It would take more than a few policy initiatives to knock Derek Conway, his flamboyant sons and their interesting financial arrangements out of the headlines. You can’t blame the Tories for trying though. Here are some of today’s:

1] A Childhood Review, by David Willetts, to make “outdoor space safer and more protected so that parents and children feel more confident about spending time there”. Willetts says crime against children should be recorded by the British Crime Survey. And he says there should be more adult supervision of parks and other public spaces. We’ll hear more of this stuff on Monday.

2] Capital gains tax. George Osborne is on the front of the Sunday Telegraph saying the Tories will vote against Alistair Darling’s latest changes to the fiscal regime.

3] David Davis unveiled “sweeping reforms” to get more police on the street instead of pushing paper behind desks. This is an attempt to pre-empt the government-commissioned report on policing by Sir Ronnie Flanagan. Davis suggests that police should be given the power to charge a wide range of minor offenders instead of having to pass them on to lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service.

But am I the only one wondering if the Tories could be losing some momentum? Today’s opinion poll in the Sunday Telegraph shows the Conservative lead over Labour narrowing to just 5 per cent. That is pretty limp compared to the the early 1990s, where - even under Neil Kinnock - Labour’s lead was often in the double digits despite being in opposition.

February 3rd, 2008 in Uncategorised | Permalink