UCL Conservative Society

On Sunday 13th April 2008 members from Conservative Future (CF) joined with other organisations to support the “Day for Darfur 5″ protest at the Sudanese Embassy in London; a protest against the crisis in Darfur with particular focus on the affect that the situation is having on the children of Darfur.

Speakers at the event included Andrew Mitchell MP, the Conservative International Development spokesman.

Anastasia Beaumont-Bott, CF National Management Executive member comments on the importance of the day:

“The situation in Darfur is now at a critical crisis point and action is needed.

“Over the last five years, the problem and conflict between the Sudanese government and the people of Darfur has escalated, slowly becoming more violent and more dangerous. But perhaps what is the most worrying is that the children of Darfur are being born in to this reality, growing up in this reality and accepting this reality as the “norm”.”

Michael Rock, Chairman of Conservative Future comments on CF’s support of the day:

“As CF National Chairman, my main objectives include increasing the appeal in what we do as an organisation and to increase our influence on political issues. I think it is essential that we become involved with the wider political community, particularly on important, prominent single issues.

“I hope, that Conservative Future’s involvement in the protest goes some way in stimulating a faster and firmer international response. This is not the time for well intentioned words; Conservative Future is now involved in, and supports, decisive action.”

www.conservativefuture.com
www.globefordarfur.org

Tuesday saw the election of UCL ‘homeboy’ Michael Rock to the position of CF Chairman.

After a delegation mid afternoon drinking the entire stock of Potions champagne the crowd descended on UCL for our second ‘Question Time’ event guest staring Shaun Baily and James Cleverly both fantastic and charasmatic speakers who kept the audience held the entire time with their refreshing views. After several rounds of questions on a varity of ‘London orientated’ subjects from crime to housing (and of course tax) the crowd resumed the festivities at….. Potion!

Congratulations to Michael Rock and many thanks to Shaun and James for the terrific insight they gave into domestic politics!

Last night well renowned speaker, author and political commentator Douglas Murray came to one of our fortnightly wine receptions. As a neo-conservative he gave some immensely interesting views on politics, domestic affairs and of course the American elections.

The question and answer session explored a whole range of topics and the could well have gone on for several hours given the enthusiasm of the audience. Serene our first year rep gave a terrific and well deserved vote of thanks!

Much fun was has by all and as per usual the night ended up at Potion for drinks and sordid times, we were lucky enough to be joined by Douglas himself who engaged in more lively, contested but nevertheless superb debate.

Check you at our next event… the looming AGM!

Tuesday saw the very welcome return of one of UCL Conservatives’ finest events, Port and Policy; the first debate was between Oli Cooper and Stuart Davenport on the topic ‘This house believes that the United Kingdom should leave the European Union’ Oli proposing the motion, Stuart opposing the motion. As expected this led to another fantastic Cooper-Davenport debate which we at UCL have come to love. After hearing their debate and the floor speeches it was time to vote. This one was won by Stuart by a huge majority.

The second debate of the night was between Eamonn Hurley-Flynn and Iain Martin with Eamonn proposing the motion ‘The house believes that corporal punishment should be reinstated in school’. Another heated and passionate debate followed as each side, aided by Stuart Barfield and Stuart Turner, tried to sway our opinions and collect our votes on this issue. After each side had laid out their views it was time for the floor speeches. This was clearly a very strong and personal topic to many members of the audience, some even having person experience of this subject. In the end the motion was opposed but quite interestingly by only 3 votes.

The third debate of the evening was the balloon debate, always a popular and amusing one especially as all the characters for tonight were chosen by Starbuck. They included Gordon Brown, Davina McCall, George Osborne and Starbuck himself. After much laughter and attempts from each person to convince us why exactly we should keep them in it was down to the last two Starbuck and Gordon. Amazingly Gordon Brown one. This may partly be because people seemed to like the idea of putting him in a balloon and just leaving him floating somewhere above our country rather than having him ruining sorry running our country.

All in all it was yet another fantastic event, after polishing off the remainder of the port it was off to Potion to wash it down with a few Gin and Tonics, pints and a variety of cocktails. The next UCL event is in about two weeks and is with Douglas Murray.

An excellent day-long free event hosted by the Fraser Institute for students and academics, held in the beautiful surroundings of the Hilton Bonaventure hotel with world-class speakers. Topics included anti-capitalism in Quebec, why we shouldn’t fear China, environmentalism and reforming the health service through greater competition between hospitals. Over lunch we heard from David Frum, among other things former speechwriter for G.W.Bush and one of the big men in Rudy Giuliani’s campaign.

I’d like to focus on his words because they were surprising coming from a Republican. He gave a deep analysis of why the Republicans might be out of the White House for quite a few years, having polarized an entire demographic cohort against themselves. His remarks pointed out that the GOP can no longer appeal to reaganomics nor high-income groups, who tend to lean more Democrat because if you want to lounge around with people, it’s easier when you vote for the Democrats. Advocating a rethinking of the Republican Party rather than just its slogans, citing Canada’s and our own British Tories, Frum got us interested in the new book he’s presenting around the continent. “Comeback: A Conservatism That Can Win Again”.

In their different ways, Harper and Cameron have brought their parties back into power on onto its doorstep. The Republican Party will have to find its own way, but the seeds are there.

Tuesday saw former mayoral candidate Steve Norris make a very welcome return to UCL Conservatives. Norris made a very detailed and entertaining speech outlining a few of the problems specific to London and really hammered home how diverse a city it is which we live in and are lucky to be a part of. Norris gave some London based facts like the average life expectancy in the East End of London is 4 years less than that of the other boroughs of London, and then outlined how much of a chance he believes Boris has in this Mayoral Election on May 1st.

After his enthralling speech Norris allowed us to ask him questions and even joined in when the rest of the Society sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to ex-President Richard Jackson who celebrated his 22nd birthday on Tuesday.

This was an excellent way to kick off the new term and the new year, it was wonderful to listen to hear Norris talk so passionately about London and it was a really shame that he did not become Mayor in the last Mayoral Elections. On behalf of UCL Conservatives I’d like to thank him for coming and hope that we will be able to have him return again in the future.

The Institute of Liberal Studies hosted a libertarian-oriented day of presentations at the University of Toronto last Saturday. The topic of “Free-Market Environmentalism” couldn’t be chosen at a better time, for the environment is playing an important role in the political debate in the Great White North with the Liberal and Green parties jumping on any bandwagon they see. Leaving aside the scaremongering, the relationship between free market capitalism and environmental conservation is frequently perceived as one of mutual exclusion. Saturday witnessed yet another step toward the fall of this stereotype, showing how intervention rather than freedom contributes to making this world dirtier.

Presenting were Jim Harris (former leader of the Green Party), Pierre Desrochers (University of Toronto - Mississauga) and Glenn Fox (University of Guelph, ON), while in attendance were several UoT students, Tories and libertarians from Ontario, Quebec and Michigan, members of the Blogging Tories network, yours truly and others.

Mr Harris’ presentation focused on the creation of “green-collar” jobs through the exploitation of environmentally-friendly technology, but his talk left me puzzled as to how his fiscal conservatism in abolishing carmaker subsidies can help the environment and economic growth if combined with increased “green” regulation.

Dr Desrochers introduced the apt catchphrase “The road to hell is paved with CSR initiatives” in his presentation on how companies have the sole environmental duty to make a profit and how this can be beneficial for the environment if the market is left to function freely.

Dr Fox’s more scholarly presentation outlined the basis for free-market environmentalism, underlining the fact that we are just at the beginning of a possible paradigm shift. He also showed how capitalism and property rights can be the best friends of the environment, while walking over property rights and fair compensation allows for the environment to be destroyed, citing the Sudbury (ON) smelters. A very interesting talk that challenges the notion of profits being incompatible with care for the environment.

Icing on the cake - a surprise visit by the vice-president of the CATO institute, Tom Palmer. Being in town for another series of talks (with a three-hour break) and, in the words of insiders, “able to smell freedom” he decided to pop in and give us a talk he gave in China on the origins of property and John Locke’s theories. He presented us with an apt example from Iceland, where over-fishing was solved by making the fishermen shareholders of the fish stock. I am surprised he was allowed to give such a talk in China of all countries, since it is a simple yet powerful indictment of any ideology denying the importance of property and freedom. Palmer recalled the uneasiness in his Chinese audience when he showed night satellite photos of the Korean peninsula, with communist North Korea plunged into darkness except for a few lights here and there and a strikingly bright area on the border with China. Incidentally, that’s the area in which the NK government allows free trade with the neighbour. Palmer’s concluding words were that capitalism and free trade bring prosperity while socialism plunges society into darkness. Classic!

Last thurday a group the London Tory societies were invited down to Richmond Park to meet Zac Goldsmith and find out about helping the campaign to get him elected as the MP. Held in a really nice Pitcher & Piano overlooking the Thames and Richmond bridge it turned out to be a great night with a look of food and drink provided by the campaign - the same people behind the Nick Boles drinks we went to last year!

Everyone got a chance to meet and chat with Zac, and the usual photo ops, before some headed home - others went onto a club and spent many a happy hour celebrating the Christmas season! UCL Conservatives are organising our second SWAT campaign day in Richmond Park next year. 

The Tory Reform Group Christmas party is always good and this year was no diffferent. Held in the East India club, on St James’s Square, with Lord Walker of Worcester as the guest of honour. Lord Walker gave a good speech covering most areas of his political life. For all those interested in CF elections he did tell us that when he was Chairman of the Young Conservatives they had around 250,000 paid up members - beats the ‘claimed’ 15,000 we have now!

The night finished with cake, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the TRG’s publication, before retiring upstairs for more drinks - a good night! Photos from the night can be viewed here.

Yesterday we had a great event with Dr Liam Fox as the guest of honour. The final event of the year was well attended with over 50 people coming along to hear the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence talking about the issue you can tell he feels passionately about. He covered the major threats facing us, such as Russian and Iran, plus the state of our armed forces and the part-time Mr Des Browne.

The strength of the Party now is increased by having people like Liam Fox; someone who has sunk into the issues of defence, who really knows what is going on and can fight for changes our armed forces need. With people like him it shows the public we are a credible alternative. A very good night, which finished in Potion with Richard Merrin buying the drinks - Thank you Richard!

Also this Saturday we are campaigning in Bloomsbury Ward. Get in touch with Tim Barnes (t.barnes@ucl.ac.uk) if you want more information about coming along - free lunch for those who come and help!

Last weekend the UCL Conservatives went on a trip down to Herefordshire to help out in a SWAT campaigning weekend. Including friends of the society from Bristol & Gloucestershire we managed to get 9 people along to help Jesse Norman, the PPC, out. Most travelled down on Saturday morning, whilst I was already getting soaked canvassing in the city, and were driven across to Hereford for lunch. In the afternoon we went out as a group and cavassed a large section of a city ward. The area is popular with the BNP and we worked hard to collect voting data from the residents.

In the evening we all went for a curry and night out in Hereford. I am not going to speak anymore on what happened that night; it was interesting though!

On Sunday we did a final session in the City - even bumping into the current Lib Dem MP on the way home from the shops! After that the troops were taken back to the station. It was a really productive weekend and the whole Association wants to thank everyone who came down. I want to thank Jesse Norman very much for providing lunch, dinner and a lot of drinks! A great weekend and we shall be doing another SWAT day in the new year.

Last night members of the society joined CF’ers from around the country at the annual CF christmas party. Held this year in the City of London with a large turnout of members. There was a lot of drink and some very bad dancing, but everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves! It actually turned out to be one of the best CF events in recent times - obviously down to the large UCL turnout! 

Most the of CF election candidates attended the event, trying to secure votes. The night was overshadowed though by Michael Rock and the ‘Rock4CF’ badges that were given out and worn by nearly everyone in the room - it showed clearly who is on the road to victory!

Regular faces from the YBF to the TPA also came along for the festivity - I also want to pass on the societies best wishes to Jonathan Isaby; who is having his birthday celebrations tonight. Unfortunately due to the Liam Fox event we are unable to attend and we all hope he has a great night!

Tuesday this week saw the annual Imperial College Conservative Society Christmas reception. Held this year in the Barley Mow, just off Oxford Street.

Unfortunately, due to a three-line whip, Caroline Spelman had pulled out at the last minute - thus ending “carols with Carol”. Instead though Imperial rose to the challenge and produced a feast, some wine and a raffle - prizes included Boris Johnson signed bottles of wine and Sky News top trumps. Conveniently all the main prizes were won by the organisers, but I won’t be pushing for legal action - unlike some members of CF!

The event finished with carol signing, which showed to the whole area (including the canine presence) what lovely, and tuned, voices Conservatives have! It was sad that Caroline pulled out, and that they had a low turnout, but it was still a fun night!

Yesterday a contingent from UCL went along to help Mary Macleod PPC out in Brentford and Isleworth.

I must firstly congratulate the local association on the organisation for the day – we were met at the station: given packs of flyers, Tory blue rosettes, clear instructions and a map for the whole day’s plans – very well done! Mr Cooper and I were out with Michael Rock in his car delivering during the day, with a great break for lunch in a bar by the river.

The day finished in the evening at a pub in Gunnersbury with many more drinks and debates of the future of the Party - CF elections may have been mentioned. Not the best day the NME have done, but we did have around 20 CF’ers along including some from the London Universities. We have a great PPC for the constituency in Mary and must work hard to get her into Parliament.

The First termly Question Time event of the year was held earlier this evening with panellists Nick Webb, Area Chair for Bristol and Gloucestershire CF, Mark Coote, PPC for Cheltenham and Fundraising Director for Cancer Research UK, and Michael Rock, candidate for CF National Chairman and board member of the Bow group. The panellists covered a wide variety of social spheres and had experience in a wide variety of areas such as Education and the Tax office and were often able to give us first hand, personal examples, which enabled this event to last a record breaking hour and a half.

Questions were asked on David Cameron’s controversial scheme to encourage young people to get involved in Social Action projects, Compulsory Military service for all, Vocation Education VS Traditional Academic Education and the EU referendum. As always there was a prize awarded for the member who asked the best question of the night this was awarded to Arthur Verdin for his question about whether or not the Lib Dems are a viable option as a political party on a national scale.

It was interesting to hear each topic discussed from three different points of view and often a fourth opinion being added by our own dear President Starbuck. The panellists gave us all a lot to think about on these key political issues. After all this hard political thinking it was off to Potion bar for to relax with a few drinks. I would like to say a huge thank you to all our panellists and society members for their excellent questions tonight.