David Cameron was on combative form as he responded to Gordon Brown's statement in the Commons this afternoon on the publication of Building Britain's Future. Here are excerpts of the Conservative leader's response from the Despatch Box: "The Prime Minister talks about Building Britain's Future. But isn't it time the British people were asked whether […]
"Mr. Speaker-Elect, may I join the Prime Minister in offering my congratulations, and in wishing you well, not least in crossing that last hurdle that the Prime Minister referred to: the agreement of the monarch? I would like to thank the Father of the House for the way in which he conducted proceedings. I was […]
Full text of the Conservative leader's Commons tribute to outgoing Speaker, Michael Martin. "Mr Speaker, it is right that the House has this opportunity to pay tribute to the service that you have given. And for once I can actually say “you” while remaining in order. I share so much of what the Prime Minister […]
Many Labour MPs stayed away from the Commons forBrown's Iraq Inquiry statement. David Cameron welcomed the Prime Minister's statement on the importance of good relations with democratic Iraq, Prime Minister Netanyahu's embrace of a 'two state solution' and the need for scrutiny of Iran's elections. The Tory leader then expressed concern that the inquiry won't […]
On Saturday John Major and Douglas Hurd proposed that non-parliamentarians should be appointed as government ministers and should be held to account at the Commons dispatch box. Richard Heller (a former adviser to Labour's Denis Healey), writing in the Yorkshire Post, suggests another innovation – Questions to the Leader of the Opposition: "Imagine a cricket […]
The Government was sensationally and splendidly defeated yesterday in the House of Commons. A Liberal Democrat motion backed by the Conservatives and 27 Labour MPs was supported by a vote of 267 to 246. It offered all Gurkhas equal right of residence, which the Government had wanted to restrict. David Cameron later commented that "Today is a historic […]
We've already covered David Cameron's brilliant speech elsewhere on the blog, but it is well worth having a look at what John Redwood had to say in Budget debate yesterday. "This is really the Damian McBride memorial Budget. It is a Budget of the spinners, by the spinners, for the spinners. It is a Budget with […]
The Guardian reports that Hansard – marking their centenary as the official record of Parliamentary proceedings – have published a book of the greatest parliamentary speeches of the last hundred years. Senior figures have been asked to identify their favourite speech of the 1909 – 2009 period. Rather surprisingly, the achingly partisan Gordon Brown has chosen Sir […]
The Welsh Conservatives Conference took place at the weekend. A number of announcements were made, including a promise from David Cameron to submit to questions and answers every year at the Welsh Assembly, if he becomes Prime Minister. Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan said that under a Tory government Welsh Office ministers would attend three question and […]
CCHQ issued this prepared text of the remarks David Cameron was due to deliver in the Commons this afternoon, in response to the Prime Minister's statement on the latest EU summit. In his reply Mr Cameron emphasises the importance of free trade, the CBI's warning that another fiscal stimulus is unaffordable, and the fact that […]
I want to place on record that I think the suspension of Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday was absolutely right and proper. None of David Cameron’s senior colleagues – who are also his friends – would have wanted to stand in for him. The Prime Minister meanwhile will have been particularly saddened, having lost a child […]
Questions were put to the Cabinet Office / Duchy of Lancaster yesterday. Members were swift to express their deep sympathy to David Cameron and his family over the death of Ivan. I add my own. Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Nick Hurd posed a question about charities. (Naomi House, to which he refers, is a children’s […]
Select committees are not usually all the rage, but there is widespread media coverage of the Treasury Select Committee’s grilling yesterday of RBS and HBOS bankers. All four men (the former HBOS chief executive and chairman, Andy Hornby and Lord Stevenson, and the former RBS chief executive and chairman, Sir Fred Goodwin and Sir Tom […]
At yesterday’s press conference Tim Montgomerie asked David Cameron for his reaction to the Centre for Social Justice’s report on asylum seekers. The Conservative leader promised to answer via a post on ConservativeHome. Here it is… Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Tim’s question more fully. ConservativeHome is a great source of news […]
David Cameron is Leader of the Conservative Party. He replies to last week's open letter from ConservativeHome Editor Tim Montgomerie; 'A patriotic plea to David Cameron'. Thank you for the open letter on ToryDiary. It made a thoughtful point and seemed to start quite a debate, so I wanted to offer a response. Britain is […]