David Cameron has now retracted his apology for claiming that hospitals were under threat of closure or downgrading services when they weren’t. The Tories have said that a “junior researcher” has apologised in error.

A Conservative MP has suggested that David Cameron’s campaign to save emergency and maternity services at 19 district hospitals is a scaremongering exercise exploiting older people and the vulnerable...
Henry Bellingham, Conservative MP for Norfolk North West said, “As a local MP I wasn't consulted on this and I apologise unreservedly to the staff of the hospital”.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2147199,00.html 

"The most controversial proposal in the report, which aims to improve the competitiveness of the British economy, would see a Tory government restore the opt-out from the European Social Chapter, which was removed by Labour in 1997. Redwood will also call for EU working time regulations to be repealed."

The Tories have chosen their candidate to challenge for Nottingham South. It's Rowena Holland, a district councillor from Leicestershire. Conservativehome doesn't seem to know very much about her either.

This morning's Observer poll shows Labour have moved ahead of the Conservatives for the first time since October - just in time for the announcement of Gordon Brown as Labour leader this afternoon.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2110066,00.html

A poll commissioned by The Voice newspaper published today shows that David Cameron’s Conservatives are still struggling to appeal to Black people.  However Labour has ground to make up too - 68% of Black British people are of the view that the Labour Party takes their support for granted, though many have benefited from measures such as the National Minimum Wage and Sure Start centres.

I thought you might like a little opinion from the other side of the political spectrum...

In Canada, elections are taking place almost every other year. Parties find it hard to gain a majority. Why? Due to the dominance of Bloc Quebecois in Quebec. They held 51 out of 75 seats in Quebec at the last election.

With the victory of SNP in the elections, I'm wondering whether this will translate into Scottish Westminster success. Let's be clear, Scotland is not on the road to independence, despite the Media trying to put the fear of god into people at the Ballot Box. For some people, SNP are the leftist alternative to Labour, and have shown this on Thursday. Support for independence has not shot up in 4 years. It is the consequence of the party that is making left-wingers increasingly uncomfortable to be in.

To get back to my point, Scotland will not vote yes in an independence referendum. This has been shown in Quebec, where Bloc Quebecois are the dominant party, but independence referendums fail every time. But could it be that (if the situation extended to Wales as well, if Plaid somehow became dominant) the Tories and Labour will find it hard to form a majority government, like the Liberals and Conservatives in Canada have found increasingly hard to do.

Should the Office of Attorney General come under review?

The Times reports that the Tories are so unpopular in the North of England and Scotland that they're even prepared to change their names.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1615771.ece

There is a worrying tendency on the right to view climate change as some kind of Big Government conspiracy. I think there is a real danger that any future Tory government would not take the issue seriously. That could be catastrophic.

There may be many reasons why the Tories want to keep Scottish children in the dark (my mind particularly wanders back to the Thatcher years), but I am intrigued by Tory MP Tim Yeo's new Private Members Bill.

The Energy Saving (Daylight) Bill would advance the clocks across the UK by 1 hour, if it became law.

Can this be right?

The Tories criticise the number of press officers the government employs on the public purse.

ConservativeHome has done us a considerable favour by posting this story and in particular the link to the PDF of a presentation about the Tax Payer's Alliance poll.