New BNP Logo

I just spotted this graphic by accident, showing the latest version of the Conservative tree logo, with that funny Union Flag motif, and now the BNP have launched their own new logo with (you guessed it) the same kind of Union Flag design overlaid.

Here's the comparative graphic, showing both...

Rotate the BNP logo clockwise about 15 degrees and it looks even more similar!

Tweet of the day - 10 Nov 2010

From Guido, on the topic of the fire at CCHQ:

"On the plus side Millbank first floor is the Audit Commission so could be actual bonfire of a quango."

Cameron's speech

Below is a video of David Cameron's 53-minute speech to the Conservative conference this afternoon. It did the job on the whole, and seemed appropriate to the circumstances: not a full-blown barnstormer, but with enough meat for the public & media and enough Labour-bashing party politics for the party faithful in the hall.

Watch live streaming video from conservatives at livestream.com

Benedict Brogan in the Telegraph appears to have the nest assessment of what is really going and what lies in store for us, the government, and David Cameron personally. For example, did you know that he is privately resigned to being a single-term Prime Minister? I didn't.

Here is a collection of reactions to the speech. I don't think there's anything useful to be gained from taking much notice of the Labour people's contributions: they are predictably negative, but are perhaps useful to have included for the sake of breadth of opinion.

Also, here is their latest party political broadcast.

Conservative conference on public services

Very good session indeed, this morning. Yes, the ministerial teams were excellent, but the best contributions came from guest speakers from schools, voluntary organisations, and even one from Harlem (the unmissable Geoff Canada, pictured here).

They are definitely worth catching, especially him and a one-time Socialist deputy head teacher named Katharine. They both got standing ovations, and I wasn't at all surprised!

The ideas and policies being pursued for the public services are actually very good overall. No doubt some will need a little fine-tuning here and there, but they will lay the foundation for a much better structure that in beneficial to the country and its people rather than bureaucrats and lawyers.

The unmistakable impression that one gains from watching and listening to the session, and especially the testimony of the various guest speakers "telling it like it is" as Michael Gove promised us, is that the coalition government is well on course for taking the nation in the right direction for the first time in something over a decade.

They even had very credible answers to all the complaints by the lefty doom-sayers, and dealt with much of their negativity within the discussions, including questions from delegates to the conference. All in all, this was perhaps the most impressive and attention-grabbing session of the conference so far.

The three bloggers

This seemingly typical "three interviewees with (in this case) Sky's Adam Boulton" segment is actually quite fascinating, if you pay close enough attention to it. There's a lot of insightful stuff in there, from Guido Fawkes, Iain Dale, and Tim Montgomerie of Conservative Home.

Reserve eight minutes or so to go through it all: I think you'll find it worthwhile!

Red Ed's Diner

Guido has been to Red Ed's Diner at the Conservative party conference, and apparently found "the beer a little flat". Note the "David's bitter", "no bananas" and "only serving your second choice" signs!

I gather the Ed Mili "jammy" sandwiches were selling quite well, as were the David Mili "egg and cress-fallen" sarnies, though perhaps not quite as fast as last year's Gordon Brown's porky pies!

Conservative Conference

Although this is a non party specific blog, of the three main parties it is the Conservatives who are closest to Right Friendly's own political outlook. Therefore I think it worth metioning that their party conference starts today, with televised coverage on the BBC Parliament channel (now that strike has been called off) from 2 pm today, and periodic reports on the various news channels such as Sky and ITV.

Update at 1 pm - as expected, protesters against the public spending 'cuts' (which are nothing of the kind anyway) have turned up, mostly with Trade Union banners from around Britain, but at around 5,000 only half the anticipated number.

Update at 4.30 pm - Very good event indeed, especially the contribution from the all too often underestimated Baroness Sayeeda Warsi. I shall post a video of that if and when it appears online. In the meantime, here's a quoted section, which I have copied from Conservative Home:

"In the mills, my Dad was told that Labour was the party for him. They said that Labour looked after the poorest. That it looked after the vulnerable and minorities. But Conference, today, my dad and millions of decent, hard-working, fair-minded people like him, are appalled at the state Labour have left this country in. Appalled that Labour abandoned the very people they promised to protect.

With the poorest getting poorer. The gap between the rich and poor getting wider. Youth unemployment hitting new heights. One in five pensioners living in poverty. One in six children growing up in households where no one works. Terrible rates of drink and drug abuse.

Appalling levels of teenage pregnancy. One of the worst rates of family breakdown in Europe. And UNICEF saying that Britain was the worst place in the developed world to be a child. The longest recession. The deepest recession. The doubling of the debt. And spending more on debt interest than on the education of our children.

Conference, this is Labour’s legacy to Britain. This is their gift to the poor. And that’s why, Conference... they should never ever be allowed to do it again."

The full transcript is here.

There is also some humour (no surprise there!) along with the serious stuff in Eric Pickles' speech today, where he went in search of John Prescott's legacy in his new office of State.