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BCiP « Le Paris haussmannien » Tour and Christmas Party

mardi, décembre 17th, 2013

On Saturday 14 December, British Conservatives in Paris were delighted to welcome some of our friends from the British Conservative Association of Luxembourg. The afternoon saw us following our expert, erudite and eloquent architectural guide, Michael Barker, on a walking tour of ?le Paris haussmannien?. Highlights included the grand, semi-circular dining room of the InterContinental Paris Le Grand hotel, and the famous Salon Goncourt chez Drouant. Michael has kindly made available the text which provided the basis of his tour. After visiting so many ?salles à manger?, it was only natural that, in the evening, we should gather at a restaurant in the Quartier Latin with other members to celebrate Christmas, with carols (partly to drown out the local musicians), a toast to the Queen (members were dispensed, navy-style, from standing up, given the tight fit in the cellar cut into the ancient rock of the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève), and some excellent Christmas pudding. We issued forth into the night, perfectly ready for the many battles of 2014.
Photographs taken on the walking tour can be found on our Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/British-Conservatives-in-Paris-BCiP/239933179405173?ref=hl

Jeremy Stubbs
Chairman BCiP

Posted in Welcome | No Comments »

Boris Johnson Backs UK Living Wage

jeudi, novembre 7th, 2013

Having decided that it has lost the argument to the governing Coalition on competence in managing the British economy as it returns to growth, the opposition Labour party has switched its attack to the cost of living crisis for the ?many? who, unlike the rich in society, are not sharing the benefits of growth. The opposition leader?s charge is that the link is broken between growth and living standards in what he described as a Wonga (payday loan) economy, symbolizing a cost of living crisis for poorer families. This has received popular support and represents dangerous ground for the government which, in wanting to be seen to be doing something, is moving into an area where Labour is currently strong.

The government under opposition pressure had to respond to the freeze on energy (electricity) prices proposed by Labour e.g. by a planned review of ?green? energy subsidies included in the price to the consumer as well as the overall competitiveness of the energy market. The water companies have also been asked to review any price increases they might have been planning to implement.

Overall public perception that something is really being done about the cost of living remains important, however, and this is where the popularity of the charismatic Mayor of London Boris Johnson can play a major role e.g. in demonstrating his practical support for paying the living wage. It is appropriate that London which is experiencing first and disproportionately the benefits of growth in the economy, should be taking the lead (as demonstrated by the Mayor) in encouraging more and more employers to pay the living wage rate and help households cope with rising bills. Quoting Boris Johnson, paying the living wage makes ?pure economic common sense? (less staff turnover and more productive) although he does not think it should be compulsory.

Comparing the additional peer and customer pressures on employers to voluntarily pay the living wage when their business allows, with the more prescriptive policy of Labour to legislate through a tax credit, the latter would place an additional administrative burden on HMRC to ensure compliance. This Labour approach also brings to mind the tax credits of Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown which boost the wages of the lower paid but again effectively provide a subsidy for employers via the tax payer. Finally, making the payment of the living wage compulsory through legislation (as for the minimum wage) could lead to layoffs of workers by firms still not able to absorb the additional wage costs.

Tags:2015 Election, British politics, Conservative Party, Cost of living, Living Wage
Posted in Boris Backs Living Wage, Economic Policy for Many, High UK Inflation?, Welcome, Winning in 2015 | No Comments »

An Economic Policy for the Many?

vendredi, octobre 11th, 2013

Despite the negative « Flat-lining Economy? mantra of the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and the opposition Labour party over the past three years, the British economy finally seems to be increasingly on the mend with the return to growth. This has also now been accepted by Labour which has been forced to reposition its attack on the government?s record, by focusing on the increased cost of living for the many not yet sharing the benefits of growth and suffering on incomes which, in real terms, have not kept pace with inflation.

As a result, a populist commitment by Ed Miliband the opposition leader to freeze consumer energy prices should he be elected Prime Minister in 2015, has received a favourable response from voters to which the government has responded to a degree by a proposed cap on rail fare increases.

Opinion polls suggest that while the public still trusts the Conservative party on its competence with the economy by a wide margin over Labour, the latter are still favoured by the many struggling with significant price increases in e.g. Council tax, food and energy bills. On energy bills, the response from one of the major suppliers is that ?wholesale energy, the delivery to homes, and government-imposed levies ? endorsed by all the major parties ? all cost more than last year. » A serious policy response to this is required from the government rather than a populist reaction.

Perhaps the real question is what policy message would the centre-left, swing voters like to hear in the must-win, marginal constituencies currently held by Labour or the Liberal Democrats and targetted by the 40:40 campaign to win in 2015?

David Cameron: Green taxes review to help struggling families
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/10372413/David-Cameron-Green-taxes-review-to-help-struggling-families.html
Ed Miliband : This is my vision for building a new future for Britain
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/435972/This-is-my-vision-for-building-a-new-future-for-Britain

Posted in Economic Policy for Many, Ethnic Minority Vote, Welcome, Winning in 2015 | No Comments »

Winning in 2015?

vendredi, septembre 27th, 2013

Lord Ashcroft’s analysis of his polling results in marginal seats described in the article below, reveals how defections to UKIP are increasing the current Labour party lead. This is not good news for the 40:40 campaign of the Conservative party, aimed at winning the 2015 election by concentrating resources on holding 40 currently marginal Conservative seats, as well as capturing 40 other marginals from Labour or the Liberal Democrats.

However, with the British economy seemingly on the mend and the Labour party at its recent conference signalling a strong movement to the socialist left, there is more room for the Conservatives to occupy the election-winning, centre-ground of the marginals, while still maintaining a clear distinction in policies compared with Labour. That said, for final success in these marginal seats the underlying critical requirements are to hang on to traditionally Conservative voters, to convince those who have currently « defected » to UKIP that this is effectively a vote for Labour and to maximise the Conservative voter turnout.

http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2013/09/labour-still-on-course-in-the-marginals-but-its-not-over-yet/#more-2507

Posted in Chairman''s blog, Ethnic Minority Vote, Welcome | No Comments »

British Citizenship and Right to Vote

lundi, septembre 9th, 2013

The lack of a clear connection in law between British citizenship and the right to vote has permitted successive British governments to allow the following injustice.

Fellow but expatriate British citizens are rather arbitrarily in law deprived of their right to vote in UK elections after 15 years abroad but an estimated 1 million non-British citizens from 54 Commonwealth countries currently resident in the UK will be entitled to vote in , and possibly influence, the 2015 general election.

According to the press article referenced below, in 2007 the then Labour government ordered a review of British citizenship laws by Lord Goldsmith QC, the Attorney General, but did not act on his advice that it should make a ?clear connection between citizenship and the right to vote?. MigrationWatch, which campaigns for lower immigration, is also quoted in this article as suggesting that Labour refused to act because voters from black and minority ethnic communities were more likely to vote Labour than Liberal Democrat or Conservative.

Shouldn’t the Conservative party be pressing for a clearer connection in law between British citizenship and the right to vote in UK elections as part of its overall immigration policy?

Reference: Commonwealth citizens ‘should lose the right to vote’, The Times, 28th August, 2013

Posted in Chasing Wrong Target, Citizenship & Right to Vote, Ethnic Minority Vote, Voting rights, Welcome | No Comments »

How to Widen Tory Appeal?

mercredi, juillet 31st, 2013

Tim Montgomery writing in The Times July 29th 2013, proposes Five Ways to Widen the Tory Appeal and Win the next general election in 2015.

He assumes that by 2015, voters are likely to see the Tories as a party of deficit reduction, welfare control and Euro-scepticism. The party?s 2015 election campaign would then need to reinforce these strengths as well as counter an anticipated Liberal Democrat claim that, but for them in the Coalition, the Tories would have governed for the rich and powerful. Therefore, he suggests the five key pledges below for the next Tory manifesto which must also put concern for the lower-paid at its heart.

1. No more tax on petrol or home energy bills
2. A higher pension and a lower welfare cap.
3. Help for more first-time buyers to own their own home.
4. More apprenticeships for Britain?s youngest workers
5. A referendum on Britain?s membership of the EU.

These pledges are aimed at reaching more voters (e.g. private sector workers, home owners and the grey vote) than at the last election in 2010, while leaving the door open to the possibility of a second Lib-Dem Tory Coalition, instead of driving the Liberal Democrats into the arms of Labour.

The article also identifies other issues on which the Tories could still be vulnerable and which are generally the major concerns of voters such as the Economy, Health, Education and Immigration. However, on the major issue for the Conservative party itself (but not necessarily the voters) of an EU referendum , the author could be considered rather optimistic in suggesting that by 2015 it is likely that both Labour and the Liberal Democrats will have matched Mr Cameron?s EU referendum promise to ?trust the people?.

The risk still remains of the party descending into civil war over Europe e.g. if Mr Cameron has to compromise on his EU referendum pledge during Coalition negotiations in 2015. The Conservative party also needs to more clearly differentiate itself from UKIP by not linking the issue of uncontrolled immigration to membership of the EU.

Tags:Conservative Party, EU Referendum, Social Welfare, Welfare Benefits, Welfare Reform
Posted in Britain in Europe, Cameron & Eurozone, Cameron & Old Tories, Fairness, How Widen Tory Appeal, No Effective EU Debate, PMs Europe Speech - Gregor Dallas, Referendum on EU Membership, Referendums, Welcome, Younger Generation Voters | No Comments »

Promising Future of Tea Party – Evelyne Joslain

jeudi, juillet 11th, 2013

?L?Avenir Prometteur Du Tea Party? by BCiP member Evelyne Joslain, a specialist on US politics and the American Conservative movement, was published in – Politique Internationale ? La Revue n°139 – and a link to this article is given below.

http://www.politiqueinternationale.com/revue/read2.php?id_revue=139&id=1172&search=&content=texte

In summary, the article considers a more promising ?New Conservatives? future for the Republican Party following its defeat in the last two US presidential elections, beaten again by Barack Obama despite the impasse on his budget, 8% unemployment, a sharp increase in American poverty levels, chaos in the Middle East and, above all, a public debt exceeding $16 trillion (including $5 trillion of deficit contributed over the past four years of his term in office).

Defeat of the compromise tandem of Romney (Establishment) – Ryan (Not Quite Tea Party) left a party divided between moderates and minority Conservatives (Tea Party or traditional) each unwilling to take responsibility for the result, although the Tea Party blamed the Right for imposing a weak candidate in Romney.

According to the media and in Europe, the Republicans had lost because the ethnic minority votes gathered together by Barack Obama had, for the first time, submerged the White vote. The GOP had also become dangerously rightist under the influence of the Tea Party, a party from the past and approved by no more than 8% of the population. This was summed up in Newsweek by the headline ?You?re Old. You?re White. You?re History?!

The majority of the electorate had found Barack Obama?s progressive ?tax the rich? message more attractive than the detailed, austerity programme of the Republicans. Perhaps due to excessive courtesy and a fear of the racial factor in a politically-correct America, itself a prisoner of positive discrimination, Romney (and McCain in 2008) never dared point out Barack Obama?s weaknesses on the economy, ill-defined foreign policies and other scandals. This allowed Romney to be painted as an out-of-touch businessman insensitive to the problems of ordinary people. The Democrats were able to build a coalition of minority voters whose personal concerns came before national needs. Even though the electorate still remains majority white at 60%, 41% of the latter voted for Barack Obama, along with 93% of African-Americans and 71% of Hispanic/Asian origin. Romney also compounded his problems by openly stating that 47% of the electorate would never vote Republican.

Yet the Republican Party owes a debt to the Tea Party for revitalizing it after its defeat in 2008. An injection of fighting spirit enabled an improved showing in local elections and a majority to be gained in the House of Representatives (for the first time since 2006). The Tea Party was less prominent during the presidential elections although all the Conservative candidates (Tea Party or not) performed well, all Tea Party Senators getting elected and with just one loss in the House of Representatives.

The question is posed, therefore, whether there is a middle way between Republicans who want to collaborate with President Obama and those who don?t, the latter where the supposed ?extremists? of the Tea Party reside. Barack Obama relies on a Democratic Party which is nothing like the party of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy, dominated as it is by a majority of ?Far Left? (who label Tea Party Conservatives ?Far Right?). The answer then to this cultural problem or split within the Republican Party can be found in what are termed ?New Conservatives?.

New Conservatives should find little difference between ?Fiscal Conservatives? and ?Social Conservatives?. The Tea Party can bring together its majority, fiscally conservative members with those more socially traditional but not so rigid in the Republican Party. A common aim would be to win back through ?New Conservatism? that part of the WASP electorate charmed by Barack Obama?s socialism but likely to find its current lifestyle progressively undermined by increasing taxes on the rich.

Administrator?s comment

Within the context of UK politics, this ?New Conservatives? reinvention of the Republican Party has a certain resonance with Tony Blair?s ?New Labour? and David Cameron?s development of a more socially responsible Conservative brand.

Posted in American Constitution-Reflections, Tea Party's Promising Future, Welcome | No Comments »

France – The Topical Lesson of Mrs Thatcher

samedi, juin 8th, 2013

http://www.lesechos.fr/economie-politique/france/debat/0202787110622-la-lecon-d-actualite-de-margaret-thatcher-570165.php

New BCiP Chairman Jeremy Stubbs drew our attention to the above rather surprising article in the French Les Echos business newspaper. This places Margaret Thatcher together with Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer, in that very rare class of important Europeans who, since the end of the Second World War, have left their mark on history.

Despite the economics of Thatcherism still serving as a benchmark internationally for her supporters and opponents alike, France stands out as a remarkable exception for both the political left and the right. The author sees this as due to the intellectual and moral rigidity of the French political and administrative elites.

Therefore, the first lesson from Margaret Thatcher for France, as much today as 30 years ago, is that economic success depends upon the capacity of the elites to accept a renewal of the economic strengths of the nation.

The second lesson for the elites in facing up to the new economic and social challenges, is to adapt their economic vision to reduce control by the state and its social partners and encourage more freedom of initiative and responsibility in the other parts of the economy.

Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbatchev, Gerhard Schroeder, Angela Merkel and Lech Walesa have recognized and taken on board this message.

Posted in France: Lesson of Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher, Welcome | No Comments »

Merkel « to lobby for UK membership » of EU.

vendredi, mai 17th, 2013

David Cameron is facing renewed pressure over Europe after Angela Merkel has said she would lobby for « our British friends » to remain in the EU.

The head of the CBI John Cridland has also warned that the « inward-looking » tussle over Europe looks like a « diversion » from promoting growth and competitiveness.

Voters also appear unimpressed, with a poll showing 64% think Mr Cameron is motivated more by tactics than principle when it comes to Europe.

But leading eurosceptic Peter Bone is pleased with the new focus, telling The House magazine it has put Parliament at « the centre of the political debate ».

Following the strong showing of UKIP with some 25% of the vote in the recent local council elections, this could just be viewed as the eurosceptic wing naturally pressuring Conservative party strategists to now try and « Out-UKIP UKIP ». However, this can lead the party into the dangerous and emotive waters of Immigration, not necessarily a vote winner in swing seats at a general election and when the Economy, Employment and Healthcare are considered much more important issues.

Mr Cameron also has to respond to the perception of voters that he is motivated more by tactics than principle when it comes to EU membership. Noting that Mrs Thatcher in her prime was not necessarily liked but respected for her conviction in getting things done, the prime minister now has the opportunity to show more conviction & leadership on Europe given the powerful and influential helping hand that Chancellor Merkel has extended to him.

As open trading nations, there is a natural alignment of interests between Britain and Germany in taking maximum benefit from « deepening » the current single market in Europe and removing structural obstacles to competitiveness and growth. The opportunity is there for the Uk to benefit from a strong partnership with Germany, given the current imbalance in economic power and influence within the traditional Franco-German axis.

Posted in EU Ref. :A History Lesson, FT: Voters General Yes to EU, Merkel EU Lobby for UK, PMs Europe Speech - Gregor Dallas, Referendum on EU Membership, The Wrong Battle, Tories & Europe, Welcome, What about UKIP, What to do about UKIP? | No Comments »

Margaret Thatcher: A woman who was first among equals

dimanche, mai 5th, 2013

To complement the personal tributes to Margaret Thatcher by members of British Conservatives in Paris and which can be found in the left hand column of this website, a link is provided on this blog to the article below by her biographer Charles Moore.

Taken from The Telegraph of Saturday, 13th April 2013:

Margaret Thatcher did more than simply change Britain in the 1980s. Her influence on the way in which British politics are conducted endures today. Charles Moore examines how she showed the men around her a new way to govern.

Posted in Chairman''s blog, Margaret Thatcher, Welcome | No Comments »

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