in 2008 and today he's...

Election latest: David Cameron inflicts worst drubbing in 40 years The Conservatives made sweeping gains across the country early today as voters gave Gordon Brown a huge rebuff in his first electoral test as Prime Minister. David Cameron chalked up important successes in the North, the Midlands and the South, securing his top target of Bury in Greater Manchester and taking control of Nuneaton and Bedworth, and Southampton. The Conservatives also took seats in Labour strongholds of Sunderland and Wigan. Labour suffered one of its worst electoral humiliations, with its national share of the vote dropping to 24 or 25...

Cameron calls Brown's bluff on snap election and declares: 'We will fight and Britain will win'Gordon Brown is weighing up the biggest gamble of his political life after David Cameron called his bluff and challenged him to call an immediate election. The Conservative leader capped a barnstorming week by demanding an end to weeks of frenzied speculation that has left Britain on alert for a November poll. On an occasion that had been billed as make or break for Mr Cameron, who has been under intense pressure to reverse a slump in the polls, he took the extraordinary risk of...

Conservative leader David Cameron has promised to fight Labour's recent dominance in opinion polls and offer a "clear and compelling" alternative. Arriving in Blackpool for his party's annual conference, Mr Cameron was asked if the Tories were ready for an election. He replied simply "you bet". He said the country had suffered 10 years of a Labour government and was ready for a change... On the eve of his second conference as party leader, Mr Cameron is expected to announce a raft of new policies, including a plan to tax flights rather than individual passengers... Amid speculation about a possible...

Ontario Politics: Neither Conservative Leader Tory nor NDP Leader Object to Gay Sex in Public By John-Henry Westen TORONTO, September 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Xtra, a Canadian homosexual newspaper has published interviews with political party leaders from the province of Ontario.  While Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty refused to answer questions but sent in a written statement, both Conservative Leader John Tory and NDP Leader Howard Hampton consented to an interview. During the interview, the paper asked about homosexual sex in a public park, and neither Tory nor Hampton took issue with the suggestion. In the interviews published September 6,...

16 September 2007Cameron loses room to Muslims By Nigel Nelson David Cameron has been forced to give up a Parliament room so Muslims can pray in it. Commons officials took Conference Room H off the Tory leader, who used it for secret MP briefings. The move angered secretaries in the next-door office. One said: "We work on a lot of confidential material and we don't know who will be going in there." The room will be used by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. Muslim Labour MP Sadiq Kahn said it was an "excellent" idea, and joked: "David is...

Conservative Leader John Tory: Evolution Must be Taught in Science Class; Creation only for Religion Classes Tory plan seen by some as first step to forcing all private schools to absorb Ontario government's full secular curriculum By John-Henry Westen and Elizabeth O'Brien TORONTO, September 6, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Conservative Leader John Tory's election promise to give public funding to faith-based schools began to unravel at the seams yesterday as he spoke about evolution in the classroom.  Asked by a radio interviewer if creation would be permitted to be taught in the classroom, Tory replied, "The Christian-based school would have to...

Prominent UK Tory Politician Says Support for Civil Unions "Insults Intelligence" of British Critical of Tory leader Cameron's attempt to shift party to left and re-brand it as "heirs to Blair" LONDON,  September 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - One of the most senior MP's in the UK's Tory party, Michael Ancram, Member of Parliament for Devizes, has criticized the government's policy of treating homosexual partnerings as the equivalent to marriage. In a pamphlet published by the Daily Telegraph, Ancram calls on the party to remember its "conservative soul." With the possibility of a snap general election still being discussed, the Conservatives...

Tory plan to let parents set up charity schools By Toby Helm, Chief Political Correspondent Last Updated: 1:16am BST 27/08/2007 Parents in areas of low quality state education will be able to club together to set up their own schools with the benefit of charitable status, under Conservative plans to be announced within a fortnight. The proposals, which will strip underperforming local authorities of their right to veto such plans, are likely to form a centrepiece of the next Tory election manifesto. The idea for new "pioneer" schools, designed to appeal to parents fed up with local provision but unable...

The release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the final book in the series, has momentarily diverted the public's attention from certain realities: The weather, which normally depresses during winter months when there is less sunlight, has been crying unmercifully on Britain, bringing what the Daily Telegraph calls "chaos and misery" as homes are flooded, flights are canceled or delayed, and train and subway service is disrupted. A government document obtained by the media reveals Britain has nearly "run out of troops" to defend the country or fight abroad. The Conservative Party, under leader David Cameron, failed to win...

Working at the BBC can be a strange experience. On occasions during my 25 years as a journalist with the corporation it was jaw-dropping. In 1984 I returned to BBC Scotland after covering the Tory conference in Brighton. The IRA had come close to assassinating Margaret Thatcher with a bomb and the country was in shock. Apart, that is, from some of my BBC colleagues. "Pity they missed the bitch," one confided to me.

Young people could be given their adult rights as a reward for completing a modern day national service scheme, the Tory leader, David Cameron, said today. Linking rights to responsibilities would encourage youngsters to show they are responsible citizens, Mr Cameron said today as he challenged the notion that rights should automatically come with age. The Tory leader made his comments as he unveiled the Young Adult Trust charity, which was set up following his calls for a scheme to teach youngsters social responsibility based on the national service model.

Garth Turner suspended from Tory caucus Last Updated: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 | 12:42 PM ET CBC News Ontario MP Garth Turner has been suspended from the federal Conservative caucus for criticizing the prime minister. Turner will be sitting as an independent. Government House leader Rahim Jaffer said Wednesday that Turner was ousted on the recommendation of the party's Ontario caucus after he made one too many attacks on Prime Minister Stephen Harper and too often violated caucus confidentiality. Jaffer said the suspension was a long time coming and the votes were unanimous. Turner, who represents the Halton riding, has...

Britain's Cameron Supports 'Gay Marriage' Britain's Conservative Party leader David Cameron, in an effort to "modernize" his party, has embraced gay marriage as a key issue facing the next generation. Cameron hopes to "bury old taboos" of past British generations, according to a report in The Times (U.K.). Among those taboos are gay marriage, single parenting and new house building. Cameron, who is campaigning to replace outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair in the upcoming U.K. election, has targeted "female-friendly" issues, much like Blair did a decade ago, to broaden his party's base and secure more votes, according to various news...

David Cameron, who avoided mentioning Europe during his speech and spent a large proportion on the environment (David Bebber/The Times) David Cameron warned Tory activists that there could be no turning back to the policies of the Thatcher era as he put safeguarding the National Health Service at the heart of his efforts to return the Tories to power at the next election. In an hour-long speech ending his first party conference as leader, Mr Cameron also took on critics who accuse him of lacking substance or policy, using the key issue of taxation policy as an example that they...

Conservative MP Jason Kenney said Tuesday that Hezbollah is no different than the German Nazi party in the 1930s and, by visiting Lebanon, opposition MPs lent “political legitimacy” to the organization. Speaking at a news conference to react to comments made by Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj about taking Hezbollah off Canada’s list of terrorist organizations, Kenney said lessons need to be learned from history. “There was another political party in the past which had democratic support, which provided social services, which played an important role in the political life of its country in Germany in the 1930s which was also...

Conservative leader David Cameron has said the government is not doing enough to fight Islamist extremism in the UK. He criticised a funding freeze planned for the Home Office, and said intercept evidence should be allowed in courts. And he called for tougher action to deport "preachers of hate" and enforce existing anti-terror laws. But deputy prime minister John Prescott said the comments were "almost beyond belief" and "undermined unity" at a time "when we should all stand united". Speaking at a specially-convened Westminster news conference, Mr Cameron said an apparent attempt by "alleged British-born Islamist terrorists" to blow up...

No less than Osborne, Hague has brooked no hint of doubt about the wisdom of the Iraq warAN IMPRESSION has spread and needs to be questioned. It is that the new leadership of the Conservative Party has slid towards the centre in all things. I believe that in matters of foreign and defence policy the opposite is true. Here, and on Europe, I think the instincts of the party’s new leadership have shifted the Opposition to the right. Those of us inclined to see David Cameron and his friends as moderate and consensual in every sphere, domestic and foreign, may...

May 15, 2006 issue - David Cameron, a fresh-faced 39-year-old graduate of Eton and Oxford, was elected leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party five months ago. His attempts to change and move to the center the once mighty party of Margaret Thatcher got their first real test last week at the polls. The elections were local but had national repercussions. Overall, Cameron's Tories got 40 percent of the vote. Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party, after nine years in government and beset by a series of recent scandals and missteps, got only 26 percent—trailing even the Liberal Democrats. NEWSWEEK's Lally...

David Cameron yesterday branded the UK Independence Party "a bunch of fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists". His apparently spontaneous remarks are the Tories' most outspoken attack on the Eurosceptic party. Michael Howard, Mr Cameron's predecessor, dismissed them in 2004 as "cranks and political gadflies". Mr Cameron's comments, in an LBC radio interview, came a day after Ukip threatened to use Freedom of Information laws to force the Tories to disclose the names of people behind £5 million of loans hastily repaid to the party. Despite threats of legal action from Ukip leaders, Mr Cameron refused to back down and...

OTTAWA Four out of five Canadians expect opposition parties to give Prime Minister Stephen Harper some breathing room over the next year to implement his Conservative agenda, a new poll shows. The Ipsos Reid survey, conducted from March 28 to 30 for CanWest News Service and Global National, found little public appetite for an election. Only six per cent of respondents wanted the new Conservative minority government to be defeated "as soon as possible," while 81 per cent said they wanted it to survive for at least a year. This means Harper will have a "pretty strong hand" to deliver...

Tories move to heal White House rift By Alec Russell in Washington and George Jones, Political Editor (Filed: 16/02/2006) The Tories will today seek to end an extraordinary rift with their natural allies in the White House with a staunch statement of support for President George W Bush over the need to stop Iran having a nuclear weapon. At the start of a two-day visit to repair relations, Liam Fox, the Conservative defence spokesman, will tell a Washington think-tank that Britain remains America's "most reliable and effective ally". Dr Fox: coming to America In a speech to the Heritage Foundation,...

David Cameron vowed last night never to give in to the Tory Right as he spelt out his determination to fight and defeat New Labour on the centre ground of politics. Outlining his vision for recapturing middle class votes and returning the Conservatives to power, the new leader said that his party would face "irrelevance, defeat and failure" if it allowed itself to be swayed again by "well-intentioned cheerleaders on the Right". Since Tony Blair's arrival on the political scene the Conservatives had been wrong to campaign so hard on Right-wing issues such as immigration as they tried to differentiate...

At the dawn of the atomic age, scientists began work on what might have been the nastiest weapon ever conceived.Those who came of age during the era of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl are probably too young to remember the happy days when "our friend the atom" promised electricity too cheap to meter and cars that would run forever without a fill-up. With atom-powered subs like the Nautilus cruising under the polar icecap in the mid-1950s, could anyone doubt that atom-powered rocketships, airplanes, and even automobiles would be far behind? A funny thing happened to that dream on its way...

In a last-minute blow to high-profile Liberal candidate Michael Ignatieff, the president of the party’s riding association in Etobicoke-Lakeshore swung his support today to Conservative rival John Capobianco in Monday’s federal election. The controversial process by which Ignatieff was acclaimed the candidate over local hopefuls ruled ineligible by the party was a major factor in the decision, said Ron Chyczij, who had hoped to contest the nomination himself. "I can no longer in good conscience support the Liberal candidate in this riding," he said in a statement released this afternoon. "After the nomination fiasco, I’ve purposely waited on the sidelines...

Updated Mon. Jan. 16 2006 11:41 PM ET With one week remaining before the election, the Conservatives have unleashed their own vicious television ad, but this time the target is Jack Layton and his New Democrat Party. The Tories have taken aim at Layton in the commercial, charging among other things that he is in favour of higher gas prices and legalizing drugs. The ad features a Jack Layton-style moustache and mouth digitally placed over the mouths of Canadians, with a male voice speaking. "I support legalized drugs," says the voice, speaking for a mother with her young child. "Who...

EXCLUSIVE Cam: Boot out duff cops 'Tough anti-crime policy' ... Cameron     By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON Political Editor THOUSANDS of third-rate cops will be sacked in a massive shake-up, David Cameron vows today. The Tory leader answered right-wing critics with plans for the biggest changes to policing for decades. He told The Sun: “I want an incredibly tough anti-crime policy.”   DO you know a lazy copper who deserves to be dropped? Call The Sun on 020 7782 4021 or email features@the-sun.co.uk He intends to boot out useless officers and those who just serve their time to collect a cushy...

Conservatives are charting a course toward a majority on Jan. 23, according to a new national poll completed yesterday. The survey, conducted by EKOS Research Associates for the Toronto Star and La Presse, shows Stephen Harper's Conservatives have sailed into majority government territory after a stunning week of rising popularity, largely at the expense of the Liberal party. The EKOS survey of 1,240 Canadians through the weekend and yesterday found 39.1 per cent support for the Conservatives. The Liberals had 26.8 per cent support; the NDP 16.2 per cent; the Bloc Québécois 12.6 per cent; and Green party 4.6 per...

Been following the Canadian election campaign? Whoa, come back, no need to stampede for the exits screaming in terror. The Canuck angle is just an opening sentence: if I'm still yakking on about swing voters in Yellowknife and turnout in Moose Jaw at the foot of the page, feel free to turn over to our exclusive excerpt from The Boris Johnson Illustrated Guide to Lesbian Movies. But here's my point: right now the polls in Her Majesty's snowbound dominion show the Conservatives are ahead and poised to topple the incumbent Liberals on January 23. And what's the name of the...

Toronto and Ottawa — Stephen Harper's Conservatives have opened up an eight-percentage-point advantage over the Liberals, the biggest gap of the campaign going into tonight's crucial debate, a new poll shows. The survey, conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV News by the Strategic Counsel, also shows that voters believe the Conservatives hold values that are closest to theirs, a turnaround from the first week of the campaign when Canadians identified more closely with Liberal values

The Conservatives have taken an eight-point lead over the Liberals, with strong momentum that could carry them to victory on Jan. 23 unless the other parties can derail their campaign, says a new poll. "They've got to put a halt to this, because this momentum number won't stop, and it will continue to translate into a higher vote preference for the Conservatives," Tim Woolstencroft, managing partner of The Strategic Counsel, told CTV.ca on Sunday. The survey, conducted by The Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail, shows the Conservatives have jumped ahead after making headway in Quebec, Ontario...

OTTAWA—The election campaign has taken a dramatic turn, with the opposition Conservatives jumping into their first real lead over the governing Liberals, a new poll shows. The survey, conducted by EKOS Research Associates for the Star and La Presse, found that 36.2 per cent of decided voters say they will support the Conservatives, while 30.4 per cent favoured the Liberals. The NDP is supported by 17.9 per cent of voters, while the Bloc is at 10.4 per cent nationally and the Green party is at 4.7 per cent. If the numbers hold up, it would mean a Tory minority government....

Tories want armed ships to patrol Arctic Plan to protect sovereignty includes beefing up military, more underwater surveillance Norma Greenaway The Ottawa Citizen December 23, 2005 CREDIT: Ted Rhodes, The Calgary Herald - Stephen Harper gets an emotion-packed hug from his children, Rachel and Ben. The Conservative leader, who is home for the holidays, was greeted at the Calgary airport by his children and wife, Laureen. WINNIPEG - Stephen Harper unveiled the Conservative plan to protect Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic that he says will rely on an enhanced navy, army and air force presence, as well as greater underwater...

Daughters, as Mr Bennett observed in Pride and Prejudice, can be a trial. But he never suggested that they were less likely to make him vote Tory. That conclusion comes from new research analysing the data in the British Household Panel Survey. Professor Andrew Oswald and Dr Nattavudh Powdthavee have found a link between female offspring and a propensity to support Labour or the Lib Dems. Sixty-six percent of Britons with three sons and no daughters voted for one of the two parties, but 78% of parents with three daughters and no sons did so. The academics also found that...

The liberal elite wants to give Cameron a fair wind, but the main parties now ignore public opinionConventional wisdom is almost always wrong. It is seldom more completely mistaken than it is now over the Tory party. The apparent revival of this doomed movement is in fact very good news for the British left, which now faces the perfect opposition. It is most unlikely to beat them, and would not reverse New Labour's social, cultural, constitutional and economic revolution if it did. David Cameron's Conservative party is empty of oppositional ideas and organisationally hollow. The Grim Reaper gently escorts many...

LONDON (AFP) - Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was back out in public to reopen a top London hotel, only four days after a brief stay in hospital. The baroness, 80, insisted she felt "fine" as she relaunched the plush Brown's Hotel. She had stayed overnight Wednesday in a London hospital after feeling faint. Her private secretary said it was "back to normal" for Thatcher who had been taking things easy since leaving hospital. Looking frail but determined in an electric blue coat, Thatcher, once dubbed the "Iron Lady", was helped from her car before cutting the ribbon. She...

DAVID CAMERON’S debut as Tory leader has given the Conservatives a surge of support that has put them ahead of Labour for the first time in 18 months, a Sunday Times poll shows. The YouGov poll of more than 2,000 people, carried out since Cameron was declared leader of the party on Tuesday, reveals that the Tories have turned a two-point deficit to a one-point lead. Cameron’s victory has pushed the Tories up to 37% of the vote, two points up on last month, while Labour is down one to 36%. The Liberal Democrats have also been squeezed, down two...