The Cornerstone Group

Last night away from the sometimes partisan politics of Westminster, MPs of all parties joined actors, sportsman and television personalities in recognising the fantastic achievements of some remarkable organisations dedicated to tackling poverty.

Over the course of the evening £42,000 was awarded to 9 exceptional organisations that have excelled in tackling poverty and its associated problems.

 Following on from Iain Duncan-Smith’s report “Breakthrough Britain” it was heartening to see the group “Bristol Fathers” win an award. The group was formed to provide teenage fathers with emotional and practical help to support their fatherhood.

Not only does this group emphasise the importance of fatherhood, but it equips vulnerable young men with the tools to raise children in a caring and supportive way.   The Conservative party wants to empower groups like these committed to social reform.

Another extraordinary group, or rather individual, that drew my attention was “God’s Golden acre.” Started by South African woman Heather Reynolds, she began by adopting 45 AIDS orphans. Today the organisation has blossomed into a “recreational rehabilitation programme” of sports, dance, drama and music to the children.

The common bond, which all of the groups acknowledged last night share, is that their primary focus is commitment to the family.

As Iain Duncan-Smith said in his welcome, “Resilient families are at the heart of strong societies” The £5,000 given to winning groups is merely a token appreciation  of the priceless work that they carry out. For who can put a price on a strong society?

Julian Brazier MP

While the musical chairs on the Titanic are in full swing, the Government ship appears to be sinking. By the time Prime Minister Brown has finished his reshuffle, the Government is going to look weaker than before. It would seem his appointments have more to do with back-room deals than what is in the interest of the Country.

By the way, do you remember Brown’s promise to strengthen Parliament? So what is one of his first actions as Premier? To replace Jack Straw who was regarded as an excellent Leader of the House of Commons and was trying to strengthen the powers of Parliament against the Executive with Harriet Harman.

Strengthening parliament …

 with Harriet Harman?

 Now Ms Harman now known as ‘Three-Hats-Harman’ has to split her time between the highly partisan jobs of being Labour Party Chairman and Deputy Leader and that of being a strong and independent representative of the interests of the House of Commons. These are irreconcilable and show Brown’s total contempt for Parliament.

Everybody seems to be repeating the mantra ‘we must be on the centre ground otherwise we’re doomed’, so I thought I’d better look it up in the dictionary but there is no dictionary entry for centre ground. It is one of those phrases that has no meaning or substance.

Thatcher - The Common Ground

Margaret Thatcher had it right when she said the Conservative Party must occupy the common ground. This is what the Conservative Party needs to strive for. The common ground is what most people beleive on any particular issue. It doesn’t matter whether its on the left or right of the political agenda.

Now the dictionary will tell you that common ground is a set of shared beliefs and interest; a foundation for mutual understanding.

So the fight against global warming which might be on the left of the political spectrum is on the common ground because most people support it. Similarly, pulling power back from the European Union and re-establishing sovereignty is on the right but is clearly on the common ground because a large proportion of the British people believe in it.

 Re-establishing British sovereignty - a common aim of the British people

Using this barometer I thought it might be interesting to list where the Party should be if it is to capture the common ground. I suggest the common ground requires:

A strong stance against uncontrolled immigration

A very tough line against criminals

Support for our brave men and women of the armed forces

Freedom for our doctors and nurses to use their own clinical judgement

Education that drives up standards rather than levels down

Support for local democracy rather than state control

Lower taxation both locally and centrally

A smaller state with more personal responsibility

The common ground should be the cornerstone of Conservative policy. Listening to the People and delivering what they want.

Peter Bone is MP for Wellingborough

“The BNP support base will be eroded if the three main political parties start addressing the public’s growing concerns about increasing levels of immigration and the impact that this is having on the allocation of public resources and structure of existing communities. In tackling these concerns, politicians must not be drawn into “bidding” for the BNP vote. We must trust that reasoned arguments supported by demonstrable action to restore confidence in the system will persuade the “soft” 80% of the BNP vote to return to the mainstream while reluctantly accepting that the “hardcore” 20% is beyond the reach of decent and principled political parties. 

So Tony Blair has gone…Our crypto-Conservative Prime Minister of the last 10 years can no longer distort the classic battle of left and right.

This is a good moment to launch the redesigned Cornerstone website.

We represent traditional Tory themes of nation, family, enterprise and compassion, founded on Judaeo-Christian ethics.

We keep the flame burning because we believe that a vigorous discussion about Conservative ideas can be of immense value to our party in the remaining two or three years to the General Election.

The election results last week were solid, if not spectacular in the North and the Midlands. Nevertheless an extra 911 seats marks significant progress

We have made a very good start. We need to do more.

We have a most attractive, young and personable leader, whom we support as the democratically elected leader of our Party. For Britain’s sake, we must ensure that he is our next Prime Minister.

We applaud our leader’s decision to reach out to people who have yet to vote for us, and for him to talk about environmental and poverty issues, where we have undersold ourselves in the past – and to speak up in favour of marriage. ‘And’, not ‘but’ or ‘however’. And.

We need to recognise that the people, our people, the aspiring people of this country, are labouring under record levels of taxation, regulation and stultifying political correctness.

We need to explain how we will root out waste and inefficiency from our public services.

We need to explain how we will return people’s hard-won earnings to where they belong – their own families.

David Cameron is right that marriage is the bedrock of society. Sadly the selfless coming together of men and women with a genuine attempt at commitment for life is under sustained assault.

We need to explain how we will buttress and support it through the tax and benefit system, as George Osborne has begun to do.

More and more powers are still seeping out of our historic Parliament to unaccountable European bureaucrats. We must explain how we will reverse the trend.

Record levels of immigration are straining good race relations. We must develop tough but fair policies that stem the tide.

Speaking personally, I believe that too many children suffer from indifferent comprehensive schools. As I have argued previously, we must articulate our belief in parental choice, including vouchers and freedom for head teachers to hire and fire, select and de-select, that will set schools free.

We must use tax relief to help more people afford private health care for the irritating non-urgent conditions which the NHS cannot afford to cope with as we all live longer.

Over the coming weeks and months, colleagues will be free to post on this website their detailed ideas for the future.

Let me be clear, there is no corporate Cornerstone view; everybody is responsible for their own words.

Over the coming months there will also be periodic ‘thought for the day’ comments from a Cornerstone member.

All this is offered up in the spirit of making a positive contribution to the Conservative policy development process which reaches its conclusion this summer and autumn.

I believe that our faith in our country, our families and in the hard work of the British people must be proclaimed by a Conservative Party that is rooted in never-changing beliefs and principles.

I hope that Cornerstone members will make a positive and useful contribution to the success of our Party.

Edward Leigh is Co-Chairman of The Cornerstone Group.