If you’ve opened a paper, turned on the radio or watched TV today, then you can’t have failed to see that today is International Women’s Day. I think it’s important to highlight the plight of women in under-developed nations, and to look again at the massive health and economic challenges that many women face around the world.
However, here in the UK the occasion is being used by Labour’s rabid “equality” agenda to slap men around for not employing enough women, or for lingering too long on Page 3 of The …

Despite this election being the most important for a generation, nearly half of all university students will not vote in May. That is the story revealed in yesterday’s survey conducted by student accommodation provider Unite, which questioned more than 1,500 students.
This is despite the fact that nearly all students currently at university have been educated largely or exclusively under a Labour Government, since those who started university last year began primary education in 1997.
The survey showed that while only 12% said they had “no interest in politics”, almost half said …

From the Blue Blog: I look at how moving responsibility from the centre has improved Conservative Future.
One of the main beliefs of the Conservative Party is that power should be pushed down to the lowest level; in the so-called ‘direct democracy’. I am a big believer of this and have tried to use my Chairmanship of Conservative Future to achieve this wherever possible.
I’ve been National Chairman of Conservative Future now for 18 months and I think my biggest achievement has been the introduction of Regional Chairmen. A typical ‘Region’ is …

By Benjamin Harris-Quinney
July began with a major event on the Madrid branch calendar as 10 of our branch members travelled north to a mountain retreat for Campus FAES, a week-long event of lectures and seminars on International Conservatism.

From left to right: Branch Chairman Ben Harris-Quinney, Vice Chairman Leandro Pilbeam, Secretary Paul Gordon, Elliot Abrams, Social Secretary Catherine Gurri, Treasurer Pierre Shepherd.
It was a tremendous opportunity for our branch to better integrate with the Spanish conservative movement but also with Conservatives & libertarians from all over the world. Ronald Reagan’s former …

In a week of more bad news for young people, we have discovered that youth unemployment has sky rocketed, the number of university places has fallen, and the average university graduate debt has topped £23k.

Yet New Labour continue to promise an unachievable ‘New Deal’ to the young people of today. The reality behind Labour’s sham promise of a guaranteed job, place in education or training for those under 25 makes bitter reading.

Imagine for a moment that it is Summer 2010. The economy is quietly emerging from the deepest recession in decades and employers are beginning to feel confident about the future, setting their eyes on a new round of recruitment. With unemployment near 3 million and the “Class of 2010” about to graduate, finding new recruits should be easy.

But given the pick of 3 million job hunters, where do you turn to find new talent to lift your business out off the recession and back to the dizzy heights of success?

This month we have learnt that almost a million young people are out of work, after the biggest quarterly increase in unemployment since Labour came to power.

In a clear sign of Labour’s failure of young people, 17.3% of people aged 18-24 in the UK are now out of work or full-time education.

From the Blue Blog: Serene John-Richards looks at how Conservative societies are engaging with university students around the country.
Since my mother is a local councillor, I began campaigning long before university – but while I’d always taken an interest in politics, I must admit the typical cliché of delivering countless leaflets and knocking on endless doors in the cold and rain was a far cry from the colourful debating I imagined politics to be all about!
It was certainly one thing giggling at PMQs and musing over the economics of conservatism …

From the Blue Blog: Emma Carr looks at what the Conservatives must do to keep making progress in the North of England.
I was born at the end of the 1980s and have grown up in different places around the North East and have since become and active campaigner for the Conservatives in the Region.
Having read an article on ConservativeHome entitled ‘Should the Conservative Party be apologising for the policies of the 1980s if it is to make electoral advances in the North of England?’ I knew at once that it …

From the Blue Blog: James Deighton, one of Conservative Future’s area chairmen, blogs on the recent election campaign.
Well it’s certainly been a busy time in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and Rutland, with the recent County Council and EU elections earlier this month. As the Conservative Future (CF) Area Chairman I have been actively engaged in the campaigns across the counties, helping our candidates, and meeting the different CF groups. Because of this I though it would be a good idea to use my first post on the blog to give you a …