Cambridge University Conservative Association

Vickers report: don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg!

The coalition’s response to the Vickers report was a missed opportunity. A chance to reform Britain’s banking sector for the better has been hijacked by the Liberal Democrats’ yearning for influence. And so George Osborne has accepted the report in full, though it couldn’t be said totally against his own judgement.

The most flawed ‘reform’ is the ring-fencing of banks’ investment and retail arms by legal firewalls. This policy is based on the fallacy that so-called ‘casino banking’ in banks’ investment arms put retail customers at risk. This simply does not add up when one considers the fact that Lehman Brothers did not have a retail arm and Northern Rock did not have an investment arm. Yet both collapsed. Spectacularly so. The truth is that there is always risk in banking, whether you are dealing withCDOs or straightforward home loans.

Officers and Committee for Lent 2012

The results of the elections are now visible on this page and below:

In six months Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone face the defining political contest of 2012. Mr Livingstone has tried to make the Mayoral election about the coalition’s spending cuts, while Boris has put forward an optimistic vision for London’s future.

It is essential that Boris Johnson and the Conservatives hold onto London. Ken Livingstone represents everything that is wrong about the Labour party, with his cronyism, support for oppressive dictators, racist slander, patronage of hate preachers and backing thecorrupt administration in Tower Hamlets. A torrid series of shameful offences, of which more can be read about here. His record as London Mayor was appalling. This video clearly demonstrates how he put increasing pressure on the living standards of ordinary Londoners by increasing Council Tax by 153 per cent and introducing the western congestion zone charge.

George Osborne is a Man with a Plan

George Osborne is a man with a plan. He is also a Conservative Chancellor in a coalition government at a time of financial turmoil not seen since the 1930s.

However, he is also a shrewd political operator, who managed to use his Inheritance Tax pledge to call Gordon Brown’s bluff in 2007 and opposed Alistair Darling’s NIC increase in order to give the Conservatives some momentum in 2010. George Osborne has managed to construct a growth strategy which accommodates the Liberal Democrats, includes political electioneering for a Conservative majority in 2015 and will hopefully rebuild the British economy.

Can the Scottish Conservatives become the true Tartan Tories?

The Conservative party’s dearth of support in Scotland is one of the reasons why we got a hung parliament in 2010. In 1997, the Conservatives were completely wiped out north of the border, their vote share reduced to 17.5 per cent. Fourteen years, two leaders and numerous reforms later, 250,000 more voters were lost in May 2011.

The received wisdom is that Margaret Thatcher’s time in office was the fatal blow to popular Scottish Conservatism. However, Iain Gray’s anti-Thatcher rhetoricfailed to rouse Labour support earlier this year. Scottish Conservatives are no longer seen as a threat, more an irrelevancy. Alex Salmond, the First Minister, even said that Scots simply “didn’t mind the economic side” of Mrs Thatcher’s policies.

One World Conservatism is an idea that defines David Cameron, but has he defined it?

In July 2009, David Cameron launched the Conservative party’s new international aid agenda with a distinctly One Nation feel to it, under the title of One World Conservatism. The phrase has rarely reappeared despite it being one of the defining features of the modern Conservative party. David Cameron has adopted an internationalist stance in a globalised world.

The most prominent policy is international aid. The coalition government has pledged to spend 0.7 per cent of GNP on aid by 2013, meaning a £12.6 billion budget for Dfid by 2015, in order to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. The Conservative party is encouraging the spread of international aid organisations, NGOs and numerous pressure groups which now constitute what some are calling ‘international civil society’. David Cameron’s International Citizen Service seems to reinforce this idea. However, international aid is also being used to boost economic growth by investing in infrastructure, training, roads, railways, internet and microfinance projects.

What does the 21st century Conservative party stand for?

The preservation of institutions has always been a guiding principle of the Conservative party. In the ‘Tamworth Manifesto’ of 1834, traditionally seen as the founding moment of the party, Sir Robert Peel stated his belief in traditional Tory values and the importance of institutions. As the historian Andrew Roberts put it, in his superb work about another Conservative leader, Salisbury: Victorian Titan, the Conservative party has stood for:

“The Established Church, the British Empire, the House of Lords, High Tory and High Church Oxford, Crown prerogatives, the rights of property, the landed aristocracy, the Act of the Union…the very foundations of English governing society.”

Most of these institutions have either faded into history, are in their last death throes, or currently at threat. With such rapid change in the fabric of British society, what does the 21^st century Conservative party stand for?

The eurozone crisis: what Cameron & Osborne must do next

Eurozone leaders have announced a new €109 billion bailout package for Greece, which includes restructuring Greece’s national debt and inflicts further cuts to public spending. Money markets have rallied but the fear is that this cannot last. Meanwhile, Westminster remainsmesmerised by the hacking scandal.

Ireland and Portugal have already been bailed out. Greece has now been bailed out twice. Italy is teetering on the edge of collapse and Spain looks risky - bond markets remain turbulent. A new European rescue fund is reported to have $464 billion ready to defend these two countries should markets scramble. If any of these eurozone countries fall to an uncontrolled default then financial contagion could spread right across the continent, cause the eurozone’s collapse and unleash a new global recession.

Officers and Committee for Michaelmas Term 2011

Following the Elections and TGM, the following members are elected to serve as the Executive and Committee for Michaelmas Term 2011

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Notice of Elections

Polls will be held for the elections of Vice-Chairman and of Secretary on Thursday 16th June, in the Anchor Inn, Silver Street from 11am until 2pm.
All members of the Association, who joined before the opening of nominations (June 2nd 2011) are entitled to vote. Please bring your University Card with you, as it may be required as identification. It is not possible to vote by proxy or by post.

The Candidates, whose manifestos are linked by their names:
For VICE-CHAIRMAN to serve in MICHAELMAS 2011 and thence to ascend to CHAIRMAN in LENT 2011:
PRICE, Sophie

TURNHAM, Edward

For SECRETARY to serve in MICHAELMAS 2011
GOODE, Michael

MOTTRAM, James

Any questions may be directed to the Returning Officers at ro@cuca.org.uk.
Mike Morley (Chairman, Easter 2008)

Callum Wood (Chairman, Lent 2011)

Returning Officers