Conservative Women's Organisation

World Toilet Day

2011-11-19T12:35:00.000Z

Today is World Toilet Day. A day which mostpeople won’t have heard of and fewer would understand. Let me explain. Todayalmost two fifths of the world’s population does not have access to even abasic toilet. That’s 2.6 billion people.

A combination of a lack of safe water andsanitation means that people are forced to live in conditions which areunhygienic at best and life-threatening at worst. Diarrhoea caused by uncleanwater and poor sanitation is the biggest killer of children in Africa. That is more than AIDS, malaria and measlescombined. It is entirely preventable. We can, and must do our bit to changethis.

To really deal with poverty we have to understandtwo things: one, that all issues are interconnected, and two, that the role ofwomen is crucial. There are few things we can do that cut across health,education, economics and social mobility like water and sanitation.

It is women who bear the brunt of a lack ofsafe water and sanitation. When there is no easy access to water women andchildren, mainly the girls, are tasked with the drudgery water collection. Thiscan involve walking for hours in the baking heat to collect water which can be muddy,polluted or contaminated with parasites and animal waste. This is not onlyphysically demanding, but also takes up time which could be spent earning anincome, at school or looking after the family. A lack of separate toilets forgirls in schools is also a hugely overlooked issue which reduces the number ofgirls going to school. When girls reach the age of puberty they need somewhere privateand clean to manage this. Many girls simply drop out of getting a vitaleducation for something as simple as a toilet.

Women and girls suffer the most whencommunities don’t have basic sanitation, facing the indignity of having to goto the toilet in the open and, in many cultures, having to wait until afterdark to do so, risking sexual assault or animal attacks.

Further to this poor water and sanitation costsSub-Saharan Africa around 5% of its GDP each year, equivalent to the amount ofaid the continent currently receives from donor nations.

Yet all this can be prevented. With good sanitation facilities and safe wateravailable close to home, precious hours that were once spent recovering fromillness or walking to find water can be spent in more productive ways, fromworking to earn a living to looking after children or going to school andgetting an education. This is what makes water and sanitation such a goodinvestment – for every £1 spent £8 is generated in increased productivity.

We can and must stop this crisis.The scale of the problem may seem vast, but there are proven, cost effectivesolutions available that can not only save lives but transform them, providingthe first, crucial steps out of poverty. TheUK Government has already achieved much through its own investment in water andsanitation, and the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% of its national income on aidis going to save and transform more lives in years to come.

Sadly, there is still a long way to go. Atthe current rate of progress, the UN Millennium Development Goal to halve theproportion of people living without basic sanitation by 2015 will be missed bya billion people. This simply isn’t good enough, and shows that thus farpolitical will hasn’t been strong enough to push this issue forward. We willnot succeed in a more if we do not invest in water and sanitation.

To mark World Toilet Day, internationalcharity WaterAid is launching a campaign, WaterWorks, to highlight the life changing impact of sanitation and safe waterahead of next April’s High Level Meeting on water and sanitation in WashingtonDC. High level involvement from the UK Government is critical to the success ofthis meeting. I’ll be putting my support behind the campaign, and you can tooat www.wateraid.org/waterworks.

Project Umubano: Conservative Party volunteers in Sierra Leone

2011-08-25T15:38:00.002+01:00

By Theodora Clarke, Conservative Future Liaison for CWO

This summer I was lucky enough to take part in Project Umubano, the Conservative Party’s social action project in Africa. Set up back in 2007 by the Rt Hon David Cameron MP and Andrew Mitchell MP the initiative has highlighted the party’s commitment to international development. For the last few years volunteers have visited Rwanda to provide valuable expertise in the fields of education, justice, health, community and business. More recently a sister project was launched in Sierra Leone, led by David Mundell MP, as a mark of the close ties between the West African country and our own.

This was an exciting year to take part in Umubano as we were launching a new education project. Our team consisted of teachers, students and professionals who were based in Makeni, several hours drive inland from the capital. Makeni is a quiet, tree-filled town which was the headquarters of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Sierra Leonean rebel forces, during the civil war. The region is now dominated by the mining industry which has concessions for diamonds, gold, bauxite and granite.

We were partnered with a local organisation called Street Child of Sierra Leone which is working to take children of the streets, provide them with a good education and where possible to re-integrate them back into their families and homes. It was quite an experience turning up at the centre on the Monday morning to be welcomed by 120 students and the local headmaster. The pupils were thrilled that we were there and performed a welcome song when we arrived.

The first day was not at all what I expected. Instead of merely assisting a Sierra Leonean teacher, a fellow volunteer and I were introduced to a class of nearly fifty boys and girls and left to get on with teaching them English grammar, maths and science armed with just a blackboard and chalk. Teaching is little more tricky without any textbooks or the ability to quickly google an exercise or answer! However, we embraced the challenge and ended up having a great two weeks with our students.

Every morning after a breakfast of cassava or rice, we taught three hours of core subjects and in the afternoon we played sports, sang songs or did arts and crafts. I was responsible for the latter every day which was enormous fun. The children were so excited to have so many different materials to play with ranging from coloured pens and paper to stickers and tracing paper. They all made beautiful pictures but it was sad to see how memories of the war still haunted them; a large number of children started drawing UN helicopters and stickmen armed with guns. We wanted Project Umubano to leave a lasting reminder of our stay so towards the end we painted a white wall on the side of one of the central buildings and got each child enrolled our classes to plant their handprints on the wall.

During the first week we had a special visit from Stephen O’Brien MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, who came to the school to see all the work the Umubano volunteers were doing. The children in my class were very excited to meet a Minister and asked him many questions about the differences between the UK and Sierra Leonean Parliaments. My class became so interested that we later taught a special lesson on Government and Politics to explain about the role of MPs and Peers and the differences between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Sierra Leone is a beautiful country which was ravaged by civil war up until 2002 and it still ranks the highest in terms of poverty in the world. July is the rainy season and the weather was extremely hot and humid. It was heart-breaking at the end of each day to see my students who had been so eager to learn and worked so hard to have nowhere to go to after class. All of them slept outside at night in the pouring rain in the streets wherever they could. It is clear that Street Child of Sierra Leone is doing invaluable work in the country helping the most needy children to get an education and showing them love and care. One of the highlights of the project was when, on the penultimate day, we organised an inaugural sports day for the school. The children loved competing in traditional races such as the 100metres, relay and even more so when we introduced them to English games such as stone and spoon races and rounders!

Two weeks is a short time but the difference in our students by the end was noticeable in their increased confidence and their ability to read and write and do basic arithmetic. On our last day one of my youngest pupils, a ten year old girl, came up to me and gave me a hug saying that she could not believe that we had come all the way from England just to teach her. It was a moving day when we had to finally say goodbye.

Next year we hope to expand the project to Maburaka, a nearby school, and to have several satellite education projects based near Makeni. I hope that many CWO members will take the opportunity next year to come on Project Umubano and to do something a bit different with their summer. It has been a life-changing opportunity for many of the volunteers and I for one hope to be back.

For more information and to register your interest in joining Project Umubano 2011, please contact Abigail Green at abi.projectumubano@live.co.uk and visit http://www.conservatives.com/Get_involved/Project_Umubano.aspx

Details on Street Child of Sierra Leone can be found here http://www.street-child.co.uk/

Abortion Amendments to the Health & Social Care Bill

2011-08-15T12:28:00.021+01:00

The entire bill has been wrapped in controversy and is expected to reach the Report Stage in the House of Commons on the 6th of September.

Nadine Dorries MP has sponsored 3 amendments. These say that a women who is looking to have a termination must be counselled independently by an organisation that either does not provide abortions or is a statutory body, stripping abortion providers of the ability to give advice.

She wrote in the Guardian in July: "At present, the only place a woman can receive pre- or post-abortion counselling paid for by the state is from an abortion provider – who has a clear financial interest in the ultimate decision the woman makes. Often women have to return to the abortion clinic where the procedure took place to receive their distress counselling. What caring person can believe that to be right?".

For "abortion provider" list the NHS for one, and "return to the abortion clinic" read NHS hospital, where many terminations take place.

As "an abortion provider" the NHS, as a statutory body, would be allowed to continue to give advice, carry out terminations and give post-abortion advice - but they do so for many institutions who have got the time and specialist counsellors to help women.

But even those will a financial interest, such as BPAS, give independent advice and do research into family planning - but if a woman decides to go through with a termination, they overwhelmingly do not charge: They have no financial incentive to encourage terminations but will be banned from giving out advice. BPAS state on their website that "Over 93% of the women we see don’t have to pay for their treatment as it's funded by the NHS". Either the NHS pay directly or indirectly. If clinics can't be counsellors then it will fall to the NHS - a strain that could overwhelm departments - any other solution would cost millions we can't afford.

Google "abortion advice uk" and you'll see a list of counsellors, which give women information on all the options on their websites and through advice lines - none of which charge for the information.

The vast majority of unwanted pregnancies are classed as "lifestyle" abortions. Around 90% of terminations take place before 13 weeks and 80% before 8 weeks. These amendments would lengthen that time and would force women to go through yet another hoop, which only increases anxiety. Delaying abortions can lead to infertility and psychological problems - so why heap more pressure on a woman if she feels she's done all her research and considered all the options?

You still need two doctors to authorise a termination. Both of them weigh up the patient's decision and will only sign if they believe that she has come to the decision independently and has considered all other choices - they would be negligent if they didn't.

Instead of making abortion physically and mentally harder for women in the UK, we should be looking at prevention and education - and by this I do not mean we need to teach graphic details to 13 year olds and give lessons with condoms and bananas. Parents need to take a bigger part in the education of their children and talking about sex appropriately when they're young is the best way to de-stigmatise it.

The fact is that the health and welfare of women would be affected in a bill that doesn't mention termination once in its 420 pages.

I urge every MP, woman or man, on whatever bench, to allow women to choose for themselves. I urge every constituent to contact your MP to get your voice heard.

VOTE AGAINST the 3 amendments and do not allow the government to introduce any other comparable legislation.

UPDATE 29-Aug-2011: The subject has been discussed in both The Telegraph and the Mail - with a quote from the above being included.

Journalist Deficit NIMBY's

2011-06-30T09:19:00.000+01:00

Sandra Parsons in yesterday’s Daily Mail did an excellent job at regurgitating the themes of Melanie McDonagh’s piece in this week’s Spectator (not online) with both writers feeling that the Conservative Party is either desperate (McDonagh) or frantic (Parsons) in its efforts to regain the support of women.

With regard to child benefits, McDonagh explains how the higher tax bracket child benefit cut was “one of the few times when you felt you were getting something back from the state, just by virtue of the fact you had children.”

So, parts of yours and my hard-earned taxes have been used for McDonagh and her friends to celebrate their fertility. And all this time I’ve thought the privilege of having children was actually having children and not a handout.

But McDonagh doesn’t see the loss of benefits to be a problem in itself as they “aren’t much, in the great scheme of things”. Instead, she infers that women aren’t able to lower their expenditure by “an extra 10 or 20 quid a week”. If it’s true that expenditure rises to meet income, then I am living proof that the opposite can also be achieved.

On the same subject, Parsons, though, just becomes hysterical: “Ill thought through and frankly disgraceful” and how it showed “how little Dave and George Osborne understand the real world”. That would be the “real world” where Osborne is trying to get the deficit under control. Yes, it is frankly disgraceful that he considered the country as a whole, rather than Parsons personally.

Most private sector employees have endured years of pay-freezes, so they already know what it’s like to lose out. They have done this because they preferred to have a job at the end of the year - not because of some God-given right.

Let’s hope these two aren’t the start of a plague of Deficit NIMBY commentators. We want no more women journalists deciding that all this cost-cutting is fine, except if it affects them.

Another thing they both agree on is that fewer women are supporting the Conservatives than in December last year, which is true. According to McDonagh, this “has created something like consternation right at the top of the government”. Parsons, instead, read this as a personal aversion to David Cameron by the women of Britain – although she only evidences her own change of heart towards him.

A tad of research would have shown Parsons that Cameron remains, by far, the most favoured party leader with women, which makes a joke of the title of her article: “We women are falling out of love with Dave”. Not when you’ve got Ed and Nick to choose from, they’re not.

I’m not going to deny that the party has lost favour with women since the election, but rather than be hysterical about it, the party is getting on and doing what any good party does: identify where your support is waning and adjust campaigning efforts to improve it. I’m afraid it’s not hysterical, frantic or even frenzied.

But wait. They both have proof of the Tory histrionics in regaining the support of women. Apparently “Cameron is ditching just about any policy that he thinks women might not like.” (McDonagh) and “In a panic, they've executed more U-turns than a dog chasing its tail” (Parsons).

Ignoring the difference in literary style, have they both forgotten that the Government is made up of a coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties? The union negotiations must be a doddle compared to what goes on in Number 10 every day. The country didn’t vote for one party to govern on its own, but maybe next time, it’ll realise what an idiotic way of running a country it is.

But Parsons isn’t finished with Cameron yet. She thinks that DC is “patronising” towards women. (McDonagh also calls the Conservatives patronising but never fully explains why.) Parsons' proof comes from Cameron starting some of his sentences with “Now, look…”

“Now, look” is not patronising to women. The phrase is in all politicians' vocabularies as a way of avoiding saying “That’s a bloody idiotic question” in answer to a journalist - but after writing recent highbrow pieces on the Duchess of Cambridge and Cheryl Cole, I will forgive her for not knowing this.

The premise of both articles, however eerily similar, is that we’re losing the support of women and I mind that a great deal – although, as McDonagh points out, women are the “major consumers of public services… and the major providers of them”, so of course women will be disproportionately affected by any reduction in public services and public sector jobs in the short term. This hasn’t come as any big surprise to me, the party or David Cameron. Just as it wasn’t a surprise when men came off 475 times worse during the recession because of all the financial services and manufacturing jobs lost.

They say that a day is a long time in politics; well, if the only poll that matters is the one on 7th May 2015, we have 1,407 long days to regain the support of women – but without the dramatics please.

Slut Walking Around the World

2011-05-11T06:24:00.069+01:00

The first time I heard the phrase "Slut Walking", I've got to admit, I was taken aback. Had women, seriously, set up a new protest movement to highlight sluts?

But it wasn't the movement that named themselves, it was a Toronto police officer by the name of Michael Sanguinetti, who, when giving advice to women students, said that they should "avoid dressing like sluts" to stay safe on the streets.

Everyone knows what he was trying to say - but it came out all wrong. Of course, women have to do everything they can to protect themselves but does it follow that just because a woman wears skimpy clothes she can be described as a slut and be "asking for it"? No.

Although it is sometimes used by young women (usually relating to another girl who's just started dating their ex-boyfriend), it's at its most derogatory when used by men, as there is no correlative response.

Even in the 21st century, a woman who has multiple partners is labelled a tart or a slut, whereas a man is sowing his seed; doing what comes naturally; scoring another notch on his bedpost; a hero with his mates; has had a good Friday night (or all of the above). But women have bigger problems in the world than name calling.

Do I feel uncomfortable about the name Slut Walk? Yes. But if they had called it Women Against Victim Blaming, the viral nature of the campaign - needed for it to be a worldwide Internet and media success - would have failed. What the inclusion of the word slut does, is to get people talking about Violence Against Women again. This is one of the cases when the end does justify the means.

No matter how a woman dresses, she has no right to be sexually assaulted. Indeed, there is no correlation between the two: In repressive countries such as Saudi Arabia, rape is just as prevalent. Children are raped. Older people are raped. Men are raped. One in five women in the UK will be sexually assaulted at some point in their life. They are victims, not procurers.

But women also don't want double standards. All women wish we had the Diet Coke break window cleaners to look at every day, so we can't (or shouldn't) complain if men give women a wolf-whistle or a friendly Cor blimey luv! if they're looking particularly good on a night out. It's a healthy appreciation for the opposite sex.

Hopefully, a defence lawyer arguing that it was how the woman was dressed that enticed their client to rape them, is confined to the annals of history. You don't hear many lawyers defending a client who's accused of stealing a Lamborghini Gallardo saying: "It was the car's fault for looking so good".

After starting as a Toronto campaign, the Slut Walkers are now a global movement and the Sluts and Allies include both women and men. They're marching in Scotland this Saturday and in London (@slutwalklondon) on June 4th.

AV Referendum: why you should vote NO

2011-03-02T21:15:00.005Z

Theodora Clarke is the London Youth Organiser for the cross-party NO to AV campaign.

There are less than ten weeks to go until the referendum on a change to the voting system for Westminster Parliamentary elections. On May 5th the public will be asked whether they wish to replace the current system of First Past the Post with the 'Alternative Vote' (AV).

Only last week the Prime Minister spoke out against the dangers inherent in replacing our current, tried and tested voting system with one that was “unfair, expensive and discredited". AV, he said, "allows candidates who finish third to steal elections".

So first of all what is it? Under AV the voters get to rank candidates in order of preference and anyone getting more than 50 per cent in the first round is elected. If that doesn't happen, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their second choices are allocated to the remaining candidates. If no candidate at the second stage has a majority of votes, the next lowest candidate is eliminated and their votes are redistributed. This process keeps on occurring until a winner emerges.

What this means is that if you vote for a fringe party who gets knocked out, your other preferences will be counted. In other words, you get another bite of the cherry. However, if you vote for a mainstream candidate who is top of the ballot in the first round, your other preferences will never be counted.

This would cause election results to be based on passive approval rather than active acceptance. As the PM says, it would lead to "a parliament of second choices".

The Liberal Democrats demanded this referendum as part of the Coalition agreement - but the Conservative Party are actively campaigning for a 'No' vote. It is not clear that the Liberal Democrats even want this change. Just two weeks before the last election, Nick Clegg dismissed AV as a “miserable little compromise”.

Connor Burns MP (Bournemouth West) has joined the campaign just this week as a spokesman. Here are his reasons for voting NO to AV:

“Under First Past the Post, a winning party can implement the manifesto on which they were returned without recourse to backroom deals, leading to programmes never endorsed at the ballot box. The Alternative Vote is the compromise that no one genuinely wants. Britain is better by sticking to a system that we know, we trust and that works."

David Cameron said this is a referendum that will determine Britain's future. A Yes vote would be bad for democracy, politics and accountability.
I would like to appeal to all CWO members to vote no in the referendum and to lend their support to the campaign. Together, we can win this referendum and save our voting system.
Without your help, Britain's traditional voting system could be ditched for something that is unfair, expensive and allows candidates that finish third to win elections.

REASONS TO VOTE NO

AV is unfair. With First Past the Post, everybody gets one vote. But under AV, supporters of extreme parties like the BNP would get their vote counted many times, while other people's vote would only be counted once.

AV doesn't work. Rather than the candidate with the most votes winning, the person who finishes third could be declared the winner.

AV is expensive. Calculating the results is a long, complicated process, which would cost the taxpayer millions.

No-one wants AV. Even the 'Yes' campaigners don't actually want AV - they see it as a convenient stepping stone to yet more changes to how we vote.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Go to the No to AV website and sign up to receive emails http://www.no2av.org/

Ask your local Conservative Association how you can help their campaign against AV

Join the NO to AV group on Facebook or follow them on Twitter

David Cameron explains why he is voting NO to AV

Graduate Recruitment - Report from the Forum

2011-03-02T21:03:00.005Z

On February 15th the CWO along with Conservative Future (CF) held a successful Forum on "Graduate Recruitment" in Committee Room 5 of the House of Commons. A panel of four speakers including Andrew Stephenson MP, two recruiters from leading UK firms and a current student led the discussion.

More than fifty members of the public attended to hear the difficulties that young people face in the jobs' market today. The panel discussed the problems that graduates face in an increasingly difficult market where there are nearly 70 applicants for every job. During 2010 one in five students left university without a job as graduate unemployment soared to its highest level since the mid-90s.

Official figures published January 2011 showed 20% of ex-students were without work in the third quarter of 2010, with graduate unemployment increasing faster than the jobless rate among the UK as a whole. The Office of National Statistics' data suggests graduates have been hit harder by the economic downturn than the UK as a whole. These recent shocking statistics were the impetus being CWO and CF joining forces to discuss the pressing issue of graduate recruitment.

Pauline Lucas, CWO Chairman, welcomed everyone to the evening on behalf of the CWO and explained to those attending, that the Forums were established to give women the opportunity to debate topical subjects and challenging issues that affect women and their families every day.

Serene Richards, a current student at UCL spoke of the challenges she faced in finding a job and the gruelling application process. She spoke of a new generation of disillusioned graduates who believed that having a degree entitled them to a job. Many graduates, she said, found this to be false when after leaving university they struggled to find employment. Ms. Richards raised the question of the importance of internships and said that the reality was that many students could not afford to do unpaid work experience to climb the jobs' ladder.

The next speaker was Lucy Chamberlain, recruiter and director at Angela Mortimer Plc. She spoke of the increasingly competitive marketplace for graduates. Academic achievements, she suggested, were no longer enough with only 5% of CVs getting through to the interview stage. Ms. Chamberlain argued that graduates needed to learn to market themselves more effectively to employers and learn to use recruiters to find them a job.

Another headhunter, Tim King, the founder of Matchking, highlighted the importance of networking and online media. Many firms advertise opportunities online and use social networking sites to recruit and select candidates such as Linkedin. Mr King stressed the need for a professional online profile and the importance of a CV. Too many graduates, he said, had basic spelling mistakes in their CVs and failed to target their applications to the job or firm.

Finally, Andrew Stephenson, the Member of Parliament for Pendle and Vice Chairman of Conservative Future, spoke on the challenges facing graduates today. He explained that the Government was working hard to help get young people into jobs with schemes such as mentoring and the Job Centre Plus. He talked about his own experiences and difficulties in finding work that people face in his own constituency. He recommended that graduates should consider other paths to employment such as setting up your own business and called on those present to become the next generation of young entrepreneurs.

It was a lively discussion with contributions from current students, recent graduates, employers, parents, careers advisors and recruiters. Questions from the floor included concerns about the lack of careers guidance at schools and universities. There was a general consensus about the importance of work experience and the need to develop skills in addition to having a degree. The audience voiced concerns about the lack of opportunities for graduates and debated whose responsibility it was to tackle youth unemployment.

After an energetic discussion Pauline thanked everyone for participating and the speakers for their valuable contributions.

[You can read the complete minutes on the CWO Website at http://bit.ly/ghdMPg

Theodora Clarke, February 2011

Minority X-Factor Winner

2010-12-13T09:59:00.003Z

Interesting voting results from the finals of the X-Factor:

Matt - 45%

Rebecca - 39%

One Direction - 13%

Cher - 4%

Shock! Horror! Matt wins with less than 50% of the vote and the country accepts it? Does this mean that the UK is happy that the person with the most votes wins..?

I suppose it's just another reason to say No2AV

Protesting for Dummies

2010-12-10T16:51:00.005Z

Keep to the planned route

DO NOT follow other people like sheep - you are an intelligent student. If you start walking over broken-down barriers, it should give you an inkling that you're going in the wrong direction. Turn around and ask a policeman where you're supposed to be.

Parliament Square was not the planned route of #dayx3 and after continuous violence against the police and property, the Square became a crime scene.

Whenever this happens, you cease being a protester and become either a witness or perpetrator and are part of an official crime investigation. Think of it as CSI London.

From here on in, you will find you're not in Kansas anymore. Don't bother complaining as you should have been somewhere else.

Don't get involved

If you see a gang of people wearing hoodies and balaclavas starting to rush towards a police line or smashing their way into a building, DO NOT follow them to see what's up and then complain when you get hit by a police baton.

Getting cool photos to upload to your Facebook page is a really silly reason to be anywhere near trouble - even if you have got a new mobile you want to show off.

The police will have restricted vision because they're covered in paint; have had continuous verbal abuse thrown at them; along with sharpened posts (which are better known as spears), steel cages, concrete blocks and snooker balls. They will not be happy-chappies. Keep away from them.

Similarly, if you see a line of police horses, they are not out on a hack - they are there to scare the bejesus out of you. If a thin line of police are being attacked by thugs, they will charge only as a last resort to protect the line.

You may not see the reason for the charge, but there will be one - and they don't tend to give out warnings. So if you find yourself nose to nosebag with a police horse, you are in the wrong place - move to the edge of the crowd and find somewhere else to sit it out.

Bring your Common Sense

If someone is injured, accompany or carry them towards a police line (that isn't being attacked at the time) and ask for medical help. DO NOT ring 999 because you're missing your last train home (or someone nicked your snowman).

Follow @CO11MetPolice on Twitter so you don't miss any instructions. They will tell you where they will set up toilet and water facilities if the containment will be in force for some time.

There is no excuse for urinating against statues of figures that fought to protect your right to protest. Your face - or builder's bum - will be in all the next day's papers and you will be arrested because your ex-girlfriend/boyfriend will shop you in (if you've ever had a partner that is).

Be prepared for the long haul

Boredom, being chilly or becoming peckish are not excuses for leaving a containment. You're the one that didn't follow the planned route, so you're not going anywhere now. It was your choice. Stop whingeing.

The police are not information desks and are only doing what they're ordered to do. You'll probably know more about what's happening than them because they tend not to check their email while they're avoiding a barrage of missiles.

They won't think about letting you go until the children have stopped their tantrums, so keep warm but don't start burning national monuments or other people's property to do so - burn your own banners. Hopefully, you were sensible enough to bring warm clothing and gloves. I would advise against bringing a balaclava unless you want to be targeted by a police baton.

Containment is a way for the police to get all of you into a single, secure area. It is likely that if you are contained, it means that there is either trouble elsewhere that requires more immediate attention, or that a slow release is being planned. This is for your own benefit, to weed out the thugs, so they don't end up on your next protest. Be patient - it will takes hours and hours and hours... and you will miss your last train. Sorry about that.

While you're waiting, keep in mind that everyone who kept to the planned route is now watching you freeze your proverbials off from the comfort of their sofa with a steaming Pot Noodle, so it's probably best not to be there in the first place, eh?

Do students know what they're protesting about?

2010-12-08T11:06:00.005Z

I admire the student protesters. It's great to see young people having an interest in politics. This will hopefully spark an increase in voter turnout of 18-24 year olds, which has been pretty dismal to say the least.

The only problem I have (apart from the violence) is that many of the demonstrators seemed to be so misinformed. Even this morning - one day before the vote - I was contacted by someone calling himself a "students' union professional" who had no idea that £9,000 was only going to be charged in exceptional circumstances.

If I were a student, I would make sure I knew all the facts and was protesting for the right reasons. So here's a few fallacies the student union keep bleating about and the truth behind them:

Everyone's tuition fees are going up to £9,000 per year

No. Universities wanting to charge more than £6,000 will have to undertake measures, such as offering bursaries, summer schools and outreach programmes, to encourage students from poorer backgrounds to apply.

Universities Minister David Willetts says universities will only be allowed to charge fees of £9,000 in "exceptional circumstances", which he said might mean if they had high teaching costs, or if a university was offering an intensive two-year course.

Students will have a lifetime of debt

No. If the loan hasn't been paid off within 30 years, it's automatically written off.

If students are being charged more, they will pay back more each month

No. The total amount paid off will of course be higher, but the repayment per month will drop considerably.

The threshold at which graduates have to start paying their loans back would be raised from £15,000 to £21,000.

Graduates would pay back 9% of their income each month above that threshold. So at £21,000 this would equate to around £7 per month.

Students from poorer families will be priced out from going to university

No. Maintenance grants will rise from £2,906 to £3,250 for students from households earning less than £25,000 and pupils who have been eligible for school meals could get up to two years' worth of fees paid by the government under plans being considered.

In most cases, this means they would only have to take out tuition fee loans for their third and final year of study.

UPDATE: CCHQ have just released this website http://factsonfees.com/

Students v Suffragettes

2010-12-01T11:49:00.018Z

The 18th November 2010 was the centenary of Black Friday.

In the summer of 1910, an all-party group of MPs devised the Conciliation Bill, which would extend the right to vote to around one million wealthy, property-owning women, and it passed its second reading by 299 votes to 189 but on Friday 18th November 1910 the PM, Herbert Henry Asquith, refused it further parliamentary time.

In response, Mrs Pankhurst led a deputation of 300 to the Houses of Parliament. The police obstructed them and a violent skirmish ensued. Over 100 were arrested and many were injured. The event has ever since been referred to as Black Friday.

During the 3 days of violence, 285 arrests were made, 75 women imprisoned, many were injured and 3 later died from their injuries. As the Government continued to break promises, so women's fury and impatience increased, and the WSPU [Women's Social and Political Union] resorted to damaging property including window-smashing raids and arson. Altogether, over a thousand women went to prison.

Read more about the suffragettes on the CWO website www.conservativewomen.org.uk

The events of Black Friday were a public relations disaster for the government, including the Home Secretary, Winston Churchill. The press took the side of the suffragettes, printing pictures of police assaulting unarmed female protesters and the actions of the police were greatly criticised.

Women were taking a stand against a male-dominated world, protesting the Victorian belief that men were more intelligent than women and that a woman couldn't possibly be trusted to sensibly choose a candidate in an election (or, even worse, stand for election herself).

Step forward 100 years.

School children and students rampage through the streets of London. Most are on a jolly so they can say that they were there; some are out to cause as much trouble and damage as possible; and the rest believe that they are being hard-done by and want to protect further education for the future.

The latter, I have no problem with. The first I encourage to stay at home and study instead. But it's the minority that are misunderstood.

They are not anarchists; they are not communists; nor are they revolutionaries. They are angry because they're teenagers and their hormones are overwhelming them. Bless.

As every parent of two different sexed children will tell you, girls go through the "I hate you!" phase a lot earlier than boys do. Boys tend to wait until they get a sniff of independence, then go overboard, getting wrapped up in anything that sparks an interest. Give these "anarchists" a couple of years and their first sexual experience and they'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

So, other than hormones, what's the difference between the violence on the streets 100 years ago and the violence on the streets today? The answer is support. The suffragettes had it - the students don't.

Had they sent a deputation to parliament, had Aaron Porter schmoozed the media (rather than just want to be interviewed), had Nelson's Column remained untouched, then more people would listen to them. But instead their support dropped faster than a fire extinguisher off 30 Millbank.

I'm also not entirely sure that they know what they're protesting about. All they hear is £9000 and it's off for a sit-in at the local council chambers.

Children, it's cold outside and burning a bus shelter isn't going to keep the fight warm. If you want to learn how to campaign and lobby properly then do some research and read a book or two...

Oops. Sorry. My mistake.

LibDem's Amnesty Under Scrutiny

2010-05-02T08:00:00.022+01:00

Daniel Finkelstein has echoed my Reason #4 that the LibDems are plain wrong.

In yesterday's Times Online, he writes:

How does the amnesty work?

A question.

How exactly does Nick Clegg's amnesty work?

The central argument he advances for it is that we can't deport these illegals because we don't know who they are or where they are.

He gets pretty impatient if pressed on this.

But if we don't know who they are and where they are, then how do we know that applicants have been here for 10 years and therefore qualify for amnesty?

Add to this that he keeps on going on about how most/some/all illegal immigrants are being kept as slave labour by gangs (his spin on why this daft policy is a good idea) - but again it's impossible for him to say how many.

We know that some are slave labour because of the deaths of the cockle-pickers of Morecambe Bay in 2004.

More frightening by far, though, is the horrendous sex-trafficking industry in the UK - worse in numbers than any slavery in our embarrassing past. The CWO has researched this and neither the police nor the many NGOs involved know where the victims are or how long they've been here.

What we do know is that those forced into prostitution and the slave labour are kept locked up and far away from the police & immigration. The locks aren't necessary though as the victims stay there from fear that their families back home would be tortured and killed if they told anyone.

Of course we need to find the gangs and release their victims. We need to give the victims both mental and physical help, possibly for years.

This isn't something new and a misinformed amnesty is not going to help - it will only send a signal to the desperate that if you get to the UK, you'll get citizenship: I doubt many will read the small print first.

10 Reasons why the LibDems are Plain Wrong

2010-04-17T10:25:00.084+01:00

Ignoring the fact that Vince Cable flip-flops more than casual beach footwear, it is now time to put the LibDems under scrutiny because they cannot and should not be allowed to hoodwink the British electorate. (I apologise for the length in advance - this could have gone on for pages.)

Getting Labour back for another 5 years would be disastrous for this country, however, having Nick Clegg as kingmaker, or God-forbid as PM, would be simply frightening. So here's 10 reasons why they think they should hold power - and why they absolutely shouldn't:

The LibDems think that they're a credible opposition party

LibDem 2010 Budget Response: "The increase in National Insurance Contributions is a damaging tax on jobs and unfair to employees; however with a structural deficit of almost £70bn no party can credibly say they are going to reverse it."

LibDem 2010 manifesto (p97): "We would seek to reverse it."

Nick Clegg believes in British jobs for foreign workers

Nick Clegg's interview with Jeremy Paxman (25m40s):
Paxman: Anywhere in England need more immigrants?

Clegg: Well, I think if you speak to some farmers, for instance, in parts of Lincolnshire - we know there's already a shortage of immigrant labour in fruit-picking and vegetable-picking.
Things that Nick Clegg apparently doesn't know #1: There is 20% youth unemployment in the UK. Might Nick not want to encourage people already in the UK to do these jobs?

The LibDems think that the UK is just like Australia

It's not just immigrants that Nick Clegg wants to corral into regions of the UK "like Australia", it's a "rural fuel discount scheme" (Manifesto p80). In rural areas they want to keep fuel duty lower than in urban areas, er... a bit like Australia.

Things that Nick Clegg doesn't know #2: Australia is a tad bigger than the UK. You could fit Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland into Australia 31 times and still have a bit left over. It takes 2 hours alone to drive from the Western Sydney city limits to the Harbour Bridge. In the UK, is there any city that you can't reach in under 2 hours (Highlands, islands & traffic jams excepting)?

To give certain places in the UK a fuel discount scheme would mean limiting the programme to petrol stations in extreme rural areas, and there aren't that many. Wouldn't it be better to plan for something like, I don't know, how about a Fair Fuel Stabiliser? (Conservative manifesto p24)

Nick Clegg has a secret database (allegedly)

Nick Clegg apparently has a secret database of illegal immigrants as he wants to give an amnesty to all those who have been here for over 10 years (keep watching Paxman interview above).

Things that Nick Clegg doesn't know #3: Because they're illegal immigrants, we actually don't have a record of when they entered the country. So what's to stop people who have been here 6 months saying they've lived here for 10 years?

LibDems are cancelling Eurofighter - they're just not sure which bit

LibDem Manifesto (p16) cost savings - "Cancelling Eurofighter Tranche 3b".

In the Ask the Chancellors debate (9m10s), Vince Cable said that he wanted to scrap "Eurofighters in the short run". I didn't know what he meant by this but apparently he meant tranche 2. This was picked up by the Shadow Treasury Minister, Philip Hammond the next day in the budget debate - and Vince Cable didn't disagree (Hansard 30 Mar 2010: Column 682):
Mr. Philip Hammond (Conservative): The hon. Gentleman talks about the credibility of plans to cut spending and he has announced his £15 billion plan. Will he confirm something that he said last night during the television debate-that the £15 billion includes scrapping tranche 2 of the Eurofighter project? Perhaps he has seen a different contract from the one I have seen, but my understanding is that the cancellation charge for tranche 2 exceeds the cost of taking delivery of tranche 2. Can he explain to the House how he would make a saving there?

Dr. Cable: That is not the information that we have received. We have repeatedly checked our understanding of the charges involved in such a decision. There are two different components to the end of the Eurofighter contract, as the hon. Gentleman knows. We believe on the basis of what we have been told - of course, we are not told everything, because some of this is supposedly commercially confidential - and on the basis of our information that some savings could be made.
("Some savings" is apparently £1.5bn - manifesto p103.) Actually, the rest of the Hansard page is well worth a read as Vince Cable was clearing up a whole load that evening. But then Vince Cable seems to "mispronounce" and give the "wrong impression" quite a lot for someone who is supposed to be an economic guru.

So 2 weeks before the LibDem manifesto is launched, the LibDems were still planning on cancelling tranche 2. After this was shown to be economic drivel, they suddenly swap over to tranche 3b in their manifesto.

What they haven't mentioned is how many thousands of jobs in the UK will be lost because of cancellation; whether cancelling 3b has any associated compensation fees; and how many 3b Eurofighters might be sold to the Middle East, just like Oman is buying up a load of our tranche 3a fighters.

They're also cancelling Trident to make their sums look better

On page 17 of the LibDem manifesto, it states that Trident "could" cost £100 billion, however, on p65 it suddenly changes to a definitive "at a cost of £100 billion". Assumption to fact in 48 pages. Worrying.

The LibDems want to cancel Trident then have a "full defence review". What happens if the review concludes that our best defence is to have Trident - and we've cancelled it and spent the money? Frightening.

No-one knows what the state of the world will be in a year, 10 years or 30 years from now. There are LibDems that argue that having nuclear weapons didn't stop the Falklands War or 7/7, which is possibly the most ridiculous argument ever.

I'd prefer to have nuclear weapon free world but I'm also a realist. I do think the amount of warheads we have is ridiculous though (how many times can you blow up the world?) but dismissing Trident out of hand is even more dangerous.

Vince Cable believes that crossing your fingers is a good way to raise money

When the manifesto talks about job creation, he says that the UK Infrastructure Bank seed funding "could" be raised from the sell-off of the student loan book or the Tote (p25), and that further seed funding "could" be secured against or raised from government-owned assets such as the Dartford Crossing (p25).

Vince Cable might also see whether the sale of the Post Office "could" raise even more money - assuming of course someone actually wants to buy all of this right now. Yes, they all "could" get sold - but be realistic.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you though.

Vice Cable knows more than HMRC

Revenue from "Anti-avoidance measures" in the manifesto (p101) include £2.4bn saved from Income Tax and NIC contributions, £1.46bn from Corporation Tax and £750m from Stamp Duty, totalling £4.63bn.

This is a major part of the LibDems cost savings.

Small problem is that those lovely people at Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs estimate that NI, income tax and capital gains tax avoidance is only between £0.8n and £1.6bn.

Vince Cable thinks his budget is costed

Without the delayed spending review, it's impossible for any "credible" party to specifically say where cuts will be made or exactly where money will be saved.

Credible means getting the real data first - not pulling figures out of thin air and passing it off as costed.

The LibDems love Europe.. (well some of them do)

Both this year and in 2008, there has been revolt on the LibDem benches over European referendums. In 2008, Nick Clegg was humiliated when 13 LidDem MPs voted with the Conservatives for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, when Nick had ordered them to ~~sit on the fence~~ abstain.

In January of this year, they were split again with LibDems going against Nick Clegg to vote with the Conservatives on an amendment to block any further powers going to Europe without a referendum.

Only problem is that Nick Clegg proposed a motion at their 2005 conference to block any further powers going to Europe without a referendum.

(h/t Jon Craig)

And the Euro? "We believe that it is in Britain's long-term interest to be part of the Euro" (LibDem Manifesto p67). 'Nuff said.

The Liberal Democrats really don't stand up to any scrutiny and I've only scratched the surface here. So maybe the last word should go to the Channel 4 Fact Check website on the Liberal Democrat manifesto, which has dug out a few more:

"Their oft-repeated mantra on the poorest fifth paying proportionally more tax fails to offset it against benefits; and their statistics on a reoffending pilot scheme are very impressive until you realise that these “petty criminals” are not worthy of a police caution."

Going Green, Mate

2009-12-20T19:53:00.006Z

Australia is a country of contradictions: It has both the cuddliest and deadliest animals in the world; it can be 40C one day and 15C the next; and while the rest of the world think of the average Aussie as a healthy, outdoor-living type, they are up there with the worst offending carbon polluters (per capita) in the world.

While most of the developed nations worry about dwindling energy supplies leading to blackouts in the next decade, Australia is sitting on enough brown coal to last them 300 years. Brown coal is bad - much worse than black coal for spewing carbon into the atmosphere - and although energy prices have risen in Oz, they are still relatively cheap compared to the exorbitant prices that residents pay in the UK.

Even their petrol is around half the price of the UK, so there's no incentive to get people onto public transport. And why would they? As the saying goes, "Australia is a bloody big country" and unless you live in a city suburb with a tram or train stop within walking distance, you have to use a car.

Australia isn't just a country, it's all but a continent, made up of people who don't want to live anywhere else and are generally very happy with their lives. They want to protect their status quo and they don't want America or Europe telling them they've got to change, so I'm not surprised that the country is dissolving into a political and social battle that revolves entirely around climate change.

I was in Sydney last week while COP15 was on and for the snail pace drive back to the airport which took an hour (usually 15 minutes), my taxi driver gave me an impromptu lecture on his theories surrounding the treaty that was never to be. Ask a London cabbie about Copenhagen and he'll probably be able to tell you that it's in Denmark - I doubt he'll be able to give you an opinion on the summit, let alone a lecture.

I don't know whether it's scaremongering; media reporting; or the haste at which Tony Abbott (the new Liberal leader who has described climate change as crap) has risen up the political ranks, but many Australians - and not just my taxi driver - feel that a binding treaty would have made them relinquish sovereignty while taxing them to the point of bankruptcy. Ask them how both these would come about and they don't really know - "I heard it somewhere" (probably from my taxi driver).

Kevin Rudd (the Labor PM) wants to introduce the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) - which is being dubbed the "giant new tax" by Abbott... Introduce the words giant, new and tax into the public psyche and Rudd will have a tough fight come election time - he may even be forced to call it sooner that planned just to draw a line under this rather hot potato.

Abbott only won the leadership election by a single vote and was close to pulling out of the race days before. But rather than a new leader fixing the cracks, his election has horrified moderate Liberals and has split the party more than it was already.

There will be an Australian election in 2010 before the next climate summit and it's already being dubbed the Climate Change Election. It goes against all my political principles to want a Labor victory but an Abbott victory (rather than a Liberal one) would not be the best option for this planet. I may not agree politically with much of what Rudd believes in but unlike Gordon Brown, Rudd didn't fly into Copenhagen with a self-mandate to save the world - he went there to make it work and you can see the utter disappointment in his eyes, once you get past the dark shadows giving away the lack of sleep.

It's great that climate change will be discussed over the turkey or barbied snags this Friday but Australia has to be careful that it doesn't go the for Abbott easy option and just ignore it. I don't think they will and when the election comes around, I think Rudd will still come out the winner. It'll be an election worth watching though.

Thank you!

2009-12-02T08:27:00.001Z

I didn't want to tag this onto another post as the CWO is so grateful to so many people for their trip to Brussels.

Huge thanks are due to Marina Yannakoudakis for inviting us to visit and giving us so much of her extremely precious time; to Timothy Kirkhope MEP (the leader of the Conservative MEPs in Europe), Vicky Ford MEP and all the other MEPs we met and talked to. An honour too to have sat down with Eva Svensson, the Chair of the FEMM Committee.

Special thanks must go to Mark Walker, Marina's Head of Office, and to Caroline Healy (the Conservative FEMM Committee Advisor) for their help in guiding us around and patiently explaining how everything worked. We would literally have been lost without Mark and still quite ignorant with Caroline!

Victory for voiceless women

2009-11-07T16:35:00.003Z

A two-year campaign to give a voice to voiceless women forced into prostitution ended victoriously earlier this week. Late on Tuesday night members of the House of Lords voted in favour of a clause designed to protect people forced into prostitution. Clause 14 passed through the Report Stage of the Policing and Crime bill un-amended.

The clause, which is supported by over 60 charities and organisations, shifts the focus of the law onto those who create the demand for prostitution by making it an offence to pay for sex with someone who is subjected to force, deception or threats.

This is good. There would be no need for forced prostitution if there were not so many men out there looking to buy sex. I've heard a lot of the pro and anti /legalise and not legalise prostitution, but I always come back to the point of why do so many men buy sex? They can't all be misunderstood. Part of it is 'because they can' - and they are not taught otherwise.

I cannot help but recall a conversation with women at the UN Commission for Women who were all mainly from the USA. I asked if they talked to their sons about paying for sex, and the plight of some prostitutes. They said 'its not men like our sons'.

Yes it is ladies. It's always someones son, brother, husband, lover. They need to be told its not acceptable. This is a great step forward. Stopping the market would be another.

Harriet Harman's idea of Women's Rights

2009-09-30T11:54:00.019+01:00

After John Prescott warned Harriet Harman to keep quiet about women's rights yesterday, I tuned in to see what the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party would say.

Admittedly I only caught the end of her speech, but what I did catch was incredulous, even for a Government on its last legs. I don't think my anger levels will survive watching the whole thing.

I caught the speech as she was talking about prostitution (which she obviously has never fully researched) but then went onto rambling about Labour's Diversity Evening:

"If the Tories had a Diversity Evening at their conference...Theresa May wouldn't be allowed to be there, because she's a woman. But she could serve the drinks."

I don't even know where to begin to understand why Harman said what she did.

Thankfully, the 10 people that have stayed for the last day of the conference didn't give Harman the reaction she must have been after. Other than one raucous laugh (probably from her speech writer), the rest of the delegates gave it a very quiet, embarrassed laugh.

May I remind Ms Harman that no Conservative Shadow Cabinet member has ever resigned from office telling their leader that they "have been treated ... as little more than female window dressing"!!

If the Conservatives achieve a majority of just one at the next election, then we will have 55+ women MPs in the next parliament. This will only have come about because of the hard work of the CWO and because of David Cameron's determination to increase the number of women MPs on the Conservative benches - and all without the NuLabour sexist, all-women shortlists.

Conservative women do well because they're damned good and will NEVER describe themselves as window dressing.

The BNP: Motivation against Voter Apathy

2009-06-08T07:27:00.010+01:00

The vast majority of CWO members have been out canvassing, delivering leaflets, telling and knocking-up for the past weeks and months. Certainly in the County Council elections it was all worth the sore feet, slammed doors in faces, close escapes from dogs and scraped knuckles from unfriendly letterboxes.

Taking Devon and Somerset from the Lib Dems and the outstanding results in the North showed how successful Conservatives are at local level and just how much the population wants a change in Government.

It was all going so well - until Sunday evening - when the results came in from the North West and Yorkshire.

I don't know anybody in this country who wouldn't have had a lump in their throat watching the wonderful WWII veterans tell their stories at the D-Day celebrations. I just wish the elections had happened the day after the 65th anniversary - it might have stopped people believing that voting for the odious BNP was in some way a protest vote.

For Griffin to even align himself with Churchill and the heroes of the two world wars is sickening. In some twisted re-writing of history, the BNP believe that these same veterans fought to protect Britain for the British.

Every man and woman who defended Britain - be it on the front, working in factories, digging in the fields, or keeping the home fires burning - were all heroes and they worked, fought and died to defend our freedom from Fascism - from people like Nick Griffin.

If there was ever a reason for the electorate to participate in democracy - that most precious commodity saved by those heroes - then the shame of having two BNP MEPs is that reason.

For the 26 million of you who did not vote in the European elections because of political mistrust, boredom, couldn't be bothered or because parliament is going through much-needed reform, then you only have yourself to blame when you wake up this morning and are disgusted by the news. Remember that feeling at the next election and go and vote.

You might not like mainstream politicians at the moment but giving the BNP a foothold in British politics would be a far worse disaster than the times we are living through now.

The Telegraph has done a Disservice to Democracy

2009-05-16T10:24:00.012+01:00

Enough is enough. For every day that new revelations are dripped out to the media and electorate, I can see another 500 votes for UKIP (or worse) in the June elections.

The day this broke, I wrote to the Telegraph to tell them that they had done a disservice to democracy by releasing this information before the June elections. My letter, unsurprisingly, didn't get published.

County Council and European candidates are getting thrown to the wolves. I forget the number of times I've had to remind voters on the doorstep that these are local and European elections and not parliamentary.

Not voting goes against everything I believe in a democracy but for once I'd prefer people not to vote than give a protest vote to a party whose MEPs are embroiled in their own scandals, or to the loathsome BNP.

The Telegraph have had this information for weeks and possibly months. They would have had to, given the time it would have taken them to go through the million or so receipts.

Publish the rest in one go then publish another 10 editions highlighting the vast majority of our MPs who work hard and don't have any "accounting errors that were within the rules".

It is not the fault of all the County Council and Euro candidates that parliament has got itself into this mess - so why does a national newspaper believe that it has the right to interfere with democracy at such a basic level? I'm not saying they shouldn't have published the information - only that they should have started it after the 4th June.

What a day this has been....

2009-05-12T19:53:00.002+01:00

Some 26 years ago I had the fortune to marry a young man who was destined to be an MP. As it happens, just 6 weeks after our wedding he was an MP, and decisions for my callow 23 year self had to be made. Stay in my job (administrator in the racing industry) or follow my hobby into work - 8 years service as a volunteer in the Conservative Party had me well bitten by the bug, so heading after my man to become his PA seemed reasonable, sensible, and a good way to not blow this fresh young marriage. We worked hard, we rented a small flat on the allowances, and we lived sensibly. In that respect nothing has changed. 26 years on; we rent a small flat, we live sensibly, we only claim what is appropriate.

To say we were stunned by some of the revelations this week is an understatement. I wrote in a recent article that I believed 99% of MPs were doing it correctly and it would be 'the few' that muddied the waters. I was wrong.

So what do we do? David Cameron has shown true grit and leadership today. Clean up or get out is his message, and that is one all must follow.

What I really hope is that for the prospective young things out there who have been bitten by the bug will not be put off. The honour of representing people cannot be underestimated, and is worth fighting for.

A 10p Silver Lining

2008-05-09T09:33:00.002+01:00

After the stunning new YouGov poll figures that put Labour on 23% and the Conservatives on 49%, Gordon Brown must be wondering where all that support has gone. Why are all these people complaining about being better off? After all, over 40 million people gained by reducing the basic rate from 22p to 20p.

Well, Gordy, here's the thing. No matter how much you tell us that we're better off, Jo Public has shown that selflessness is still alive and well, after many of us thought that it had been eradicated.

I can't count the number of people who have said to me in so many words: "Yes I'm better off but I don't want it to be at the expense of people less well off."

For the first time in a very long time, I'm proud to be British again.

The Bean Counter's "Fightback"

2008-05-04T10:22:00.003+01:00

Nobody liked the fact that Tony Blair ruled by headlines and changed the direction of government in reaction to media opinion. However, it did mean he actually read the papers and was prepared to change.

Brown's admittance, in Andrew Marr's interview, that he's not going to change course "because of a couple of bad day's headlines" was more than just a Freudian slip: I think Brown actually believes that it's the fault of the media's coverage of the 10p debacle that the country has given him what he called a "difficult weekend" - the understatement of the year.

Whoever it was who decided to cut off the PM in midstream on Adam Boulton's show to go to a double-glazing advert, gets my vote. It was just after Gordon Brown said that the people of Britain "never thought that higher inflation would come in from the East". For once, I actually agree with him: No, I never thought about it even once. What planet is he on?

Rhetoric, arrogance and a total misunderstanding of why Labour got a kicking abounded. Trust me Gordon, people did not vote Conservative in huge numbers because they've looked at your economic policies for the next financial year and disagree with them. It's because the public see this administration as unfair, slow-moving and unchanging - and the lack of change after these elections proves the point. For a PM not to have a reshuffle just goes to show that there isn't anyone else on the Labour backbenches that could do the job better (and not knife Brown in the back while they're there).

According to Brown, good leadership is not just about the good times but getting through the bad times. Wrong. A good leader is just that, a leader. It's not someone who constantly looks at the the bottom line, it's someone who empathises with the country at large - something that Blair did well, albeit a bit smarmily. "I feel the hurt that they feel" and "I get it" are good soundbites but by saying "they", it proves he is disassociated from the country at large.

Brown said that the local elections were a "referendum on Labour". Balderdash. This was the country's first opportunity to give their opinion on Gordon Brown and he failed.

Brown might make a great accountant but he's no leader.

Mayor Boris!

2008-05-03T09:56:00.003+01:00

What a 24 hours - or did it seem like a week to anyone else?

After the Labour freefall of the local elections and Boris' win in London, the only thing missing from the Conservatives running the country is the absence of David Cameron walking into Number 10.

We've got that winning feeling and after 11 hard years, it's a feeling that won't be going away anytime soon.

Congratulations to all the candidates and campaigners up and down the country - so many of whom are also part of the CWO. Everyone deserves a big pat on the back today (and probably a lie in!)

"Old Boris... New Boris... I was elected as New Boris and I will govern as New Boris." Brilliant

On the Campaign Trail

2008-04-30T08:02:00.005+01:00

Despite being Deputy Chairman of the CWO, I have to admit that up to last week, I had never been on the campaign trail - something that has now been rectified.

I can't vote in the London Mayoral elections as I live 5 miles outside of Greater London but I want Ken out just as much as those that live 5 miles closer, so when the CWO President, Fiona Hodgson (left in the photo with me in the middle and Sarah Palmer on the right), asked whether I would come campaigning for Boris in Richmond, I couldn't refuse.

I will never look at an election night the same again (or "Results Show" as they will probably be renamed). In previous elections, I have watched as party supporters have thronged around a stage to hear their candidate either win or lose, accompanied by cheers or the rustle of coats being gathered. I have wondered what would make them stand around in a cold hall for hours on end just to hear something you can see on the TV.

I spent a mere 2 days campaigning for Boris and I would have taken my hat off to all of them yesterday, if it hadn't been raining the proverbial cats and dogs. What I did for 2 days, campaign offices all over London have been doing for months - day in, day out and in vastly less salubrious surroundings than Richmond. I applaud them all, whatever candidate they're supporting.

I've always liked Richmond, except the traffic is horrendous. I'm also not too fond of the Nigel Mansell driven refuse trucks that made me kerb my day old new car. Most of all I hate that it's a Lib Dem constituency (3,731 maj). The lovely Zac Goldsmith (unashamed reason to post photo) is standing at the next election for the Conservatives, so you can count me in. Hopefully, if the Mayoral doorstepping is anything to go by, Richmond Park will be Conservative again by 2010 and I'll be one of the ones cheering on the results show from Richmond.

Just please don't let it rain during the campaign... [sniffle]

The Last Wolf Whistle?

2008-04-09T10:10:00.003+01:00

The EU Consolidated Equal Treatment Directive 2006/54 is about to come into force in the UK. It finally includes real definitions of sexual harassment, harassment, direct and indirect discrimination.

The extension of the definition of sex discrimination covers any act that leads to intimidation or degradation. Sex related harassment is defined as unwanted conduct related to the sex of a person, with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, and of creating a distressing intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

You would think this was a good thing. Not according to Sun columnist Fergus Shanahan. Apparently all of the above means that bar staff can now sue their employer if a customer calls them "duckie" or "luv".

For once, couldn't commentators see the good in something and not hypothesise assumptions that just aren't there? In my days as a barmaid, a simple "I'm not your luv" or "Don't call me duckie" was enough. I don't believe any barmaid would phone their lawyer for someone saying the female equivalent of "Thanks mate".

Some EU laws ARE preposterous and yes, Brown has glued us into Europe in a way that will probably come back and bite us, but don't make a joke out of something that gives men and women more protection and equality.

Finally...

2008-04-09T09:26:00.006+01:00

Fayed has finally said that he's giving up his 10 year campaign to prove that Princess Diana and his son Dodi were killed in a conspiracy.

He got the killed bit right. They were killed by a drunk driver. Only problem is that it was a drunk driver in Fayed's employ, something that his surreal conspiracy theories tried unsuccessfully to divert attention away from.

It was obvious that the Coroner's Court verdict was never going to end well for Fayed, but how Michael Cole has stayed and pandered to the man beggars belief (or Cole's bank balance).

Fayed truly believes that "the establishment" is against him: The Royal Family, Labour and Conservative Governments, the Police, MI5, MI6, the BBC, any journalist... actually anyone who dares to question him. They all have had a vendetta against him for decades apparently.

Mohammed, in your imaginary world, you're never going to win - it's time to leave the mountain and move abroad.

A Century of Political Advertising

2008-04-09T08:44:00.008+01:00

I've just got round to looking at the Conservative Archive of Campaign Advertising. It includes some great memories - these are a few of my favourites. Click on any poster to view a large version. All posters are copyright Conservative Party Archive.

Poster 1929-02	Poster 1929-46	Poster 1929-17
Poster 1950-01	Poster 1954-04	Poster 1970-05
Poster 1978/9-01	Poster 1978/9-03	Poster 1997-08
Poster 1992-15	Poster 1999-01	Poster 2004-01

Does this Government care about violence to women - or not?

2008-04-07T12:37:00.002+01:00

Last week a colleague and I watched two women members of this Government telling us how well they felt they were all doing with gender work throughout Government, how good they were about it being top of the agenda and part of everything they do.

The occasion was the launch of 'Making the Grade 07' by EVAW its annual assessment of what UK Government Departments are doing to tackle violence against women.

EVAW commends the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for scoring top marks for the second year running - they managed 7/10. Other departments managed halves and quarter marks - with DEFRA and Dept of Transport managing a zero caused by 'can't be botheredness' one presumes.

We are told the CPS is leading the way across Whitehall in developing a Violence Against Women Strategy. What is astonishing is that other departments are still failing to take this issue seriously meaning that policies on poverty, education and social exclusion do not make the connection to violence against women.

AND

The Government shoots itself in the foot regarding women yet again.

We hear today that despite welcome talk about UNSCR 1325 and other gender-positive international obligations, no name has ever been submitted for a place on the CEDAW committee from the UK, and no-one is presently being nominated by the UK for any of the upcoming 11 places. Enquiries at the FCO say 'no funds to promote a UK nominee'

CEDAW was adopted nearly 30 years ago by the UN General Assembly, described as an international bill of rights for women.

But does the UK Government care about it? I think not. 'No funds to promote' ? Rather a feeble response when this is one of the toughest issues facing society today.

A few facts about H2O

2008-03-25T12:40:00.005Z

It was only when I started travelling to hot countries as a young adult that I started to realise what a precious commodity water really is but even so, it always astonishes you when facts and figures put it in its proper prospective.

Zehra Zaidi (the SW Conservative MEP Candidate) has done just that in a fascinating article for World Water Day on the 22nd March.

You can read it in full here but some of the highlights include:

40 billion working hours are spent carrying water each year in Africa equivalent to France's entire workforce for a year
Women are disproportionately affected by poor water and sanitation. For example, they often have to fetch and carry water which keeps them out of school. According to DFID, 11% more girls attend school when sanitation is available.

Tap into WaterAid is a new scheme asking for donations everytime anyone asks for a glass or jug of tap water in participating restaurants.

A nice idea which I hope catches on but shouldn't there also be an automatic donation on all bottled water served in restaurants - not forgetting the Palace of Westminster? That way people might start using tap water instead of bottled, which can only help save the environment AND help WaterAid.

Time to Re-Index Inflation

2008-03-17T09:31:00.008Z

Everyone except Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown believes that inflation is much higher than 2.5%. Indeed, even the Office of National Statistics allow you to calculate your own personal inflation and say that National Inflation is nearer 4%.

NB: You will need to download Adobe's SVG Viewer first to calculate your own inflation - scroll half way down the adobe page to the download links, click on Win98-XP and run it, then go back to the National Statistics website.

My inflation (see graph on right) is running at around 5% and has been as high as 8% last year.

I'm a pretty average person, although I don't use my car much, so my inflation will be a lot lower than other people's.

The "basket of goods" change today and more new technology will undoubtedly be added, which isn't relevant as the price of technology naturally falls.

Unless mortgages and fuel prices are added to the inflation calculation, what hope have the Bank of England got in setting interest rates that are relevant to the country's economic state?

This fudging of the inflation figures could end up being dangerous if interest rates bear no resemblance to the real world.

Big Trouble in Little China

2008-03-17T09:17:00.002Z

What's happening in Tibet is worrying - especially as the protests are spreading to other Chinese provinces.

If this was any ordinary year, the Chinese Government would deal with any protests in their normal thumping fist way, blindly ignoring any overseas protests. But in 144 days, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics will take place.

What we don't want are boycotts: The Chinese Olympic Committee have nothing to do with Tibet, plus a tit-for-tat boycott could decimate the London Olympics in 2012.

Is there anything that foreign diplomats can do? I doubt it. The protests are internal politics and we certainly wouldn't like the Chinese interfering with ours. But the way they deal with the protests could become the world's responsibility if they further destroy their human rights record.

I doubt the Beijing's diplomats will be getting much sleep in the next few weeks.

The Puppet Masters Budget

2008-03-13T08:58:00.008Z

This was always going to be a bad budget (but we didn't realise how boring a budget could be until Darling stood up). It was going to be bad because the Treasury has no room for manoeuvre after the economic mis-management for the past 10 years. Brown has left us in debt up to the eyeballs with the Treasury needing more and more money.

We're the worst-prepared developed country going into this worldwide downturn and Darling's only response is that we're actually "well placed" and that our debt is half what it was in the early 90s. If that is the best comeback Darling's team could come up with, we're in serious trouble.

After the 7th consecutive budget that the Treasury have underestimated their public sector spending figures, UK debt currently stands at 574 billion pounds and will reach 809 billion pounds by 2010/11. And they're probably the only figures that they can't fudge, as the rules are set out in the Maastricht Treaty.

As Darling couldn't reduce the tax burden, what he should have done was what Nigel Lawson did in the mid-80s: Simplify the tax system. The only people making any money from Labour budgets are the accountants.

Instead he squeezed us even more and pretended that inflation really is at 2% and that the economy will be back on track by the end of next year. That's one hell of a gamble, considering everyone else thinks that Britain is poorly placed to face up to the credit crunch. Either everyone else, or this Government, is living on another planet.

The booze taxes won't even begin to dent binge drinkers (an extra £1 onto cider and alcopops might have done) and as for the time spent rabbiting on about plastic bags..!

I don't mind paying for plastic bags (I already buy black bin bags but nobody seems worried about them), what I mind is Central Government sticking their nose into what is a naturally occuring event: Supermarkets will get rid of plastic bags or charge for them eventually - we don't need yet another new law piled on top of all the other ones that aren't regulated.

What defines the ill-thought out madness of this 'budget', though, is the new so-called Showroom Tax. When people are put off from buying a new Ford Mondeo because they'll be £250 a year worse off, all this means is that people will buy more second hand cars - and older cars are less efficient and therefore higher polluters.

This is the same crazy logic that Ken Livingstone uses when charging luxury car drivers £25 to drive into London. It's nothing to do with CO2 emissions, it all to do with taxing people who have struggled to become successful against the odds of living under nuLabour.

Why not tax the 25 year old cars that gleefully pump out CO2 (and a host of other nasties) and get them off the road: Encourage people to buy newer, more efficient models. Saying that, I drive an astounding 3 whole thousand miles per year. So why should I pay the same car tax as someone who drives 100,000? Yes, fuel duty regulates this to an extent but my personal choice of having a comfortable car to drive those 3,000 miles is mine to make - not the Government's.

It's this twisted, nonsensical administration over our economic policies that will leave the Conservatives with yet another headache similar to the state they inherited in 1979. We need a Conservative government to get us back on course.... and quickly.

And finally... One more thing on our increasing national debt burden. In January 2008, Brown said in an interview with The Observer: "Yes, there will be people that take advantage of a liberalised economy and sometimes make the wrong personal decisions for their own debt. And we must have the best advice and the best help for people in these circumstances."

Hello, this is the pot calling... can I speak to the black kettle?

The Award for the Worst Carbon Emissions

2008-03-11T08:47:00.005Z

On the eve of the Australian Grand Prix, data published by authorities in both London and Melbourne (Australia), have found that, per year, London pumps out an average of 1.2 tonnes of carbon per person and Melbourne pumps out 3.1 tonnes per person!

The problem is the abundant supply of brown coal found in the state and 97% of Victoria's electricity supply is from burning it.

According to a 2005 WWF Report, the Hazelwood Power Station in Latrobe Valley, Victoria, is the dirtiest power station in Australia and the most polluting power station in the industrialised world.

It also doesn't help that 80% of Victorians use their cars every day, leaving the reliable, clean and remarkably cheap (by UK standards) rail and tram travel to the poorer inhabitants and tourists.

There is good news though. Melbourne City Council has initiated a dramatic policy to reduce the city's net greenhouse emissions to zero by 2020. Watch this space.

Whingeing Clegg

2008-03-09T13:23:00.008Z

Nick Clegg as just finished his speech to the Lib Dem faithful in Liverpool.

Walking around the stage (a lot) without notes, Clegg managed at least to prove his eyesight was excellent, reading his speech off a 60-inch plasma autocue at the back of the auditorium.

The speech, although better than most Lib Dem leader speeches, was unfortunately filled to the brim with scaremongering rhetoric. And then there was the whingeing... and whining... and moaning... it went on and on and on.

He threw his dummy out of the pram while he promised to continue to walk out of the Commons; he stamped his feet while he promised to continue to abstain; he thcweemed and thcweemed and thcweemed while he promised to not go to meetings or dinners that he didn't agree with.

Apparently, the Lib Dems are taking a long holiday and going to do absolutely nothing at all. Not much difference there then.

So to their policies - and aren't they different from those tyrannical Labour people and the "sham" politics of the Conservatives?

From what I heard the Lib Dems are going to:

1) Cut VAT on fruit juice that mostly contains more sugar than normal Coca-Cola
2) Decentralise control over hospitals (have I heard that one before? Oh, yes, from the Conservatives)
3) A Derek Conway clause to allow local people to vote to get rid of their MP if they're suspended (not a bad idea but can we do that with a government as well, say, every 6 months?)
3) Invest in children's education

The last one was a peach, as it was for children's eduction that he (and I quote) "will find the £2.5 billion it will cost". Bless. And this was the man who called Conservative policies a sham.

Clegg wants to tax "only what we need and not a penny more". Apart from the obvious back track on their penny on taxes campaign at the last election, the U-turn leaves me thinking that the Lib Dems want this country run as a charity. Sorry to have to tell you, Nick, but UK plc needs to make a profit and the books are well into the red at the moment.

And as for all the "Now this is the time for change" and "The chance for change is there... within our reach... it's ours to take... so let's seize it."

Could all political speechwriters please close the book on Obama speeches, once and for all?!

Gender Neutral Tosh

2008-03-06T23:39:00.000Z

Jack Straw has once again been beating the Gender Neutral Terminology drum. This has been going on for years.

Yet again, in a written statement today, he wants titles like 'Chairman' banned from Parliament (to be replaced by Chair) as "the use of male pronouns reinforces gender stereotypes and could be confusing".

Yesterday, I was extremely priviliged to become Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Women's Organisation.

Ooops... did I say Deputy Chairman... as in Woman... and Human... and Mankind?

Grief! I do apologise. I meant to refer to myself as a deputy piece of furniture, a woperson, a huperson and a member of the personkind race.

The term "man" has always been inclusive. However, if I thought that there could be any confusion, then Madame Deputy Chairman is fine too (just longer!)

And if we're going to ban names because they could be confusing, then I feel sorry Hilary Benn.

CWO Leading the Way

2008-03-06T23:12:00.003Z

One thing that became blatantly clear throughout the Commons debate on International Women's Day was the importance of the work that the CWO is doing behind the scenes and in its Forums and Summits.

The main issues highlighted by the Commons were honour killings, forced marriages, rape, prostitution, violence against women, women in war zones, women in the armed forces and sex-trafficking... all subjects that either have, or are planned to be discussed and worked on by the CWO.

These are not easy subjects and yesterday's mini-conference on Violence Against Women was a good example.

If you were unable to attend the AGM and conference, a full report of the day will appear on our website soon, but suffice to say that it will not be the last time we discuss the subject and if you want to take part in a debate, come and listen, or help us, please make sure that you keep an eye on our diary for future events, or contact us directly.

International Women's Day

2008-03-06T22:59:00.011Z

Today was International Women's Day and I was extremely pleased to see a large part of both the Commons and Lords business dedicated to the subject.

The debate was started by a particularly partisan speech by The Minister for Women and Equality (Ms Harriet Harman), who consistently refused to give way to Conservative Mark Pritchard, giving her reason as this:

"I am not giving way to one of the 91 per cent. I suggest that Conservative Members should give way to more women"

Not giving way because he's a man? I was hoping that she would want to interrupt one of the male speakers further into the debate and be given the same reason (because she's a woman) but unfortunately she left the chamber not long into the debate.

The 91% referred to the percentage of Conservative male MPs over their female counterparts. She wasn't wrong about the statistic and it will be improved in the next Parliament, but her tone to open what could have become cross party support over so many important issues, was contemptible.

Apart from Ms Harman, there were many excellent speeches from both sides of the house, including some extremely generous compliments to the newly elected CWO President, and former Chairman, Fiona Hodgson, and to the work done by the CWO. These came from Alistair Burt, Eleanor Laing and Brooks Newmark.

Punishing Patients and Treating Prisoners

2008-03-03T08:09:00.016Z

On the 1st July 2008, the smoking ban will come into effect for all mental health institutions - both in the buildings and the grounds.

Mental health patients are not allowed to leave the grounds to have a smoke but are more likely to smoke - 70% compared to the UK average of 26% - which is hardly surprising.

Two patients are taking their local NHS Trust to court under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees respect for private and family life; another is taking on the Secretary of State for Health for introducing the law in the first place. You'd think common sense would allow a mental health patient the odd cigarette in an outdoor smoking area.

Prisons, however, will continue to remain exempt.

Are we seriously now treating prisoners and punishing patients?

Final day and coming home

2008-03-02T19:13:00.002Z

So we're back. Hotfoot off the plane last night and home to family and friends.

The last day in New York was as busy and varied as the others. An excellent session booked by the permanent UK Mission to the UN on the subject of resolution 1325 with a good panel which included UK reps and a very good US lawyer who specialises in this field.

The presentations were excellent, but as with a number of sessions the Q&A session yields the most information and sharing of views and detail. We all now know that we have much more of a handle on Res 1325, but a good read of the 18 points is also called for. Questions need to be asked of our own Government as to how much they are maintaining the resolution (not a huge amount of evidence in their favour...) and questions also need to be asked of our own Front bench as to future plans.

Pauline attended a presentation on widowhood and the agonies of how widows are treated in some cultures. Being widowed is always tragic - but being put out of house and home by your husband's family and literally thrown onto the streets is not something we generally have to consider here in the UK - but make no mistake there are also parallels in the treatment of widows here and in other developed countries by families, banks, and others.

Fiona headed for further discussion on 1325, and Eve met with a group from the Mothers Union throughout the world to discuss their field work in training Parish workers to work specifically with women and children in the basics of budgeting, cooking, and starting small businesses.

Our experience at the 52nd CSW has been a very powerful one. We have met with women from all around the world, and find that regardless of culture and creed, our passion to help those in conflict situations, in poverty, and in violent and abusive situations binds us together more strongly than anything that would divide us.

Our goals on return are to speak to politicians from all sides to find out several things:

How much do they know about violence to women?
Resolution 1325 - how is it being included in field action and legislation on a day to day basis?
What action are they taking to ensure that these issues are raised at the highest levels?
How do they see the future - when will women be able to be safe?

I think we have our work cut out......

What endangers women and children?

2008-02-29T13:17:00.005Z

Irresponsible reporting by the Drudge Report and quite shameful tail-gating by Jon Snow has not gone unnoticed here in the US. We have spent this week discussing the tragic effects of war in particular on women and children. The UN Commission does not take these things lightly and we are with some 5000 women from around the world, many of whom have first hand experience of finding themselves in women-headed families and communities struggling with physical, financial and social disaster.

So does the Drudge report think they have been helpful?

We have a culture of 'if you know it, tell it' that has developed, but the majority of responsible journalists know when to use their common sense and choose not to report.

Come to the CSW Mr Drudge. Come and talk to women to whom the impact of careless words has a long term, devastating effect, sometimes outcast from their communities. Leaving them exposed and powerless - yet again.

In the second World War we learnt that careless talk cost lives. It still does.

Anger at Drudge

2008-02-29T07:15:00.017Z

Hopefully the CWOs who are currently in New York may be able to get a US viewpoint on this but I am so incredibly angry with Matt Drudge for the unprofessional way he leaked the news that Harry is in Afghanistan.

For the life of me I can't see any reason he did it, other than to announce to the world that he knew. Well, Matt, it may amaze you to know that a surprisingly large number of people this side of the Atlantic already knew, but they managed to keep their ego under control.

Probably more disappointing, Channel 4's Jon Snow thanks Drudge for doing it.

Has anyone seriously been thinking "I wonder if Harry is in Afghanistan?" for the past 10 weeks? The media are there to report news that is in the public interest - this was not - and has consequently put a member of our armed forces in danger.

I wonder what the fallout would be if Brad Pitt joined the US troops and a UK blog leaked it?

UPDATE: It has been pointed out that it wasn't Matt Drudge who did the originally leaking - this was from New Idea (Gossip) Magazine in Australia, which printed it on the 7th January, and Germany's Bild . Bild should have known better and New Idea say that they had No Idea about an embargo (what happened to plain old common sense?)

Both reports were ignored by the rest of the world's media: It was Drudge that gave the story a voice, which he knew would happen. Yes, I believe Bild and New Idea were ignorant but I blame Drudge.

'I guess that's why they call it the blues...'

2008-02-29T04:46:00.017Z

So, here are the postcards for those who are feeling we have not been good on the whole mailing home thing. Please read and enjoy.

Usual stuff; 'Having a good time, wish you were here, weather mixed' !!

Today has been a slightly less pressured day at CSW. Fiona headed for the UN for a good meeting with UNIFEM on securing women's housing and property rights when they are affected by HIV/AIDS.

The sessions tomorrow pick up again on gender architecture, issues surrounding rights for widows, and African land issues.

The week has been quite pressured, and yesterday in particular had covered a large amount of harrowing information, so the slight 'down day' has come at a good moment. As the trip has been voluntary, and funded independently by each of us, it has been nice to have a bit of NY playtime!

Pauline and Eve decided to investigate the 'other side' of the American economy by travelling on the Staten Island Ferry over to a retail park north of the island. The Ferry now goes from a spectacular new terminal at Battery Park, but is still a free service. The terminal has some glamorous aquariums to watch while you await your ferry (sponsored by Staten Island Zoo) and we snapped a picture of the 'Fiona Fish' - so named today because as you know Fiona loves her turquoise!

Staten is a very different place to the city, even though it is a mere 20 minute ferry ride away. The population in this one NYC Borough is 600,000, which has doubled in less than 20 years, (total City population for the 5 Boroughs is 8.2 million) with very little having been done to add to the infrastructure. Although mainly a dormitory for the city, the quality of life for people on the island has deteriorated in part because of this.

We had a reason for heading to this particular place - a craft emporium called JoAnn that specialises in quilting fabrics and equipment, one of Mrs L's hobbies, but it gave us an opportunity to see a very different side of New York.

And for those of you who have been reading this blog with bated breath THE CONCERT WAS FANTASTIC!!!

Messrs Clapton and Winwood were stunning. Performing with a three-piece band that included Willie Weeks (bass), Chris Stainton (keyboards) and Ian Thomas (drums), the duo traded vocals and instrumentals with well-practiced ease. Clapton's solos in Traffic's "Pearly Queen" and "Dear Mr. Fantasy", Winwood's keyboard work and amazing vocals (for an old bloke!) made songs as Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" and Clapton's "Tell the Truth" brilliant. Winwood strapped on a guitar for most of the Blind Faith songs, as well as numbers including the rollicking "Low Down".

Each star also delivered one solo number, with Clapton performing an acoustic version of "Ramblin' on My Mind" and Winwood did a great version of "Georgia on My Mind".

Of course, the Blind Faith classics including "Had to Cry Today", "Presence of the Lord" and "Can't Find My Way Home" got the biggest cheers, but Clapton pop hits as "Forever Man" and "After Midnight" came close.

We stomped, we whistled, we screamed a bit, we clapped, we smelt the wacky baccy coming from the seats behind(!) and we had a very good time. Hopefully we will get the video clips up tomorrow.

So that's about it for todays adventures. Some photos of things we have done......

This you will not believe....

2008-02-28T16:14:00.003Z

So we thought we should get a bit of 'culture' - web searching for theatre, off Broadway and all that, guess what we found?

THREE TICKETS FOR ERIC CLAPTON WITH STEVE WINWOOD AT MADISON SQUARE GARDENS TONIGHT

So guess where we will be from 8pm??

Report tomorrow ... and maybe some CSW news too!

Sex, drugs and rock n roll

2008-02-28T04:13:00.006Z

Today has been one of challenge and argument. In fact as we blog we are still arguing!

We split up this morning with Fiona and Pauline heading to the morning briefing. The main point of information was that every country is to have an opportunity to speak independently tomorrow on reproductive health instead of one submission from the European caucus.

Eve attended a session with the UN Human Settlement Program with regard to Land Access Trusts in Africa and India. The Trusts are set up to give women and women headed families the opportunity to gain training in financial matters, get mortgages, and start businesses in order that they might support themselves and their families.

Economics of the sex industry is the item that has caused so much group controversy. UNANIMA organised the meeting along with the Coalition against Trafficking. The packed to over flowing meeting heard from Melissa Farley, an American feminist research and clinical psychologist who has done recent research into prostitution and the sex industry in Las Vegas Nevada. We also heard from Victor Malarek, an investigative journalist who has spent some 30 years working looking at the industry and its victims. His recent book is The Natashas, inside the global sex trade, exposes yet more terrible statistics and facts.

We also heard from a lawyer, and Dr Gail Dines, Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies who has made numerous studies of the media culture surrounding the sex industry. Professor Dines showed very graphic slides of magazines and available mainstream Internet pornography in an effort to encourage us to understand that this is all freely available and accessed by many.

And that's where the arguments started.....

How do we undo the culture? Can we 'go back' to a time when this was not the norm and kids were not brought up to see violent pornography as normal? what do we think about advertising? How sexually explicit should films / videos / music videos / advertising be?

The discussions continue.....

Today has definitely been challenging on the emotional front. The National Council of Women in GB held and event on the effects of war on women and children. 70% of victims in war are women and children... that statistic alone is horrifying. Womankind Worldwide have produced a document called Taking Stock Update: Afghan Women and Girls Seven Years On which makes disturbing reading. http://www.womankind.org.uk/

NAWO Widowhood in Conflict session followed on - the neglected gender issue addressing needs and and supporting roles. The African protocol has been introduced in Kurdistan because things are rather better now, and that does give opportunity for explicit detail on gender issues to be enacted.

Eve got off rather lighter during the afternoon and attended a League of Women Voters session on how to lobby your MP/Representative/Town Mayor/person of influence. She thought this might be a useful tool for the working day back in Parliament!

But seriously - it was a really effective session with a ten point practical plan for people to follow based on the idea that you might only get 60 seconds to get your point across, and how prepared you should be. The League of Women voters are a great group, cross party and dedicated to getting as many voters, especially women, registered and out to the polls.

Now getting back to the fun of the day; guess who we met? Eleanor Laing MP our Shadow Justice Ministry spokesman out here with the IPU, and also Baroness Joyce Anelay, representing the Lord's Speaker.

They were as surprised to see us as we were to see them - but so good that we can exchange views on how the CSW progresses and get more women in the Party involved back in the UK.

We had dinner with Eleanor - and enjoyed a joke with George the Millenium Hotel doorman! (No we are not staying there unfortunatley!!!)

So as we finish blogging at just gone midnight here in NY we have had a day that challenged our emotions and the concept of what can be legislated for, and what is about the human condition, and how we can make the world a rather better place for women.

Release your inner strawberry

2008-02-27T03:54:00.009Z

Well we have finally cracked the whole getting up on time thing - discovery of the BBC World Service on the cranky clock radio in the apartment!! Nothing quite like waking up to the BBC to get you stirring rather quicker.

This morning we attended the NGO briefing on the main UN floor. The Bureau for the CSW attended and introduced themselves, and we were given some 'do's and don'ts' by the NGO group Chairman. Sitting in the UK seats on the floor was something of an excitement - and what is interesting is just how worn and non-technical the whole UN set up is. We somehow expected slick new and high tech - the reality is elderly, cranky, and with translation channels badly affected by mobile phone signals! However, we were very taken with getting behind the UK sign!

Fiona then attended UNIFEM – 'Getting some Action' – the Role of NGOs in implementing SCR 1325. There was a short presentation on Women's Rights & Gender Equality, the new Aid Environment and Civil Society Organisations, and diversity of women's organizations and the work on issues of finance and gender equality.

Pauline attended a session run by Sweden and the other Nordic countries concerning measures to combat men's violence against women, honour-related violence and oppression and measures to combat trafficking in human beings for sexual purposes. The session highlighted how forward Sweden, Denmark and Norway are with this agenda and how user friendly their documentation is in comparison with the UK. The action plans and documents give sound practical advice and direction lacking in some other countries. Do look at the Reports and Links page on our website for web sites and details.

Pauline was on a roll and then headed for Panel on "Experiences on Financing for Women’s Health," sponsored by UNFPA and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The panel included Mari Simonen, UNFPA Deputy Executive Director (External Relations, United Nations Affairs, and Management).

Following the meeting we had held in London with Oxfam and representatives of the Africa Women's Protocol, Eve and Fiona attended an Oxfam organised meeting on the Launch of Program Packs Publication on the Protocol. This was a packed meeting at which various representatives from African countries talked about how the African Women’s Protocol was being implemented in their country.

Now - about your inner strawberry...... have you found yours? Do you know where it is? How do you FEEL about it?

What you may be wondering is the whole strawberry thing about? WELL................................

We went to a meeting to discuss the possibilities of a Fifth World Women's Conference and we thought we would be thinking country, venue, numbers, how to publicise, purpose, how to involve Governments etc etc etc................

Not so. A very nice lady indeed initially addressed the meeting. She told us that she saw everyone in the room as a beautiful strawberry, and we were to send out our strawberry seeds and plant them in fertile soil so that we would spread the word throughout womankind.

Ok then.

Are you doing it now? Seeking that inner strawberry? Searching for some fertile area? Hmmmm

The reality of such a large conference is there are some amazing fantastic women of very many varieties. Different colours, creeds, belief structures and spirituality. So we all come at this from a different perspective, and maybe, just maybe, seeking our inner strawberry on occasions might not be a bad thing.

Inner strawberry's tucked away we headed for another fruit - the underground 24 hour Apple Store - brand new by Central Park and a haven for geeks and techies of all kinds. heading down in the glass lift we found ourselves lost in a world of music, gadgets and gloss

Madam Chairman seemed to really like it!!!

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says we ‘cannot wait’ to end violence against women

2008-02-26T03:36:00.015Z

CSW formally opened today with a speech by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The session opened at 10am - while delegates still trying to get accredited queued through the lobby. Organisation and speed are not a UN speciality!

Mr Ban Ki-Moon inspired us all with his call to launch a global campaign to end violence against women. He said "I am counting on you - advocates from Government, civil society and the UN - to carry our message around the world." His speech ended with a blast of whistles, by both the Secretary-General and delegates and officials, signalling the call the stop the violence.

The CSW is extremely well attended for this session, and the main opening was expanded to two main UN session rooms to enable as many people as possible to hear all the opening remarks. All are published on the UN site at http://www.un.org/News/

Lunch found us searching for a SMOKE FREE cafe! One of the peculiarities of the UN being a stateless building is that smoke free legislation has not happened, something us smoke free Brits find quite odd. However, a foray to the upper floors found us in the One World cafe, where you share your lunch with very many nationalities along with spectacular views over the River Hudson.

Post lunch we attended a UNite (UN campaign to stop the violence) meeting - a Special Event on Violence against Women organized by the Officer of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. An excellent panel included Rachel N. Mayanja, Kevin Powell, a New York-based writer and political activist involved in preventing gender violence for over 17 years, Michealeane Risley, a women’s advocate and award-winning documentarian, Todd Minerson, Executive Director of the White Ribbon Campaign, Prateek Suman Awasthi, who worked with the India-based Men against Violence and Abuse organisation, Anne Sosin, Founder and Director of Vizyon Dwa Ayisyen/Haiti Rights Vision and Captain Aimable Mushabe, a Rwandan military officer.

We were fascinated by their very practical and moving stories of what they were each doing on the ground with their organisations, and the ensuing Q&A session from the floor proved lively.

One of the interesting things of being at the CSW is the huge variety of views and activists here. There is a main thread that binds us all, but with a vast mixture of 'how do we get there' processes and practical thoughts.

During the afternoon Fiona also took part in a drafting session for resolutions following yesterdays brainstorming sessions, and we all attended the launch of a tool for working out how to audit your organisation and functions for gender equality at all levels.

Then we have to admit to hitting a bar!!

The evening was an excellent reception at the UK Mission to the UN with Sir John Sawers, UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. We met most of the UK delegation during the evening from a cross section of groups and organisations.

Baroness Gould presenting Sir John Sawyer with a book on theatre from the delegation
Tomorrow we are looking at implementing UN resolution 1325, finding the 'power' in empowerment, and following up on the work we have already done on the Africa Women's Protocol. Also the UNIFEM 'Getting some action' session - still trying to work out what to expect from that!! So very varied to say the least!

The main Commission sessions tomorrow are an expert panel on financing for gender equality and capacity building and mainstreaming a gender perspective.

Fiona and Pauline in the UN building

NGO-CSW Consultation Day

2008-02-25T03:36:00.003Z

Sunshine!!! Lots and lots of sunshine!
As we headed down to the NYU Medical School at 8am to register the sun made New York look particularly glorious as the buildings gleamed.

We join the line - another line - to have our NGO registration confirmed.

The morning started with an address by Vivien Pender – Chair of NGO CSW - she welcomed us to the day of orientation for Financing for Success and Security. This was followed by HE Ambassador Olivier Belle – Chairperson Bureau of the Commission on the Status of Women. He told us that CSW is now attracting a lot of people – several thousand NGOs - with some groups sending more than 30 people.

CSW will touch on subsidiary themes as well as the main theme, with the work plan being
1. Theme for the next session
2009 Shared Responsibility between men and women – care for AIDS
Fundamental for women in society

2. Violence against Women
Secretary-General will open with a campaign
Will try to concentrate on concrete indicators

3. Women and Climate Change
Top priority and an emerging issue in the UN
Bali conference had been a good result but is not the end of the work which needs doing
Emerging issue is the relationship between women and climate change
Women are better placed to tackle the changes

And finally a review of the Priority Theme from 2004 which was Women’s Participation in Conflict Prevention and Conflict Resolution.

Ms. Carolyn Hannan, Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women addressed the conference. The CSW has a long tradition of working with NGOs around the world. She highlighted that the CSW was the most important forum on gender equality – what happens here will make a difference around the world and be implemented in many countries. NGOs have always been active in the work of the UN.

Mrs. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary General, and Special Adviser to the UN-Secretary General on Gender Equality and the Advancement of Women then talked about gender equality in the work of the UN through gender mainstreaming.

She talked about it being focused on the women’s perspective through 4 entities in the UN, how every piece of future work must look at how the system makes a difference to women, and how progress for women is progress for all.

PHEW! AND IT WAS STILL ONLY 11AM!!!!!

Taking in a large amount of information in a packed lecture hall made the team somewhat desperate for refreshment, so leaving our glorious leader Chairman at her post (and minding the coats!) we stepped down the Hall to find some more buckets of coffee and Granola bars to sustain us.

We returned to listen to an excellent address by Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak – a University Professor from Columbia. A challenging and engaging Indian lady who was not adverse to blunt speech to get her point across, and some amusing tales about translators and Kant the Philosopher - we'll leave the rest of that to your imagination!!! She left us with this thought. 'First, forget the word HELP'

Tomorrow CSW starts in earnest with opening speeches at 10am. We have a master plan of which break out groups and parallel meetings we will each attend and will each report back.

CWO hit the NY streets

2008-02-24T12:43:00.006Z

Saturday morning dawned snowy and dark but undaunted we sallied forth to find out all that NY has to offer for our one 'down day' of the week. First stop the Subway station to get subway maps and Metrocard details. We cannot seem to move more than a few feet without very kindly New Yorkers stopping to ask if they can help us. This leads us to believe we either:

look amazingly ditzy
talk loudly and attract attention
look like we need getting off the streets

.... or probably all three!

Next stop 5th Avenue to gaze at some of the most amazing stores in the world - and some of the most amazing designer shoppers, complete with designer dogs (one wearing an I Love NY sweater!) We spotted a gentleman in Saks with the most extraordinary giant sheepskin hat that gave the impression it was moving between the clothes racks unaided - hilarious!

We purchased hats and scarves at a street stand, with much laughter all round - especially from the stall holders. The hats may make these pages as the week goes on.....

Later in the day we made our way to what was Ground Zero. Still a pilgrimage site for many, and has an air of thoughtfulness that settles on groups standing to look at the new building site.

A walk down to the river gave us the spectacular snowy view of the Statue of Liberty.

Sunday will be spent at the NGO Conference learning about the themes for the week and splitting into working groups, and we hope to meet more members of our delegation.

'Let it snow let it snow let it snow' (sung of course!)

2008-02-23T13:47:00.005Z

CWO hits New York by storm - literally! Arrived to blizzards and deep snow, but never daunted we plowed through the streets to our apartment (cozy!) (still speaking!) and then onto the UN Building to register.

And that's pretty much where we stopped.

First impressions are not of efficiency - queue process took a full 7 minutes a person - and there are a lots of persons. We queued for three and a half hours BUT - RESULT - we have UN Passes!!!

(Picture: Fiona & Eve at the UN building)

The joy of 'standing in line' made us new friends from mainly the US - Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Milwaukee, Florida and beyond. Plus some Brits and a Slovenian. The line experience resulted in ideas of where to get cheap theatre tickets, an invite to Methodist morning worship for two days, and an introduction to Godiva choc mint sweeties.

Conversations were wide ranging and gave us the chance to explain a little of where the Party stands on issues, and dispel the myth that any Party with the word 'conservative' in it would not be ready for change and fresh thinking - something that seemed to be a surprise to our US sisters.

We also experienced our first US bucket of coffee, the great corner cafe by the apartment, and our first 'have a nice day now'.

Saturday is an orientation programme around Macys, Bloomingdales, Saks and 5th Avenue! We need to research how US ladies are projecting their image to the world, and how we can assist in their mission. Plus we are reading the vast of paperwork issued for the Commission on the Status of Women, and meeting up with other delegates

Our Chairman said 'We have to reach out to our sisters around the world and share common experience , it is going to be a very exciting and enlightening week. Sunday is a full day of NGO Conference, where we will have the opportunity to work in individual subject groups and also hear more about the work of the Commission with NGOs.'

So we head out into the day - more in our next!!!!

Heading for the USA

2008-02-21T19:24:00.002Z

Chairman Fiona, along with Deputies Pauline and Eve are off to New York on Friday 22nd February.

Another shopping trip you might ask? Absolutely not (although we might just have to pop into Macys....) but as delegates to the 52nd Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. We are attending under the umbrella of the National Association of Womens Organisations here in the UK, and will be part of the vast numbers of delegates falling into the NGO bracket.

The main theme is Financing for Gender equality and the Empowerment of women, with a second theme of Women in conflict resolution and peacemaking roles.

We are delighted to be able to attend one week of the two week Commission and (apart from the wild and frantic packing going on here...) will post daily blogs here on the site so that you all know what we are hearing, debating, discussing and learning.

Political Balls

2007-12-09T12:28:00.000Z

If you could personify why people are put off politics, it would be Ed "the Spinmeister" Balls.

The Ed Balls 10 Point Interview Plan with Andrew Marr:
1) If asked about falling education standards, announce a 10-year plan so I'm not around when it fails - check
2) If hounded by that bloody Marr on the same subject, announce a new independent regulator - check
3) If he just won't give up, announce a review - check
4) If he brings up that we've dropped from 7th to 17th in world education, tell him that "our standards are rising....but we aren't rising fast enough. Other countries to be honest are going faster" - check
5) If he mentions Northern Rock, say that Darling "made the right calls and has delivered stability in our economy" - check
6) If he dares to ask about Gordy not being up to the job, tell him that he's got "leadership with great vision" - check
7) If he mentions the effing election, say that Gordy was right not to have gone to the ~~polls~~ country (don't mention the polls) - check
8) If he mentions that posh-boy Cameron's performance in PMQs over Gordy's, say that I'm not disappointed in his performance and remind him (patronisingly) that being PM is a very tough job - check
9) If he asks whether I've asked Gordy to raise his game, look incredulous and tell him in no uncertain terms "Of course I haven't" (especially if Marr asks whether I should have done) - check
10) And in the very unlikely event that an Archbishop should tell me to start teaching children and stop testing them, just say "Very interesting" and try not to have a confused, embarrased look on my face - check (but failed)

He's obviously living on another planet from the one I'm on.

Sentamu's Protest

2007-12-09T11:56:00.000Z

The Andrew Marr show doesn't usually bring me to tears but this morning all that changed when his guest Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, during an empassioned plea for the world to rid Zimbabwe of Mugabe, tore off his dog collar, produced a pair of scissors and cut it up. The Archibishop has promised not to wear it again until Mugabe is deposed.

It was so surprising that it took a few seconds for the meaning of what he had done to sink in, but when it had all I felt was admiration for what must, for him, feel like a one man crusade. Something that hopefully is about to change.

In his own words: "You see as an Anglican, this is what I wear to identify myself that I'm a clergyman. Do you know what Mugabe has done? He's taken people's identity and literally if you don't mind, cut it to pieces. [The Archbishop starts cutting up his dog collar] This is what he's actually done, to a lot of - and in the end there's nothing. So as far as I'm concerned from now on I'm not going to wear a dog collar until Mugabe's gone."

If you missed the programme, you can read the transcript or watch the entire programme for the next week here.

Harriet Harman's Turn

2007-11-29T05:17:00.000Z

Ms Harman will be facing MPs today over Donorgate and after yesterday's PMQs, she's probably trying to book a root canal instead.

But there is one question she needs to answer, without hiding behind Labour rhetoric.

Brown said in PMQs that there was not one "iota" of evidence that she knew about the 3rd party donations before the weekend (which I believe) but if Brown and Hilary Benn had refused donations from Janet Kidd, it's the fact that she didn't know that beggars belief.

We all live life under the caveat that ignorance of the law is no excuse: As Leader of the House, not knowing about it is as embarassing as accepting the donation in the first place.

PMQs

2007-11-29T04:36:00.000Z

At the reception on Tuesday evening, David Cameron gave us a preview of the next day's PMQs. But the evening was light-hearted and amongst friends, and although we knew that Brown was going to get yet another inevitable battering - the ferocity of the barrage was quite spectacular to watch.

"Does he really expect us to believe that someone who even his own side say is a control freak was preparing for an election, sorting out the finances and sitting round a table with everyone caught up in this scandal and yet didn’t have the first idea what was going on?"

"We have had 155 days of his government. We have had disaster after disaster: a run on a bank, half the country's details lost in the post and now this. His excuses go from incompetence to complacency."

"Aren't people rightly now asking: Is this man simply not cut out for the job?"

Brown looked visibly shaken (yet again) but the line that twisted the knife came from the extremely able Vincent Cable: "The house has noticed the Prime Minister's remarkable transformation in the last few weeks from Stalin to Mr Bean, creating chaos out of order and order out of chaos."

If I were Brown, I'd start taking the odd duvet day for the next few Wednesdays.

Here's the full PMQs if you missed it:

Reception with David Cameron

2007-11-28T21:15:00.000Z

Last night, the CWO hosted a reception with David Cameron at the beautiful Fleming Collection in Berkeley Street (well worth a visit).

The location was perfect, the food and drink were plentiful and the guest of honour was just as he should be.

He must do hundreds of these every year - probably one of the worse parts of the job - but it is so much appreciated by both the guests and especially the CWO, who added to its much needed fighting fund.

[ADVERT ALERT]We're always looking for more donations, so please consider becoming a Friend of the CWO, if you're not already![END ADVERT]

The auction was a huge success with prizes such as tea with Boris, holidays in Morocco and helicopter flights vigourously bidded on.

The evening was superbly organised by Sallie Hendry (pictured left), Fiona, Eve Burt, Elaine & Barbara at the office and so many other people. Also a special mention to all of the people who donated prizes to the auction.

A fantastic evening that I look forward to becoming an annual event.

Reception Photo Gallery

Cameron's CBI Speech

2007-11-27T16:09:00.000Z

It is a shame that Cameron's speech at the CBI was largely overshadowed in the news by the extremely dodgy donorgate affair.

In contradiction to Brown, Cameron's speech just made sense.

A single CGT level of 18%, thereby removing taper relief, will stunt new investment into small businesses. Wht can't Brown see that?

~~Brown~~ Darling may have thought it sounded like a good plan to get more dosh from the private equity firms but it was yet another ill-thought out idea, which doesn't take into account who else it affects.

I have slogged away with my small business for 6 years, with ever increasing red tape, tax bills and a distinct lack of incentive to expand in the UK over outsourcing abroad. Brown doesn't understand the backbone of the UK economy - the SMBs.

The Independent Poll

2007-11-27T16:01:00.000Z

One thing that is a little disconcerting in the Independent poll below, is that although support among men is holding steady, Conservative support amongst women has fallen back from 41 to 37.

Saying that, this is after a 22% swing of women voters towards the Conservatives in early October.

Swings and roundabouts it maybe but it is vital that we gain and retain the women's vote if the Conservatives are to win the next election.

Things are getting better worse

2007-11-27T07:45:00.000Z

According to The Independent this morning, the Conservatives have opened up a massive 13 point lead over Labour (Cons: 40, Lab: 27, LibDems: 18).

The Conservatives haven't had a lead of that proportion since 1988 but it only translates to a Conservative majority of 58.

Remember Sloane Rangers, huge mobile phones, city boys in striped suits, champagne lunches? These were the times of the late 80s when everyone aspired and many succeeded.

The only difference now is that the nation's aspirations are being drowned in a sea of incompetence, people are starting to seriously worry about their own future financial security and we all know that this is all going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better.

And we've got at least another 18 months of this.

10-Year Apathy

2007-11-24T19:04:00.000Z

If you think this is about Labour, you'd be half right - except it's about the Labor Party in Australia winning yesterday's general election.

NB: It's not a typo - they lost the 'u' from Labor about 20 years ago, even though labour [to toil] is still spelt with a 'u' - go figure.

Michael Howard, the ex-PM and leader of the Liberal i.e. Conservative Party (more confusion) lost in such a landslide that it looks like he won't even keep his own seat.

Australia must be in a real economic pickle for something like that to happen. Or maybe there's a Spring of Discontent going on. If not, then ~~millions~~ thousands must be out on the streets protesting against the war.

Or not it seems. Yes, there's a bit of inflation. Yes, house prices are rising rapidly. Yes, people don't like some new labour laws but Michael Howard made two mistakes in a country that's generally doing not too bad at all:

1) He announced that he wouldn't run again after the next election (didn't he learn anything from Tony?)
2) Nobody liked his Treasurer, Peter Costello, who would have succeeded him (see note above)

Apparently, Howard suffered a landslide defeat because the electorate was just bored of him.

We've had Brown for less than 6 months and we're already bored with him.

Fortress Britain

2007-11-24T14:09:00.000Z

While I was away, I heard about the 53 questions that I may be asked if I wanted to repeat my trip in the future. Actually, I heard about it on CNN and the anchor actually questioned whether 53 was the correct number.

I like travelling, so I decided to look into this a bit more and found out that everything is not quite what it seems. Out of the 53 recommended "questions", most are data (e.g. booking reference number), not questions and the vast majority are already taken, or given to you, when you book now or anytime since you could book online.

Click here to open up the full list and try and spot any which aren't already kept on a database during your travels, whether it's your agents, the airlines, immigration or hotel.

The only additions I can see are 45) Any other biographical information 35) No show history and 22) & 28) yours and other passengers itineraries. The itineraries actually make sense if someone needed to contact you urgently or a local consulate needed to check who was in the area in the case of a disaster.

So the only one I can see to be worrying is the "any other biographical information": For which the only solution must be to carry a recent CV with you.

The French on Strike

2007-11-24T13:41:00.000Z

"French strikes" are as commonplace as "M25 congestion" or "Labour mis-management" and if the current round of strikes surprises anyone who voted for Sarkozy, then I think his "work more, earn more" election policy would have given the game away.

It is good to hear, though, that the vast majority of the French don't want Sarkozy to back down, although you don't know how long that support will last.

I lived in Nice in the mid-90s, so am quite used to the weekly 24 hour strikes in the weeks that there isn't a saints day holiday. The strike that affected me the most, though, was the postal strike. Some international post got through from Monaco but most was stored in a hanger at Nice Airport.

When the strike finally ended 3 months later, management started discussions with the unions about the overtime needed to clear the hangar of the backlog. An agreement couldn't be reached, so they went on strike again. The management's solution? They burned all the mail in the hangar.

Fait accompli!

Throw-away Society

2007-11-24T13:25:00.000Z

I am all for Rebecca Hosking's campaign to ban the plastic bag. Londoners alone apparently get through 1.6 billion a year, lasting an average of 20 minutes before being thrown away.

I will admit to recycling mine as small bin liners but at the same time have about 8 reusable bags from various supermarkets - none of which manage to end up in the supermarket with me when I go shopping. Banning plastic bags would indeed improve my memory.

However, alongside bags and the eternal fight against over-indulgent packaging, we also are guilty of throwing away too much food - about 7 million tonnes of it a year.

I was guilty of this. The night before the bins were emptied, I cleared out my 'fridge of out of date food and was surprised every week on how much there was.

This, though, was not entirely my fault. I would have loved to pop down my local greengrocer, butcher, baker, etc and buy only what I needed for a few days; eliminating any waste and ensuring a fresh, local supply of food. But I couldn't because they all went out of business after the out of town supermarkets appeared. And to fight through the supermarket crowds, out of control children and long checkout lines every few days would have driven me to madness - it's why it's called the 'weekly' shop.

The good news, though, is that I've recently moved to a largish village and what I love about it more than anything is that there is a greengrocer, a butcher, a baker and, wait for it, even a Post Office. I'm eating healthier, I get some exercise walking down the shops and pay less at the end of the day, as I'm not tempted by the million different products available on the shelves, which end up in the bin 7 days later.

Brown Tuesday

2007-11-21T21:53:00.000Z

We've had Black Wednesday (and a few other colourful days of the week) but I've never seen a government trying to fail as spectacularly as the current administration, since the late 70s.

I arrived back home on Wednesday after a week away and a long flight, switched on Sky News, to be greeted by blanket coverage of the HMRC CD-Rom debacle. By then, the story was 18 hours old and Alistair Darling was about to make his embarassed announcement to Parliament, followed by yet another pitiful performance by Brown at PMQs. I was hooked all day, giving me the best prescription for avoiding jet lag!

If I understand this right, every family with children, will have the details of their names, partner's name, address, bank account and NI details lost somewhere in the UK.

And they're blaming it on a junior official?! How is a junior official allowed access to all this information?

Apart from the obvious mis-management of highly sensitive data, the continual worry for nearly half the population and the refusal of any senior official to be accountable, hopefully this will see the end of ID Cards once and for all.

Brown now says that he'll review security procedures before ID cards are issued - but which one of the 25 million potential fraud victims are going to believe him? He was in charge of HMRC for 10 years after all.

The most surprising thing to me isn't that the goverment lost the data - their past incomptences confirm that - what I am surprised is that the data wasn't printed on paper and left in a supermarket. In this day and age why would government departments ever think of sharing information along secure data lines, removing the need to transfer data out of its control?

Wasn't there supposed to be a £5.4 billion computer system that might solve this? Oops - I forgot that it went way over budget and didn't work - preferring to protect our identities using 3 systems instead. Chalk up another joke.

Saudi Rape Victim is Punished

2007-11-16T18:31:00.000Z

I could hardly believe my ears after hearing the news that a gang rape victim in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 6 months in prison and 200 lashes.

If this had happened in Iraq, there would be international condemnation and probably a commando unit sent to save her.

But this happened in Saudi Arabia, a nation that can unite around our shared values, according to Foreign Office minister Kim Howells, before the Saudi King's visit last month.

Human rights weren't discussed when King Abdullah met with Gordon Brown and the continual protests during his visit fell on deaf ears in the Foreign Office, wanting to avoid the embarassment that might accompany a few contracts being torn up.

For any continued semblance of shared values, King Abdullah must intercede before anymore harm is done to this poor girl.

Full of Eastern Promise - or not

2007-11-11T18:20:00.000Z

I'm off to Hong Kong this week and as I haven't visited it for 15 years, I'll be interested to see how it's changed - epsecially the attitude of women - since it's return to Chinese control.

Even under British control, Hong Kong was a Far Eastern territory trying to become Westernised, except it never really worked - especially when it came to the sexes.

Hong Kong was always a male dominated country and when a quarter of Hong Kong women believe that they should not be more successful than their husbands, it's not something that's going to change in the short term.

Women are still paid lower rates than their male counterparts and are more likely to be in a clerical position than any other; a fifth still believe that they will get more respect from their friends if they bear their husband a son and 9% of women aged between 18 and 27 wish to have a sex change (for economical reasons no doubt). Since 1997, the suicide rate for women in Hong Kong has also doubled.

I still can't forgive Maggie for giving it all back (even the bits we didn't need to) and hope we got a really good deal in return, because I doubt the women of Hong Kong have.

Remembering

2007-11-11T11:00:00.000Z

Parents and War
No parent
should have to bury a son
This reverses natural law
But it is common
for sons who go to war,
and often more so
for those
who are their victims

David Roberts - 21 April 2003

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McRae - May 1915

The Last Straw for Blair

2007-11-07T17:57:00.000Z

Yet another Blair is being called on to resign by the Conservative front bench – this time it's Sir Ian Blair over the Stockwell tube shooting.

In July 2005, I was full of sympathy for the family of Jean Charles de Menezes but (like many others) was debating the “if” question – IF he had been a terrorist, then they’d be heroes now. The police are human and mistakes are made. The public couldn’t possibly ask for people to be brought to account for such an act, however horrific.

But now we’re hearing a different story. Commissioner Sir Ian Blair tried to prevent an IPC investigation; massive communication breakdowns; multiple inconsistencies; lack of contingency planning; misidentification; and unbelievably, that Blair went to sleep that night not knowing that they had shot the “wrong” man.

For once we have to look to the US to see accountability in action: The resignations of the CEOs of both Citigroup and Merrill Lynch show a respect for the people they serve.

Maybe Sir Ian Blair should think more about accountability before refusing point blank to take any responsibility for what happened: Sorry, sometimes, just isn't enough.

Time to Ban Personal Fireworks?

2007-11-05T17:39:00.000Z

I have to admit up front that I’m a cat owner, so the 2 (or more usually 4-6) weeks around the 5th November means keeping the curtains drawn and the television volume up high, to reduce the stress that the annual round of bangs and whizzes produces.

This year though, it went further. I found an upright stick firmly embedded in my back garden with the remnants of a fireworks rocket – the spent rocket was lying by my back door. I had been out the previous evening and as my garden is entirely closed in and locked from the road, I am left to wonder what exactly happened.

Other than a total waste of money for the perpetrators (as I wasn’t in to see my own private display), it isn’t a comfortable feeling to know that someone has been clambering walls down the road and lighting rockets in people’s gardens.

I’m seriously starting to think that Firework Day should only be the weekend closest to the 5th November and all fireworks should only be sold to licensed displays.

OK, I’m not that mean – I don't mind a few sparklers...

Deaths and injuries would be reduced, stress on pets confined to one weekend and hopefully less people traipsing through my garden. Am I worryingly starting to sound old, or do I have a point?

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2007-10-31T17:29:00.000Z

Between the Festival of Sleep Day, Bubble Bath Day and even Global Orgasm Day (Peace through Global Ecstasy every 22nd December), every day, week and month of the year are swamped with ad agencies trying to make us aware of everything from the comic to the ridiculous.

All that happens is that vitally important issues are diluted somewhere between Left Hander’s Day and National Pet Day.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is one that should stand out from the crowd, shouting as loud as it wants.

Honour Killings

2007-10-12T16:47:00.000+01:00

I went to the Honour Killings Summit yesterday, arranged by the Conservative Women's Muslim Group: Shazia Ovasi and Fiona Hodgson had put together an outstanding panel of speakers.

I was particularly impressed by Jasvinder Sanghera (co-founder of Karma Nirvana) who is a dis-owned daughter, the author of the critically-acclaimed book Shame and a recent nominee of Woman of the Year 2007.

Jas spoke from the heart and her story of seeing her 15-year old sisters packed off to arranged marriages in Pakistan before returning to their schools in the UK, was heart wrenching - as was hearing about her disownment from her family after daring to say "no" to her own arranged marriage.

Heather Harvey from Amnesty International's Stop the Violence campaign, told us about UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace & Security. We know of so many "last chance" UN resolutions that it was surprising to hear that a resolution exists that insists women's rights be part of any end of conflict negotiations. It's a shame then that the UK government (including apparently the Conservative Party) feel that leaving the new Iraqi administration to implement sharia law for women only (where there was none before), is acceptable.

Houzan Mahmoud (Click here for her blog), an Iraqi-Kurdish campaigner against the killing and stoning of women in Kurdistan, left us in no doubt that "honour" killings are a problem throughout the world and that it is not limited to Muslim communities. Houzan told us of a 17 year-old woman, stoned to death in front of 1,000 cheering men and of mothers who are killed with their daughter for refusing to be complicit in their death. She told of a 12 year-old girl killed by her Father for supposedly falling in love with a man and of the men that take their UK brides to Kurdistan for a holiday, kill them, then return quite legally to the UK to remarry.

Houzan described the situation as a "genocide of a generation of women in Kurdistan."

The over-riding message was that we must all pool resources to help each other to help real and potential victims, so please leave details of what your organisation is doing below, with a website or email address.

Past Reminders - Present Atrocities

2007-10-10T11:08:00.000+01:00

Last night, Channel 4 repeated its stunning but shocking 2001 documentary by Saira Shah - Behind the Veil - highlighting the atrocities against the Afghan people at the hands of the Taliban.

It showed the work of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), who are struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan since 1977.

If there was ever a just war and a moral reason for regime change - Afghanistan is it.

Bad News for Small Business

2007-10-10T11:01:00.000+01:00

There are 4.5 million small businesses in the UK and every year more new businesses are started by women than men now.

The changes to capital gains tax, which the Chancellor announced in his Pre-Budget Report yesterday, will hit all of them in the pocket.

And this only months after they were left reeling from a 2 point rise in tax.

It might surprise you to learn that small business contributes half of this country's GDP.

The media are concentrating on magpies when they should be outraged over the treatment of the people who are the backbone of this country.

Honour Killings Summit

2007-10-08T21:44:00.000+01:00

The Conservative Muslim Women's Group is having its next summit this Thursday 11th October at the House of Commons. Its subject will be Honour Killings and Violence Against Women.

Baroness Sayeedai Warsi will be leading a host of outstanding speakers and we hope you can join us for what will be an extraordinary morning.

As the summit is being held at Westminster, you will need to register your name in advance for security reasons.

Click here for details of the speakers and how to register.
Read more about the Conservative Women's Muslim Group.

Swinging Women

2007-10-08T09:22:00.000+01:00

The weekend polls have confirmed (yet again) that women are the deciding vote in any election. The female swing towards Cameron over the last week has been a massive 22%.
Are we that fickle?

£665m payouts in birth errors

2007-10-08T09:09:00.000+01:00

According to The Independent this morning:

The dangers of childbirth in the modern health service are highlighted today by figures showing that £665m has been paid out over the past three years to settle medical negligence claims where obstetric deliveries have gone catastrophically wrong.

The size of the payout – enough to hire 1,000 extra consultants – reflects the enormous and growing burden of medical negligence on the health service, which is diverting scarce resources from patient care.

If there was '24 hours to save the NHS' on 1 May 1997, then what have they been doing for the other 91,488 hours... and counting?

Ann Widdecombe to Retire

2007-10-08T07:29:00.000+01:00

Last night, Ann Widdecombe announced that she will not be standing for Maidstone & The Weald again.

Whether you like her or not, she has always spoken from her heart, even if has got her into no end of trouble with the media or the party! A true conviction politician.

I hope she ends up causing as much trouble if she's (rightly) elevated to the Lords but I wish her well with her Audience with Ann Widdecombe in the meantime.

"Is your size holding you back?"

2007-10-07T19:22:00.000+01:00

You magazine with the Mail on Sunday has an article in it today called "Is your size holding you back?", which has been retitled on their website to: Are you too fat to get a good job? (Presumably their website readers wouldn't have understood the nuances of the original title). In it, it says:

Studies suggest that weight discrimination in the workplace is rife.
A recent survey for Personnel Today magazine revealed that 93 per cent of human resources (HR) professionals would give the job to the thinner person when choosing between two otherwise similar candidates, and the evidence suggests that weight discrimination counts more against women.

Overweight workers were routinely stereotyped as 'possessing negative personality traits', and dismissed as 'emotionally impaired'. Overweight people are typically seen as lazy, out of control, even dirty.

And apparently, very thin people don't get off well either:

"I would be wary of a candidate at an interview who was obviously smaller than size eight," agrees a (female) blue chip company HR director who did not want to be identified. "To my mind, a woman that thin has a problem, or at least an unhealthy attitude to food. In my experience, people like this don't make good team players and tend to be introverted and self-focused."

I would hope that I would always pick the best candidate, regardless of sex, religion, ethnicity and size...but how can I be absolutely sure that I'm not secretly sizist?

The Election Fall Out

2007-10-07T19:14:00.000+01:00

30 hours after The Decision, I have to conclude that:

Brown has brainwashed his front bench into actually believing that the polls were nothing to do with his decision
The Lib Dems only want to talk about fixed term elections and not their disastrous polling figures
Cameron won't ever admit that the initial Blackpool "Give us an election" was a bluff that came off spectacularly well

I know that CCHQ has been asking for an election since Brown got in - but I didn't realise that they actually meant it until Thursday's polls.

"Mulsim medical students get picky"

2007-10-07T19:07:00.001+01:00

In a quite amazing piece in The Sunday Times, we are told that:

Some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on alcohol-related or sexually transmitted diseases because they claim it offends their religious beliefs.

Some trainee doctors say learning to treat the diseases conflicts with their faith, which states that Muslims should not drink alcohol and rejects sexual promiscuity.

Is this Religious Correctness gone mad - or why hasn't this been a problem in British Universities before?

Hamilton keeps us hanging

2007-10-07T19:04:00.000+01:00

In two weeks time, there is a [albeit very slim] chance that a British rookie could win the F1 World Championship and England retain the Rugby World Cup within hours of each other - it may just be worth putting a fiver on the double.

Definition of Rhetoric

2007-10-07T18:10:00.000+01:00

\Rhet"o*ric\, n. [F. rh['e]torique, L. rhetorica, Gr. See Gordon Brown's interview with Andrew Marr 07-Oct-2007

Cameron at the Conference

2007-10-06T20:33:00.000+01:00

As a reminder to our blog readers, David Cameron, William Hague (amongst many others) will be speaking at the CWO Conference at the QEII Centre on Monday 12th November. The theme of this year's conference is Creating a Better World for Future Generations.

Members and non-members are welcome, whatever gender! Click here for tickets and information.

Adam Boulton is not a happy chappy

2007-10-06T19:10:00.000+01:00

After a very impressive pool interview by David Cameron, in which I think he looked his most relaxed and statemanslike, since becoming leader, Andrew Wilson on Sky News went to Adam Boulton outside 10 Downing Street and asked him:

"Adam, one of the key points of that [interview] seemed to be the way [Cameron] started it, talking about Gordon Brown 'cancelling' the election. Presumably that's a message the Conservatives want to get through?"

[Adam Boulton] "They do and to be fair to them, it's a point they can make with some justification. In the coming days people will talk about media hysteria and the media ramping up this election.

"Let's be in no doubt about it: The reason why we were on election standby was because very senior officials close to Gordon Brown, and indeed Cabinet Ministers, told all of us that they were preparing for a general election and, if the polls were good enough, that general election would be called.

"Gordon Brown had the opportunity - I myself said to him 'If you want to stop this speculation, just say that there's not going to be an election this year' - he refused to do so at the time of his conference.

"This has nothing to do with the media. The reason why everyone has been so excited about a general election is the governing party - the Labour Party - and senior members and officials of it, have said that is what we are doing. Therefore, one can only say, now that Gordon Brown has finally said that he's calling off a general election, that the reason is, as they said to us, that the polling data is not there.

"All the talk about running the country, spelling out the future and all that, is so many words."

[Question to AB from the studio about Brown not having an election this year or next]

"Well, it's certainly what the Prime Minister said in his interview with Andrew Marr...he agreed with that. Again, it's an extraordinary situation, isn't it, that we don't know, even although we know what the Prime Minister's done, we don't know precisely how he said it.

"He's not like David Cameron, stepping out of his front door and talking to the cameras live. He's done some sort of interview that's apparently going to be held overnight. So, again, from that sort of style, people might draw their own inferences on who is on the defensive and who's on the front foot at the moment.

"And of course, it's an oppportunity David Cameron probably dreamed of, to come out of his front door, with some credibility and to accuse the Prime Minister of [Adam Boulton reads off his notes] 'indecision, weakness, humiliating retreat, opportunism and spin'.

"I mean, this is the disaster that Team Brown have brought on themselves by their hubris of thinking that they can go for a general election and winning it, and then bottling it when they see the polls are not so good. I mean, it is, whatever else, it will call into question the judgement of Team Brown and also their sincerity when they talk about the national interest because of the political caclulation which they have clearly now been caught by the headlights."

[Question from the studio about whether there is a crisis in Team Brown, given the advice he has received from his young advisers]

"It's all very well calling them young advisors. Let's remember that they are Cabinet Ministers - Ministers of the Crown - people like Ed Balls and Ed Milliband and of course, Douglas Alexander. All of them occupy lofty offices of state so their age doesn't really matter. They are very senior figures, apparently."
...
"At one level, this has been a political storm in a tea cup because at the end of it, Gordon Brown still has a healthy majority - he can still govern for 2 years or more - Britain is much the same today as it was 24 hours ago BUT if you're talking about trust in government, trust in the judgement of the people who are at the very top, there's no doubting it, they've shot themselves in the foot."

I can't wait for his show Sunday lunchtime...

Brown Bottles It

2007-10-06T16:55:00.000+01:00

UPDATE 17:50: Andrew Marr has recorded an interview with GB and Adam Boulton on Sky News is steaming at Labour... Quotes as I type them...

The BBC and Sky News have just heard that Brown is not calling an election this year.

Sweet Chariot!

2007-10-06T15:51:00.000+01:00

After a nightmare last 20 minutes of watching England v Australia (and missing Jonny Wilkinson's usually point perfect accuracy), I will admit to actually shedding a tear at the result. Now onto face France or New Zealand (OK, so ~~New Zealand~~ France then)

"We will fight - Britain will win"

2007-10-04T11:05:00.000+01:00

David Cameron closed the 2007 Conference with a challenge to Gordon Brown:

"Call that election. We will fight - Britain will win."

In the keynote speech of the Conference, David outlined his vision for Britain.

He described the "old politics" of Labour as no longer relevant for a new world, and stressed that only the modern approach of the Conservatives could inspire the British people.

What did you think of Cameron's speech or the chance of an Autumn election now that the polls show a Conservative fightback?

The Women are Blogging!

2007-10-04T09:47:00.000+01:00

The CWO Blog is up and running and waiting for your comments. We want to hear what you are talking about what you think about current events.

About the CWO

2007-10-01T12:51:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the CWO Blog! The CWO is the Conservative Party's national network for women. We help the Conservative Party win elections at every level by:

Providing a focus for women of all ages, backgrounds and from across the United Kingdom within the Conservative Party
Encouraging and enabling women to participate and stand for office at all levels of the Conservative Party, Government and Public Office
Ensuring that Party policy takes women's views into account
Helping the Conservative Party regain the women's vote

If you are interesting in finding out more about the CWO, please visit our website at http://www.conservativewomen.org.uk/