Faith and flag

It's always useful to know what the other side thinks; and I mean that in its loosest possible sense. The Tories are engaging in two months of bickering and soul-searching to select the person who will lose to Gordon Brown at the next general election. The full débâcle of who is dropping out before the campaign starts in earnest is recorded in detail by the Conservative Home blog together with comments on how handsome the candidates all are. There's also a whole load of links; you'd never realise that there was so much Toryism out there, but that's the subversive nature of the internet for you.
And subversiveness is just what the Tories are out to crush, albeit in a way that enshrines freedom of capital. Not sure how you can square free marketerring with an opposition to rampant liberalism. I use the term advisedly, although that advise has come from the Cornerstone Group, headed up by Dubya-lovin' Edward Leigh.
Leigh and his ilk want to see a return to traditional values, to private enterprise and to tax cuts. They want to promote Christianity but cut back state education and the NHS. They'll cut taxes for the wealthy and give further tax relief if you can afford not to use the school and health systems that the wealthy will no longer be paying for. So you're a hell of a lot better off it you're, say, a barrister and member of the Inner Temple and the son of a knight... which Mr Leigh is.
There are sixteen MPs who advocate social irresponsibility under the pretence of taking the moral high ground. If one of them's yours, make sure you vote them out next time: Brian Binley, Peter Bone, Julian Brazier, Douglas Carswell, Bill Cash, Christopher Chope, Robert Goodwill, John Hayes, Edward Leigh, Ian Liddell-Grainger, Owen Paterson, Andrew Rosindell, Lee Scott, Andrew Selous, Desmond Swayne, and Angela Watkinson. Some notably intolerant names in there.