IntenseDebate - DavidParker

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - James Dobson: Claims t... · 0 replies · +1 points

Merely because this relates to a paper published by the Adam Smith Institute, for which many of us have some respect, does not automatically give this article either credibility or authority. When one examines it more closely it seems more like a post graduate essay upon an interesting hypothesis based, at best, upon dubious or debatable evidence and statistics.
One should not criticise the author for his effort, nor for his youth or inexperience, however, in terms of the political importance of the whole immigration issue, it should be treated with a degree of scepticism.

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - Maude's full letter an... · 0 replies · +1 points

Time to leave the garden Maud!
He was probably an intelligent, well intentioned man, but better suited to an academic rather than a political life.

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - LabServative! That Blu... · 0 replies · +1 points

I think, Paul, that is what is known as an editorial wind- up !, but hardly necessary in the case of most of the contributors to this blog. A sword's length between benches may historically have been sufficient (apart, possibly, from Heseltine's mace wielding), but, with your suggestions, I can foresee endless contests of iPods at dawn between your job sharers.

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - Chris Heaton-Harris MP... · 1 reply · +1 points

Mr Heaton Harris is a former MEP and cannot therefore plead either innocence or ignorance for ignoring the existence of the Acquis Communautaire ( or Ratchet clause) which, but for a fundamental treaty change, would bar most of his proposed reforms.

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - Gerard Russell: Baghda... · 0 replies · +1 points

An excellent and thought provoking article. Christianity itself has many sects, some of which historically attempted to gain superiority over their rivals by violent means and bitter internecine struggles.

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - Geoffrey Cox, my hero · 0 replies · +1 points

Whilst solicitors usually bill their clients upon an hourly basis, trying to calculate barrister's earnings in the same manner can be very misleading. In the first place, being self employed, their fees also have to cover their expenses, such as clerk's fees, chambers rent, etc. whilst a case which lasts one day in court can often involve many days, or even sometimes weeks of research and preparation.

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - Harriet Maltby: Intole... · 0 replies · +1 points

Ms Maltby, alas, seems to be typical of those denizens of political "think tanks" whose only experience of life is restricted to the Westminster bubble and who confuse dubious and often contradictory polling statistics with the real world outside. So long as they are confined to their think tanks they may be relatively harmless, apart from being a waste of money (often at the taxpayer's expense) but God help us when they think that this qualifies them to become politicians themselves.

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - Greg Barker MP: How I ... · 0 replies · +1 points

Even more depressing is the fact that Greg Barker actually believes in his own delusions. This gives a new dimension to the term "Barking Mad".

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - Clegg's speech: From k... · 0 replies · +1 points

this is a strange twist upon the concept of "democracy". Assuming a close result in the outcome of the next GE, it will be clear that the party whom the electors LEAST want to participate in the new government of the country will be the Lib-Dems ( even assuming that they end up with more MPs than UKIP or the Greens).

They are a party whose competence, policies and views have been comprehensively rejected by the great majority of both Conservative and Labour voters, who could never conceivably achieve a parliamentary majority in their own right, but which nevertheless still claims some democratic right to try to enforce their minority views upon us.

11 years ago @ Conservative Home - Lord Ashcroft: The Pr... · 3 replies · +1 points

It might have been a good speech if most of the undecided/non voters had really believed him, or, indeed even have been prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Just one of the problems was that this was a speech promoting Cameron first and the Conservative party second. Indeed, in his peroration he empashsised the phrase" vote for me rather than Miliband" rather than vote Conservative rather than Labour.

In truth, many would-be Tory voters either abstain or vote for another party simply because they do not trust Cameron, or feel that he is in the least interested in listening to their views. Hence, once again,the party risks losing an election, not because of its policies, but because of the stranglehold of a small junta of its ruling elite.

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