April 14, 2010

… is no doubt as great as yours. I can imagine that few of you will be able to sleep a wink tonight as you excitedly contemplate Dave Cameron’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and his promise that Britain will NEVER enter the euro.

Here are a few more proposals in a similar vein from the 28,000 word manifesto which really caught my eye and made me want to send out excitable Louise-Bagshawe-type Tweets enthusing about the bright new future Britain will soon be enjoying TOGETHER.

1. White cliffs of Dover guaranteed never to be painted black (not even tasteful Farrow & Ball Clunch or Dimity, whatever the demands from Brussels) under a Conservative administration.

2. Carbon dioxide to be abolished altogether by 2130.

3. Illegal immigrants to be given an extremely stern talking to and repatriated under a tough new “21 strikes and you’re out” rule.

4. 50p upper band tax rate to be reduced to 49.5p no later than the beginning of the Tories’ third term in office.

5. A new NHS holiday day to be introduced into calendar for nationwide celebrations of the NHS.

6. Bankers to be put in stocks once a month and pelted by attractive young black women who have never before voted Conservative but who recognise that this is a necessary corrective if Broken Britain is to be healed.

7. Britain’s £200-billion-plus structural deficit to be eradicated by 2014 using green technologies as yet undeveloped but when they appear they’re going to make us a fortune, just you see.

8. Morecambe and Wise to be regenerated using DNA extracted from their bones and given a new show to be broadcast every weekend so that the entire nation will be united in mirth just like in the good old days.

9. All children between 4 and 17 encouraged to join Young Alinsky Pioneer (TM) units where they will participate every weekend in synchronised swimming, marching, flag waving and singing songs in celebration of the Dear Leader.

10. VAT to be permanently abolished on hessian shopping bags which say: “MY BIG ECO BAG” (or similar) on the side.

Dave and his wife Sam meet supporters in London today (Photo: Reuters)

“Every time a friend succeeds I die a little,” said Gore Vidal.

Not a problem I’m going to be having any time soon with my old Oxford chum David Cameron, as you’ll see from my You Know It Makes Sense column in this week’s Spectator.

Here is a guy who had the chance of a lifetime: he could have gone down in history as the man who saved Britain from its greatest crisis since the second world war. He could have rescued our economy, restored our national sense of self-worth, given us back our stolen liberty, rolled back the state, regained our sovereignty, slashed taxes and red tape, stemmed the tide of immigration, clamped down on Islamist aggression and undone all the damage that has been inflicted on us by Blair and Brown.

And what’s he offering instead? Some nice photographs taken ten years ago showing just how fit his wife is. The exciting news that Sam is pregnant. A big poster of a young black woman saying she wouldn’t have voted Conservative before but now she will because Britain’s Broken. Another one showing how baby-soft and pink Dave’s cheeks are. Have I missed anything? Not a lot. Cameron’s future claim to fame will surely be as a prime minister so floppy and useless he makes Ted Heath look like Winston Churchill.

If you want more in that vein, read the piece. It’s the last anti-Cameron stuff you’re getting me before the election. (Unless of course, he does something quite egregiously stupid, in which case all promises are suspended.) Why? Because like the mighty Lord Tebbit I agree that however much we all loathe these despicable, Saul-Alinsky-loving Fabian faux-Tories, they are nonetheless our least worst option in this General Election.

Everyone in their heart knows this, which is why I make a prediction – as indeed I have been predicting for some time – that the Conservatives are going to win with a decent working majority. They don’t deserve it, they haven’t earned it. But the cynical calculation that Team Dave has made is right: serious conservatives, for the most part, have nowhere else to go. For all our blustering about how cross we are and how we’re going to punish the Tories at the polls, the fact is that when the moment of truth comes in the polling booth, our consideration above all else will be: don’t let those New Labour b******s get into power again.

There are a few exceptions to this rule – Tory MPs you shouldn’t vote for, no matter what. But let us save them for another column.

Conservative leader David Cameron has issued a statement reiterating his party’s commitment to “tackling carbon emissions” to deal with the “real danger of climate change” and describing the Copenhagen summit as of “historic importance.”

(Hat Tip: my splendid new friend Plato Says)

And the party faithful don’t like Cameron’s Copenhagen Kool-Aid Consumption one tiny bit.

Here’s what Cameron has to say on the Tory party’s Blue Blog:

In nine days time, representatives from 192 countries will meet in Copenhagen for the UN Conference on climate change. This summit is of historic importance. It is an opportunity for the world to take bold action to deal with the real danger of climate change.

So this week, ahead of the summit, members of my Shadow Cabinet have given a series of speeches setting out plans to help protect the global environment. Each one of these speeches sets out specific steps which need to be taken if we are going to reduce our carbon emissions.

And here are some of the 200 plus, almost unanimously negative comments from disgusted (and soon-to-be-former-) Tory voters so far:

Please do not support the global warming quacks in my name. They are a bunch of frauds and thieves.

When are you going to accept that Climate Change is not man made? All the unmassaged facts indicate this.
You and all the other “green brigade” go swaning off to these conferences spreading an enormous carbon footprint for what? You should not rely on my vote in the coming election unless you are honest.

How intelligent men can really believe all this drivel beats me..By the way are we or the EU responsible for capping all the VOLCANOES scattered around the world???? Get a life people.

When will the Conservative Party comment on what is now called ‘ClimateGate’ ? The science behind this whole issue is looking more and more like a massive scam!

How big is the entourage that is going with David and I bet the carbon footprint made on this one trip is more than I make in twenty years.? Why dont they just phone each other or use a network….is it because they enjoy the pomp and ego boost? What a waste of money, david you should be ashamed!

not interested in green stuff more interested in getting rid of all the rules and regs labour brought in licences fines house . sort that and you may get votes otherwise forget it

Dear Mr Blair (sorry, Cameron)
Why don’t you listen to the actual SCIENTISTS? And not the scaremongerors? Anyone who has even a vague knowledge of science will understand that, in medieval times, the world was a lot hotter than it is now: granted, colder winters, but they had much hotter summers. This is part of the earth’s cycle: read a bit more, think, and don’t believe everyone – take a balanced view. Global warming/cooling is part of the earth’s physicality. Let us not forget that man, as we know him, on a 24-hour clock appeared about 2 minutes before midnight! The earth’s warming/cooling has been going on long before we were around.

Britain’s been sold to the Belgiums and we are supposed to be worried about climate change? We want our own elected government to govern our country

I also am a scientist and agree with the views expressed above that climate change linked to man made CO2 is at best “not proven” and at worst is a fable of equal staus to the Emperor’s New Clothes. David could provide real leadership by not supporting the green inquisition and becoming the man that led us out of this nonsense. The climate change lobby is attractive because it appeals to a concept of original sin (man polluting the planet an bringing about his own downfall) and fear of dependence on oil (which will one day, but not soon, run ou)t. The long term answer to go with sensible energy strategy is of course fewer people. We should be aiming to get the UK population back to 50 million in the next 30 years and maybe less after that.
Conservatives should not fall for the man induced climate change confidence trick. Most oif its remedies are against conservative instincts (more taxes, state interference etc.

As a lowly ex meteorologist I have in my retirement looked at global temperatures:-
Easy enough to do. Doesn’t require much effort at all and I notice It’s been gettting colder for the past decade.
The terminology has changed too – from ‘Man made global warming’ to ‘global warming’ and now ‘climate change’ Whereas I thought that I was the only one (not in receipt of a large research grant) who thought that the Emperor was not wearing any clothes I now suspect that he is now putting on his underwear.

That’s the bad news, Dave. But the good news is you have the support of one Ross J Warren who argues:

Perhaps we might consider making climate change denial a criminal matter

Mm. He sounds just the kind of sensible, reasonable fellow you want onside.

7 Responses to “Climategate: the Conservative backlash begins”

Chris says:November 29, 2009 at 11:42 amI never thought the phrase ‘political science’ would be stood on its head as abruptly as it has here. This recipe is 99 parts politics to one part science. And, to those who love the term, we have ‘consensus’ on that.
Burke Hamblin says:November 29, 2009 at 9:25 pmMr. Delingpole, thank you for your tenaciousness in covering this issue; it’s all but an informational wasteland here in the States, save for those who’re tweeting and e-mailing others about “Climategate.” Our “climate czar” Carole Browner has today rejected any implications of the scandal by repeating the rote consensus line, but I and others I know are forwarding links to your blog, Twitter account and articles to everyone we know, regardless of their political leaning. Carry on!
Hugh Janus says:November 29, 2009 at 11:51 pmJames you are up against one massive machine which really does want to silence you and others who share the same view. Unfortunately this is skynew’s weathergirls take on the subject. Read and weep and consider jumping off Earth because life is going to get a whole lot worse. Link below.
http://blogs.news.sky.com/theweathergirls/Post:35c7a6d4-9e59-4208-9703-34d64bd6d7fd
Nick Mabbs says:November 30, 2009 at 4:35 pmJames,
It looks like Dave, Gordon and all the other lefties are going to ignore the e-mails, and the computer code recently ‘liberated’ from the CRU.
Lord Monckton seems to be lining up a legal challenge if his interviews on the interweb are anything to go by. He wants Gore downwards to go to jail and for the disbandment of the the IPCC and the UN on ‘crimes against humanity’ grounds.

Unfortunately he also advocated a new worldwide political party (the Freedom Party).
Readers may remember the name being associated with the ‘National Front’ before it became
the BNP – it is particularly disturbing therefore that Nick Griffin is going to bring up Climategate at
Copenhagen.

Someone stop him before the whole Climategate business gets kicked into the long grass
as being the rantings of a loony; rather than the world changing subject it is !

Right now we need James Bond not Daffy Duck.
Steve says:November 30, 2009 at 4:41 pmI am not a scientist, and I know very little about the science required to understand the debate. Therefore I read articles on what could be the most significant issue of our age so as to be informed by others who know what their talking about.
One thing for certain is that the overwhelming scientific consensus is that AGW is real. That does not make it so, only that they believe it to be.

The problem I have with the argument against AGW is that I’m expected to believe that some vast conspiracy exists amongst scientists. In all honesty it sounds as ridiculous as “9/11 was an inside job”. And far more worrying.

I have read quite a few of your articles on the subject and the only thing I can determine is that you truly despise those who would believe in AGW. the insults you have levelled at those you disagree with are of the Daily Mail variety, or Fox News opinion pieces. I assume that in the majority of your articles you are doing no more than preaching to the quire, filling them with vitriolic terminology to level at those they disagree with. So it is sad to say that another “opinion” on the debate is rendered useless to me.

And that is the main problem, I am no firm believer in man made climate change although from my own experience it is plausible that our climate is indeed changing. That I cannot find decent sceptical argument without insult is worrying.
Fiona says:December 1, 2009 at 10:27 pmThere is hope. In Australia, we have booted out a “warmist” from the leadership of the Opposition and put a realist in charge. You need to pressure your party from the grassroots like we did. Email them, phone them, tell them you’ll never vote for them again.
PaulM says:December 1, 2009 at 10:48 pmDecember 1st 2009 will go down in the history of the Australian Parliment as the day the conservative side of politics rediscovered its’ spine. On this day a Leadership Spill was called of the Opposition.
Running were, Malcolm Turnbull, the current Leader of the Opposition, Joe Hockey, the “Unity” candidate (a believer in AGW and the favoured pick of the media & the ALP) and Tony Abbot, Prime Minister Howards head kicker and whilst a believer in Climate Change, a skeptic to the level & importance of mankinds contribution.

The distress, the outrage, the hand wring, hair pulling & banshee screams that have followed the elevation of the “Mad Monk” Tony Abbot to the Leadership of the Lib/Nat coalition was most edifying to behold.

Today 2-Dec-2009 will be a great day in Australia as we see the opposition vote down for the second time, Prime Minister Rudds Emissions Trading Scheme (or Extra Tax System/Employment Termination Scheme) in the Australian Senate. All this was achieved by the great work of Andrew Bolt (columnist for the Herald Sun in Melbourne), Piers Ackerman (columnist for The Sydney Daily Telegraph), Alan Jones (Radio commentator for 2UE Sydney), the great folks from WhatsUpWithThat and the thousands of everyday Australians who informed their elected representatives of their concerns & their WILL.

Democracy does occasionaly work, but it takes the actions of the electorate to make it happen.

Stand up & say NO. NO to the International Carbon Futures Cabal headed by Al Gore and the likes of HSBC, ABN AMRO & Goldman Sachs. NO to COP15. NO to the unelected & unrepresentative swill of the UN.

So it’s just as we thought: the Conservatives are a bunch of timid, Blairite statists who aren’t going to drag us out of Europe and are going to spend the next 5 years treading water.

But just imagine, for a moment, a Tory party conference in an alternative universe in which they’d made some of the following commitments:

Massive tax cuts to boost economic growth.
Sweeping health care reform – cutting back on bureaucracy, encouraging private health care, improving value in the system.
A coalition with the Libertarian party committing the government to free markets, individual freedom and a minimal welfare state.
A keynote speech from the party leader saying: “There’s a limit to what governments can do.”

Well if you lived in New Zealand you wouldn’t need to imagine because they’ve got it already in the form of John Key and his centre-right National party. (Hat Tip: Tom Blanton)

Seriously, if you were jealous enough of the Kiwis already – what with their Lord Of The Rings scenery, their kakapo parrots, and their Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc – then I really don’t recommend you read this article on John Key in the National Review Online by Lydia Bevege. It will make you want to up sticks and emigrate IMMEDIATELY.

Here’s a taste:

Delivering his first budget in May, Key continued to distinguish his economic policies from those being adopted in Washington, London, and Canberra. He imposed a cap on government spending set at half the average spending level over the past five years, reining in government growth to 2 percent per year. Key’s “line-by-line” review of federal spending identified and cut back $2 billion worth of non-essential programs. His conservative budget pushed the New Zealand dollar higher and prompted the ratings agency Standard & Poor to increase New Zealand’s foreign-currency rating from negative to stable.

Who do we want? John Key. When do we want him? Now!

The reason I ask is that I’ve just been reading the Conservatives’ latest report – Reversing The Rise of the Surveillance State. It makes all sorts of splendid and thoroughly worthwhile proposals such as scrapping the National Identity Register and restricting council access to personal communications data.

But what I don’t see is any mention of the most unpopular and intrusive surveillance legislation so far introduced by our Stasi state: the Government’s vetting organisation – the Independent Safeguarding Authority – which seems to imagine that all adults who work with children must perforce be paedophiles, unless they have been able to prove otherwise by filling out lots of tedious forms, waiting a very long time to work their way through the bureaucratic process and forking out £64 quid for the privilege.

As Professor Frank Furedi and children’s author Philip Pullman have argued, this barmy legislation – the Government’s knee jerk response to the killing of two schoolgirls by a caretaker (from another school: so not even someone known to them) in Soham – serves to “poison” the relationship between the generations. Not only does it put off adults from volunteering to work with organisations like the Scouts and render routine activities – like ferrying other people’s kids to sporting events – needlessly complicated, but it sends out the message that any adult who lays a finger on a child for whatever reason (if they’ve fallen over and cut their knee in the park, say) is most likely an evil kiddie-fiddler.

Launching his document Dominic Grieve, the Tory Shadow Justice Minister, acknowledged some of this when he said:

We cannot eliminate the need for human judgment calls on risk, whether to children, or from criminal and terrorist threats. And we can never eliminate all risk, it is part and parcel of ordinary life.

Exactly. All commonsense, soundly libertarian stuff.

He goes on to propose a Conservative response based on five central principles:

Fewer mammoth databases, that are better run.
Fewer personal details held by the state, stored accurately and on a need-to-know basis.
Greater checks and personal control over the sharing of our data by government.
And stronger duties on government to keep our private information safe.

Again, all fine. But then just towards the end, he slips in a weasellish phrase which calls into question everything he has promised before:

“We are not looking to throw the baby out with the bathwater. But we do want to re-calibrate the relationship between the citizen and the state.”

It’s precisely this kind of temporising which we natural Conservatives find so utterly maddening about Dave Cameron’s pretend ones. They seem to want to have everything both ways: on the one hand we’re going to do this, on the other hand we’re not going to do it in so drastic a way that anyone who might potentially disagree with the change will find anything to which they can object.

The Independent Safeguard Authority and its vetting procedures – which require fully one quarter of the adult population to be snooped on before they can work with children – are a barn door sized target.

Will the Tories promise to do something about it – or do they too share New Labour’s view that every adult is a likely paedo?

Tag: Conservatives

My excitement over the Conservatives’ manifesto… | James Delingpole

April 14, 2010

Related posts:

General Election 2010: My mate Dave…

Related posts:

Climategate: The Conservative backlash begins

Conservative leader David Cameron has issued a statement reiterating his party’s commitment to “tackling carbon emissions” to deal with the “real danger of climate change” and describing the Copenhagen summit as of “historic importance.”

Related posts:

7 Responses to “Climategate: the Conservative backlash begins”

I have Just Seen the Conservatives’ Future. Unfortunately, It’s in New Zealand

Related posts:

Do the Conservatives Think We’re All Paedophiles Too?

Related posts: