Welcome back to CUCA, and a warm welcome to all freshers and new members. We have a packed termcard this Michaelmas, with politicians, bloggers and journalists, great social events, and the Chairman’s Dinner.
All our speaker meetings are free to all. You don’t have to be a member of CUCA, though members get reduced-price entry to our social events.
If you’re new to CUCA, feel free to jump right in and attend any of our events, particularly our free G&T freshers’ squash and our annual barbeque. I recommend joining our facebook group and mailing list to get email updates about events. You may also wish to subscribe to our RSS news feed.
You may also wish to write for our blog.
Speakers usually stay for dinner with the Committee. If you would like to attend, please ask the Chairman (
).
Annual Barbeque
Saturday 11th October 2008, 2pm (assuming the weather is good, otherwise 2pm on Sunday 12th or even the weekend after that)
Jesus Green
Come to meet CUCA for the first time, or catch up with friends, over plenty of tasty food and an autumn game of croquet. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned expert!
Free to members, £1 to non-members but free if you join on the day.
Dress code: casual.
Gin & Tonic Freshers’ Squash
Sunday 12th October 2008, 8pm
Bateman Room, Caius
Come to meet CUCA for the first time, or catch up with friends, over unlimited free gin and tonic. We’ve never run out yet! Free to all.
Dress code: casual.
Peter Hitchens
“Why nobody should vote Conservative”
Tuesday 14th October 2008, 7pm-8:15pm
Old Music Room, First Court, St John’s College
Peter Hitchens is a columnist, journalist and blogger for the Mail on Sunday, and an author. Mr Hitchens describes himself as a moral and cultural conservative, and is known for his outspoken views against the Conservative Party. He wrote and presented “Toff at the Top”, a Channel 4 programme criticising David Cameron.
He spoke at the Union last Lent term, arguing that the abolition of grammar schools has destroyed social mobility in this country. He described Tony Blair’s constitutional changes as a “slow-motion coup d’état”.
He is a passionate defender of liberty including free speech, an opponent of “no platform” movements, and promoter of the death penalty. He is the author of “The Abolition of Britain” and “The Abolition of Liberty”. The former is about to be republished, updated to take account of the Blair years.
Come for a talk and discussion on which is sure to be controversial, on “Why nobody should vote Conservative”.
See the facebook event for videos.
Like all CUCA speaker meetings, this event is free and open to everyone. There are a limited number of places available for dinner with Mr Hitchens afterwards: contact me at to book.
Lord Nicholas Lyell
Former Attorney-General
Wednesday 15th October 2008
Coningsby Club dinner at the Royal Overseas League in London. £42. Email the Chairman for more details.
Terry Arthur
Friday 17th October 2008, 7pm
Bateman Room, Gonville & Caius College
Terry Arthur is Pensions and Financial Regulation Fellow for the Institute of Economic Affairs, and author of “Crap: A Guide to Politics”. In 1975 he published “95 per cent is crap: A plain man’s guide to British Politics”, an unusual survey of British politics at the time. The format is extensive quotation from various contemporary sources, interspersed with commentary. Mr Arthur draws from the manifestos and conferences of various political parties, focusing on the three largest ones, the Reith Lectures, and The Guardian, “probably quite representative of what is commonly termed ‘the centre’”. The result is hilarious, and persuasively advances the argument against statism. The first chapter is called “Newspeak Crap”, and other chapters deal with contradictions, meaninglessness, statistics, etc.
My favourite quotation was this contradiction from the Liberal Party manifesto in 1974:
The first is to re-create in our society and in our political institutions a loyalty to ‘the general good’, to which all sectional and partisan interests, however inherently worthy, must be subordinate
…
Liberals believe in the supremacy of the individual.
At least then the Liberals still claimed to be liberal.
In 2007, Mr Arthur published an updated version of the book, following the same format, except with The Guardian replaced by The Times: “more in tune with today’s Big Government Conservatism”, and an extra chapter on “One Rule for Them Crap”. It is surprising, at first reading, how little has changed.
Mr Arthur will be speaking on newspeak, irrationality and bad statistics in politics. Come along for what promises to be a thoroughly entertaining and informative evening.
Like all CUCA speaker meetings, this event is free and open to everyone. There are a limited number of places available for dinner with Mr Arthur afterwards: contact me at to book.
Port & Cheese 1
8pm, Saturday 18th October 2008
Kennedy Room, Cambridge Union Society
Special guest: Devil’s Kitchen.
Our legendary port parties are back, with plenty of cheese, copious port and plenty of good banter.
£6 members, £8 non-members (but £6 if you join on the night).
Dress code: black tie.
5pm, Thursday 23rd October 2008
Kennedy Room, Cambridge Union
The United Kingdom Independence Party is the largest party to oppose British membership of the European Union. Since its formation in 1993, it has steadily increased its vote-count. UKIP favours liberal economic policies, including a flat tax, and opposes the slow destruction of liberty in the UK.
Many UKIP members are former Tories, including two members in the House of Lords, and one in the House of Commons.
David Campbell-Bannerman is Deputy Leader of UKIP. Mr Campbell-Bannerman was a Conservative Party councillor, and has stood twice for the party at general elections. He served as a special adviser to Sir Patrick Mayhew, former Northern Ireland Secretary, and was Chairman of the Bow Group. But he is now the top-of-list candidate for UKIP in the European elections.
Why did he leave the Conservative Party? Come for a discussion with Mr Campbell-Bannerman on “Why you should vote UKIP”.
Like all CUCA speaker meetings, this event is free and open to everyone, so please feel free to bring your friends. (For Union members, Mr Campbell-Bannerman will be opposing the debate that evening, “This House believes that only integration can keep Europe strong”.)
Daniel Hannan MEP
12:30pm-1:30pm, Friday 24th November 2008
Dining Room, Cambridge Union Society
Daniel Hannan has been a Conservative member of the European Parliament since 1999. He is a prominent opponent of the EU, and blogs daily about its corruption and un-democratic practices at www.hannan.co.uk.
He was the co-founder and co-author of “Direct Democracy” in 2005. Most recently, Mr Hannan and Douglas Carwell MP have published “The Plan: 12 months to renew Britain”, in which they set out how radical reforms could be achieved in just one 12-month legislative session. The book has been described as “localism on steroids”, and Mr Hannan will be talking about how the advantages of localism are incompatible with EU membership.
Free to all. Please note the early-afternoon start time for this event.
The Libertarian Party
Tuesday 28th October 2008, 7pm-8:15pm
Old Music Room, First Court, St John’s
The recently formed Libertarian Party visit CUCA for a joint event with the Cambridge University Libertarians. The format is a “policy panel discussion”. There will be a short speech summarising their policies, including their policy to abolish income tax, and then a discussion.
Like all CUCA speaker meetings, this event is free and open to everyone. There are a limited number of places available for dinner with the speakers afterwards: contact me at to book.
Port & Cheese 2
Sunday 2nd November 2008, 8pm-10:45pm
Green Room, Gonville & Caius
Special guest: Alex Singleton.
Unlimited tawny port and also a few bottles of Marsala will help you digest good cheese and good conversation.
£6 members, £8 non-members (but £6 if you join on the night). It is advisable to book in advance: contact me at or send a cheque payable to “Cambridge University Conservative Association” to Hugo Hadlow, St John’s College.
Dress code: black tie.
Trip to the Thatcher Archives
Tuesday 4th November 2008, 1pm for 1:30pm.
The Archive Centre, Churchill College
CUCA last visited the Thatcher Archives in 2004. At 1pm we will have lunch in Hall, and at 1:30pm we will be taken on a guided tour of the Churchill Archives and Thatcher Archives. Then you will be able to peruse some of the contents of the archives, including Mrs Thatcher’s legendary handbag. Places are strictly limited so it is essential to book in advance. Free, but members only. Email to book.
Damian Green MP, Shadow Minister for Immigration
Wednesday 5th November 2008
Coningsby Club dinner at the Royal Overseas League.
Philip Davies, MP for Shipley
Tuesday 11th November 2008, 7pm-8:15pm
Old Music Room, First Court, St John’s
Philip Davies is a campaigner for freedom and as member of the Campaign Against Political Correctness is not afraid to be controversial. He has said that mosques should fly the Union flag “to make clear their loyalty to the UK”.
Mr Davies was the first MP to publicly call for Britain to withdraw from the European Union and is a member of The Freedom Association’s “Better Off Out” campaign.
He describes the current government as “most awful authoritarian, illiberal, intolerant”, and says that the legislation he would most like to help enact is “Prisoners to serve their sentences in full”.
Like all CUCA speaker meetings, this event is free and open to everyone. There are a limited number of places available for dinner with Mr Davies afterwards: contact me at to book.
Policy Pub Meet
Wednesday 12th November 2008, 8pm.
St John’s College Bar
Join us for a drink and a discussion with the Labour Club and the Liberal Democrats. The topic will be “Education: what must be done?”. Free to all.
The CUCA versus CULC debate
Thursday 13th November 2008, 7:30pm sharp.
Chamber, The Cambridge Union Society
Having honed our arguments on at least one topic the night before, we take on the debating might of the Cambridge Universities Labour Club. We will be opposing the frankly ludicrous motion that “Britain is better under Labour”.
Recording: http://www.archive.org/details/cus_2008-11-13_emergency_britain-better-under-labour.
The Earl of Onslow
Wednesday 19th November 2008, 7pm-8:15pm
Dining Room, Cambridge Union Society
The convivial Lord Onslow is one of the few remaining Conservative hereditary peers, and the only hereditary peer to have appeared on the television programme “Have I Got News For You”. More recently he spoke in the annual “No Confidence” debate at the Union.
He is a supporter of reform of the House of Lords, though not as proposed by the present Labour government. He is a critic of much of Labour policy, opposing both the ban on fox hunting and ID cards.
Like all CUCA speaker meetings, this event is free and open to everyone. There are a limited number of places available for dinner with Lord Onslow afterwards: contact me at to book.
Recording: http://www.cuca.org.uk/recordings/cus_2008-11-19_speaker_earl-of-onslow_lowrate.ogg
The Chairman’s Dinner
Saturday 22nd November 2008, 7pm for 7:30pm
Hall, St John’s College
Guest of Honour: Douglas Carswell MP.
Our gala white or black tie dinner is the highlight of the Cambridge social calendar: a champagne reception in St John’s College Hall, a four-course meal, and, of course, the after-party…
Our guest of honour will be Douglas Carswell, MP for Harwich. Mr Carswell is the founder of “Direct Democracy”, a localist movement of MPs and MEPs. He recently published “The Plan: twelve months to renew Britain”, a localist manifesto which sets out how we could enact radical changes to reinvigorate our democracy in just one legislative session. Mr Carswell will give a brief speech after the meal.
Menu:
Green Papaya Salad
A refreshing green papaya salad served on a banana leaf, with chargrilled strips of English sirloin steak
(Vegetarian: Carmagne Red Rice and Quinoa with Orange and Pistachios
This French red rice, with the South American quinoa, is served with a watercress and spinach salad)
La Corazas Blanco Bodegas Roqueta 2007
Castilla, Spain
This is 100% macabeo grape and is unwooded. It is fruit driven, light and very smooth.
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Pimms’ Sorbet
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Roast Partridge
A seasonal dish on a smoked bacon and potato rosti, with wild mushrooms and a juniper & redcurrant sauce
(Vegetarian: Carrot and Chestnut Cannelloni with a Watercress Cream
A delicious combination of carrot and chestnut with pasta, and served with a warm watercress cream)
Le Jongleur 2007
Syrah Merlot, France
A fresh Syrah blend with hints of blueberry, red cherry and white pepper. It is a new world approach to wine making in the South of France.
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Water Pudding
Served with seasonal berries and Japanese salted ice cream
A St John’s College signature dish.
Recipe featured in the Daily Telegraph and the recipe book “The New English Table”.
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College Madeira
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Coffee and Mints
The dress code for this dinner is white tie preferred, though black tie is also acceptable.
Tickets are £40 for members and £45 for non-members. Despite cost increases, we have managed to keep ticket prices the same as last year.
Places are strictly limited, and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, so it is essential to book well in advance.
To reserve a ticket, please email me at AND send a cheque made payable to “Cambridge University Conservative Association” to Hugo Hadlow, St John’s College.
Your email should contain your name, and the name of any guests, along with any dietary requirements.
Your ticket will not be guaranteed until I have received your cheque: you may lose out if you do not send your cheque to me promptly.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Michael Howard MP, former Leader of the Conservative Party
Tuesday 9th December 2008
Coningsby Club drinks reception at the St Stephen’s Club.