<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329</id><updated>2012-02-16T10:44:18.155Z</updated><category term='Philip Hammond Bluecoat School Derek Hobbs Nick Allsopp Conservatives Nottingham University Future'/><category term='Gordon Brown Christopher Loftus Labour Party Conservative Future Speech Conference Nottingham University'/><category term='Welcome'/><title type='text'>Nottingham University Conservative Future Blog</title><subtitle type='html'>The blog of the Nottingham University Conservative Association.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>13</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-457243988323907886</id><published>2010-06-08T16:51:00.001+01:00</published><updated>2010-06-08T17:11:43.594+01:00</updated><title type='text'>NUCA AGM - 25/03/2010</title><content type='html'>On 25th March 2010, NUCA held its AGM and elected its new committee for 2010/11. The turnout at the AGM, held in the University Staff Club, was high, reflecting the quality of the candidates standing for election. After the President and Treasurer's speeches and a vote on constitutional changes had taken place, the new committee was elected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;James Spencer was duly elected as the new President after having served with distinction as the Vice President and Campaigns Officer in 2009/10. Joseph Caulfield-Kerney was elected the new Vice President as the result of a very close election, in which he defeated Michael Holmstock on a coin-toss. Emily Burditt was duly elected as the new Treasurer and John Garrett was elected as the New General Secretary. Olivia Willett was elected as the new Social Secretary and Lizzie Hepworth as the new Publicity Officer. The new committee will take the reins after the general election, and the handover will be marked by a meal in June.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nick Allsopp, the outgoing President, praised the new committee in a message to members, stating that "the standard of those who stood was a real testiment to the society and I feel great confidence in NUCA's future".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oliver Jackson - NUCA Publicity Officer&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-457243988323907886?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/457243988323907886/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/06/nuca-agm-25032010.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/457243988323907886'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/457243988323907886'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/06/nuca-agm-25032010.html' title='NUCA AGM - 25/03/2010'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-1754825962217155702</id><published>2010-02-18T10:11:00.003Z</published><updated>2010-02-18T10:16:32.401Z</updated><title type='text'>Roger Helmer - 05/02/2010</title><content type='html'>Friday saw the start of a series of lectures promoted by the Centre for European Development, and with our own MEP Roger Helmer being the first guest speaker, NUCA were out in force to give him our support.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The lecture was  primarily concerned with climate change, although the first half of the lecture – given by Prof. Matthew Humphreys – proved to be a very interesting insight into the mentality of climate change scepticism. Prof. Humphreys highlighted the increasingly paradoxical nature of people’s mentality that they accept climate change is an issue which needs to be tackled – however are reluctant when any form of taxation is imposed to combat its effects.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, when it comes to climate change Roger Helmer’s position is perhaps the most controversial. While accepting that the climate is changing and will continue to change, man’s influence upon it is negligible. Most people, after hearing his core stance have been quick to condemn his beliefs. However, Roger pointed out a few of the misconceptions surrounding him at the start of his speech, for example, he is neither pro-pollution nor for deforestation; he is simply being what a good conservative should be – sceptical.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Being a master of the English language, Rodger spoke very convincingly. Even those in the audience who were opposed to Roger’s views could not refute that this was a topic on which Mr Helmer was extremely well read.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent events concerning data complications at the University of East Anglia (“climategate”) was a central part of Roger’s argument and was used almost to the level of ‘I told you so’ style smugness. My only criticism aside, I am of the opinion that as further details concerning “climategate” are released and scientists are given access to all available data, Roger’s views will become more prominent in the climate change debate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On a wider scale Rodger Helmer  represents something far more potent  than the climate change debate. Rodger is a refreshing example that there is always another side to an argument and that it is never wrong to be sceptical of the mainstream approach.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30TNGstChI/AAAAAAAAAGo/VV8YifPWj8k/s1600-h/DSC00927.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 243px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30TNGstChI/AAAAAAAAAGo/VV8YifPWj8k/s320/DSC00927.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439525040790768146" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;James Spencer - NUCA Vice President&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-1754825962217155702?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/1754825962217155702/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/roger-helmer-05022010.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/1754825962217155702'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/1754825962217155702'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/roger-helmer-05022010.html' title='Roger Helmer - 05/02/2010'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30TNGstChI/AAAAAAAAAGo/VV8YifPWj8k/s72-c/DSC00927.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-463674778093652694</id><published>2010-02-18T09:55:00.012Z</published><updated>2010-02-18T10:08:13.858Z</updated><title type='text'>Belfast Trip - 30/01/2010</title><content type='html'>On the 30th of January 2010 9 members of the NUCA took a day trip to Belfast. Following an extremely early start, we touched down in Belfast at around 7 am. The snow-dusted hills around the city were an impressive sight. What struck us particularly was how quiet the inner city seemed; after leaving the airport we found a Starbucks to breakfast in (much to Joe Caulfield-Kerney’s delight) and we watched as the odd person walked across the small square below us.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30PogCe_jI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/VzVl8bcEpRo/s1600-h/City+Hall+2.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30PogCe_jI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/VzVl8bcEpRo/s320/City+Hall+2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439521113402965554" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After leaving Starbucks we had an impromptu game of Frisbee with Nick’s Frisbee acquired from the YBF Conference (blue, of course), then moved onto a nearby shopping centre to kill a bit of time. Following some brief shopping, we embarked on the open roof bus tour. It was an interesting experience for various reasons; first we stopped in the dockyards where the Titanic had been built, getting a chance to view her impressive dry dock. After that we went through the area where C.S. Lewis the author had been born, and then headed for Stormont, the grand and beautiful building where the Northern Irish Assembly is located. However, the next part of the tour involved cruising down the motorway. Due to the freezing cold temperature, the wind and the fact that few of us had been prepared enough to bring woolly hats and gloves, by the time we disembarked near Queen’s university we couldn’t feel our faces and our stiff knees didn’t work properly. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30QI3ngbNI/AAAAAAAAAFg/RFoCbON5SZo/s1600-h/Tour+Bus+2.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30QI3ngbNI/AAAAAAAAAFg/RFoCbON5SZo/s320/Tour+Bus+2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439521669488078034" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30RCCQrYhI/AAAAAAAAAGI/njbpJvC4HGg/s1600-h/Stormont+1.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30RCCQrYhI/AAAAAAAAAGI/njbpJvC4HGg/s320/Stormont+1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439522651597660690" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We thawed a little in the Ulster Museum, where we saw an exhibit on the Troubles. After this we took another tour bus through a part of Belfast where murals covered walls everywhere, ranging from faces of Rastafarians to balaclava-covered IRA members. Although the Troubles are over, it still felt like an alien world so removed from our own, one hard to understand since we were young when it was going on. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30QYXaVcvI/AAAAAAAAAFo/mPqxcspshS0/s1600-h/Bobby+Sands+Memorial.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30QYXaVcvI/AAAAAAAAAFo/mPqxcspshS0/s320/Bobby+Sands+Memorial.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439521935720805106" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30Qewjw1oI/AAAAAAAAAFw/VuqQcZxJxOs/s1600-h/Sandy+Row+Mural.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30Qewjw1oI/AAAAAAAAAFw/VuqQcZxJxOs/s320/Sandy+Row+Mural.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439522045550450306" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30RQzoBsJI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/cLzISVxLu18/s1600-h/The+Red+Hand+Commando%27s+Memorial.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30RQzoBsJI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/cLzISVxLu18/s320/The+Red+Hand+Commando%27s+Memorial.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439522905367097490" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The tour ended at an office of the Ulster Unionists, where we were warmly greeted by Neil Johnson, the Campaign Manager for the Conservatives and Unionists, and given a talk about the history of the political situation in Northern Ireland and the progress which has been made, the Conservative's alliance with the Ulster Unionists, and an insight into current political events. Following the talk we were driven to East Belfast where we did a spot of leafleting, then returned to the airport to catch an afternoon flight back. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30P4fDP0WI/AAAAAAAAAFY/9Y0sreqznGg/s1600-h/Group+Photo+1.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30P4fDP0WI/AAAAAAAAAFY/9Y0sreqznGg/s320/Group+Photo+1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439521388015636834" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The sun was setting by the time we reached Nottingham, and we had a great view of the campus from the air. From the airport we went into town, going to the Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem pub for a quick drink.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30Q1Kow5lI/AAAAAAAAAF4/Nn1IH7TBugo/s1600-h/Ye+Olde+Trip+3.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30Q1Kow5lI/AAAAAAAAAF4/Nn1IH7TBugo/s320/Ye+Olde+Trip+3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439522430507869778" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30Q7_pug5I/AAAAAAAAAGA/nHs1fVlAAGo/s1600-h/Ye+Olde+Trip+4.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30Q7_pug5I/AAAAAAAAAGA/nHs1fVlAAGo/s320/Ye+Olde+Trip+4.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439522547818202002" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30RYq4hEYI/AAAAAAAAAGY/vCrEonTsgqY/s1600-h/The+Robin+Hood+Monument.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30RYq4hEYI/AAAAAAAAAGY/vCrEonTsgqY/s320/The+Robin+Hood+Monument.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439523040459297154" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We then sat down at our table in Chutney. Here we were joined by other NUCA members, and the meal was a great wind-down after a packed, edifying and rather surreal day. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30RfuejNeI/AAAAAAAAAGg/_k1B4r8xxSA/s1600-h/Chutney.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30RfuejNeI/AAAAAAAAAGg/_k1B4r8xxSA/s320/Chutney.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439523161683211746" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chantal Lyons - NUCA Social Action Officer&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-463674778093652694?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/463674778093652694/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/belfast-trip-30012010.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/463674778093652694'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/463674778093652694'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/belfast-trip-30012010.html' title='Belfast Trip - 30/01/2010'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S30PogCe_jI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/VzVl8bcEpRo/s72-c/City+Hall+2.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-8705344499451508426</id><published>2010-02-11T09:46:00.003Z</published><updated>2010-02-16T09:35:36.793Z</updated><title type='text'>Christmas Dinner - 08/12/2009</title><content type='html'>On the 8th of December 2009 NUCA held its Christmas Dinner at the Pitcher and Piano in Nottingham. The venue, a deconsecrated church, made for a lovely setting and the NUCA table was set apart from the others, right where the altar once was. The food was well-received, particularly the goats cheese starter, and the puzzles we found in our crackers provided a great deal of amusement and confusion. Following the food Nick, President of the NUCA, gave a brief speech and an assortment of group photos were taken. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S3pmARdiVNI/AAAAAAAAAE4/ZXA8ooqPluE/s1600-h/Image+1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S3pmARdiVNI/AAAAAAAAAE4/ZXA8ooqPluE/s320/Image+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438771654876615890" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S3pmwS7qKUI/AAAAAAAAAFI/oKec8QFLsns/s1600-h/Image+3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S3pmwS7qKUI/AAAAAAAAAFI/oKec8QFLsns/s320/Image+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438772479905114434" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After leaving the restaurant, we made our way to the nearby Coco Tang bar, a place that’s rather hard to find unless you already know it’s there. The cocktails were exorbitantly priced but the bar’s interior and the atmosphere made up for it, and by the end of the evening we were all merry (or a bit worse for wear, in some people’s cases). Of particular interest was Hamish Stewart’s evil-smelling alcoholic drink, who when asked for the name, described it as “the wondrous Mad Hatter’s Tea Party”, containing “tea, absinthe, and Graham Nephew's overproofed rum”. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S3pmlN1h6YI/AAAAAAAAAFA/iKafEBMzQ7w/s1600-h/Image+2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S3pmlN1h6YI/AAAAAAAAAFA/iKafEBMzQ7w/s320/Image+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438772289558669698" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A thoroughly enjoyable evening.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chantal Lyons - NUCA Social Action Officer&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-8705344499451508426?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/8705344499451508426/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/christmas-dinner-08122009.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/8705344499451508426'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/8705344499451508426'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/christmas-dinner-08122009.html' title='Christmas Dinner - 08/12/2009'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S3pmARdiVNI/AAAAAAAAAE4/ZXA8ooqPluE/s72-c/Image+1.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-6760495829662225931</id><published>2010-02-10T22:36:00.002Z</published><updated>2010-02-11T09:54:07.866Z</updated><title type='text'>Pizza, Port and Policy 28/11/2009</title><content type='html'>At 8.30pm on 28th November, NUCA descended on the Bag of Nails, Lenton for another night of Pizza, Port and Policy chaired by former General Secretary Christopher Loftus. For the payment of a mere £5, one was treated to a feast of pizza washed down by fortified wine with some policy thrown in for good measure. The topics discussed ranged from Immigration to Welfare Benefits, with plenty of voice from both the left and the right of the party. Once all the policy had been bashed out, events turned to a mini bar-crawl with stints at Market Bar, Vodka Revs and Bar Eleven. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pizza, Port and Policy will hopefully be returning shortly, so why not join the NUCA group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=28088862043&amp;ref=ts to receive details of forthcoming events. Alternatively, check out our website: www.nottinghamcf.co.uk under the section ‘Upcoming Events’ for listings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Michael Holmstock - NUCA First Year Rep.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-6760495829662225931?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/6760495829662225931/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/pizza-port-and-policy-28112010.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/6760495829662225931'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/6760495829662225931'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/pizza-port-and-policy-28112010.html' title='Pizza, Port and Policy 28/11/2009'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-7438050903028399534</id><published>2010-02-06T11:01:00.004Z</published><updated>2010-02-11T09:45:28.227Z</updated><title type='text'>Greg Hands Visit - 19/11/2009</title><content type='html'>“Not only is Gordon Brown Useless, he is Positively Dangerous”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Greg Hands, the Shadow Treasury Minister and MP for Hammersmith &amp; Fulham was well received when he spoke at Nottingham University on 19 November giving us an insight into the country’s economic situation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After a brief introduction, Greg Hands talked about the issues surrounding the state of Britain’s finances and the handling of the credit crunch by Gordon Brown. Greg highlighted the problems the country will face paying off the national debt, discussed how to reduce the budget deficit and what to do about the banking sector. He gave us some shocking information relating to the management of the economy including that the debt repayment in 2010 will be higher than the total debt repayments for the last 300 years – since the national debt was introduced. He also gave a clear assessment of the impact of this budgetary problem on the students: “Gordon Brown has not just spent your [students’] money he has spent your children’s money as well”.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21MgJrTlWI/AAAAAAAAAEo/Gop6bzNsCNY/s1600-h/Image+12.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21MgJrTlWI/AAAAAAAAAEo/Gop6bzNsCNY/s320/Image+12.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435084440543139170" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally he answered questions from the floor, which included a range of topics, from Europe to Tuition Fees. I would like to thank Greg for taking the time to come and speak to Nottingham University students.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21MlCCTuzI/AAAAAAAAAEw/vJkpvli5dLs/s1600-h/Image+13.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21MlCCTuzI/AAAAAAAAAEw/vJkpvli5dLs/s320/Image+13.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435084524391480114" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Cjjqc4QY8&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oliver Jackson - NUCA Publicity Officer&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-7438050903028399534?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/7438050903028399534/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/greg-hands-visit-28112009.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/7438050903028399534'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/7438050903028399534'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/greg-hands-visit-28112009.html' title='Greg Hands Visit - 19/11/2009'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21MgJrTlWI/AAAAAAAAAEo/Gop6bzNsCNY/s72-c/Image+12.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-2844539324295570586</id><published>2010-02-06T10:43:00.014Z</published><updated>2010-02-11T09:45:40.948Z</updated><title type='text'>This Term So Far - 18/11/2009</title><content type='html'>This term so far….&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It came to my attention that whilst NUCA has been fiercely active so far this term, we haven’t been too hot in writing up what we’ve done, so to make up lost ground I thought I’d write a quick round up of some of the events we’ve had so far this year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Getting off to a good start before the term even began; NUCA was privileged to arrange for Philip Hammond MP to speak at the Nottingham Bluecoat School to a group of year 10, 11 and 12 students. It’s not every day school pupils get the chance to ask questions to the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and they certainly made the most of the opportunity to ask some interesting, and awkward(!), questions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21IseMqaAI/AAAAAAAAADQ/ZfN9bTJB-Yg/s1600-h/Image+1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21IseMqaAI/AAAAAAAAADQ/ZfN9bTJB-Yg/s320/Image+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435080254163675138" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A week later came freshers’ fayre where for three days NUCA ran a stall, welcoming students to the university and signing up new members. We also had a visit from Dr Rowena Holland (Nottingham South Parliamentary Candidate), a member of the Conservatives East Midlands Europe team, and James Poland (Broxtowe’s campaign manager). We had a really good response to our stall and our efforts even made the Nottingham Evening Post! (http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/politics/Tories-sign-students-election-battle/article-1457994-detail/article.html)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21I80CBWiI/AAAAAAAAADY/sxwm0T27deU/s1600-h/Image+2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21I80CBWiI/AAAAAAAAADY/sxwm0T27deU/s320/Image+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435080534902528546" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The week after freshers’ fayre we had a freshers’ only social – a new event for this year and one which I feel really helped the 1st years to get to know each other and really feel a part of the society. The following night we held our ‘Welcome and EGM’ event, where we welcomed all our members to the society, had speeches by both of our local parliamentary candidates (Rowena Holland and Anna Soubry), and elected four new people to the committee.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JICFeozI/AAAAAAAAADg/Bi3CE7vTME0/s1600-h/Image+3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 224px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JICFeozI/AAAAAAAAADg/Bi3CE7vTME0/s320/Image+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435080727653688114" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Conservative Party Conference was the following week, and what with our newly launched YouTube channel and armed with a camera and a microphone, we found this a unique opportunity to do a bit of MP stalking, and in the process managed to notch up a number of interviews with some rather high profile people (www.youtube.com/nottinghamcf).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This academic year will of course be a particularly important one of NUCA and the party as it will coincide with the next general election, so this year campaigning is very much forming the core of our activities. We decided therefore to put on a Canvassing Training afternoon, where a group of us were formally taught the etiquettes of canvassing, followed by a few hours putting these newly acquired skills into practice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JPyz4nCI/AAAAAAAAADo/enXI9J79c14/s1600-h/Image+4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JPyz4nCI/AAAAAAAAADo/enXI9J79c14/s320/Image+4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435080860992314402" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NUCA’s campaigning resources are primarily focused on the two local constituencies of Nottingham South and Broxtowe, and for this year Vice President James Spencer is in overall charge of campaigning, with special responsibilities for Nottingham South, and Matthew Snape is serving as Deputy Campaigns Officer and is in charge of Broxtowe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JfEvT0fI/AAAAAAAAADw/_TfoGE6QEtA/s1600-h/Image+5.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JfEvT0fI/AAAAAAAAADw/_TfoGE6QEtA/s320/Image+5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435081123503002098" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the run up to the general election campaigning will be put into overdrive, however the society is already very active, campaigning on weekends and to a lesser extent during the week. I’ve also taken the opportunity this year to get qualified to drive the Students’ Union minibuses, so come the election we’re particularly well prepared to mobilise our members!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21L980pGmI/AAAAAAAAAEg/NdyRtxxUCf0/s1600-h/Image+6.1.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21L980pGmI/AAAAAAAAAEg/NdyRtxxUCf0/s320/Image+6.1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435083852977085026" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In between campaigning NUCA members also attended the YBF6 Activist Training Conference in Wellington College, Berkshire, where we heard from some 30 speakers from across the conservative movement. After having attended YBF5 last year, I was really keen to get a large delegation from Nottingham to attend, so almost 10% of the delegates there were from the university!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JnjT5-JI/AAAAAAAAAD4/b8CB6hqvz1I/s1600-h/Image+7.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JnjT5-JI/AAAAAAAAAD4/b8CB6hqvz1I/s320/Image+7.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435081269148514450" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;YBF also came and visited us at the university and held a TV Interview Techniques training workshop where we got the chance to be on camera, practice being interviewed and get some invaluable feedback on what we were doing well and things we were doing wrong.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JuokaT8I/AAAAAAAAAEA/0wxUXhLKtMs/s1600-h/Image+8.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21JuokaT8I/AAAAAAAAAEA/0wxUXhLKtMs/s320/Image+8.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435081390819004354" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For me, being on camera isn’t something which comes naturally and it is only by having attended previous YBF training days that I can do the YouTube channel videos in the way I do (not to say that I don’t have lots to improve on!).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21J0MJAEyI/AAAAAAAAAEI/_mN-eve2u8g/s1600-h/Image+9.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21J0MJAEyI/AAAAAAAAAEI/_mN-eve2u8g/s320/Image+9.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435081486267061026" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other events this term have included a newly launched ‘Pizza, Port and Policy’ night, attending the OTC Remembrance Sunday Service at the University, the CF Student Life Tours Q&amp;A evening, helping out at a Cameron Direct and a dinner on campus with both William Hague and Ken Clarke.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21J8Sf0zhI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/Ag5AVwPCDEY/s1600-h/Image+10.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21J8Sf0zhI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/Ag5AVwPCDEY/s320/Image+10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435081625412357650" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Looking ahead to the rest of the term we are looking forward to welcoming Greg Hands MP and David Burrowes MP, as well as a variety of social events and other special events currently in the pipeline.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21KB2tWoGI/AAAAAAAAAEY/RZBxh40JAHI/s1600-h/Image+11.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21KB2tWoGI/AAAAAAAAAEY/RZBxh40JAHI/s320/Image+11.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435081721032122466" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So that’s a brief roundup of the story so far – we’ll be keeping this up to date more regularly from now on so make sure to check back, see what we’ve been up to and also do remember to get involved with NUCA! It is a real pleasure to be leading such a fine bunch of people in this society and I really hope this year we can fully play our part in seeing the election of the next Conservative government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nick Allsopp&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NUCA President&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-2844539324295570586?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/2844539324295570586/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/this-term-so-far-27112009.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/2844539324295570586'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/2844539324295570586'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2010/02/this-term-so-far-27112009.html' title='This Term So Far - 18/11/2009'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/S21IseMqaAI/AAAAAAAAADQ/ZfN9bTJB-Yg/s72-c/Image+1.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-7577005243852758667</id><published>2009-10-28T11:43:00.007Z</published><updated>2009-10-28T13:28:53.540Z</updated><title type='text'>NUCA at YBF6 – Activist Training Conference</title><content type='html'>“You’re from Nottingham as well?” was a question posed regularly last weekend as young conservatives, surprised at the large number of NUCA delegates, descended on the 6th annual Young Britons’ Foundation Activist Training Conference, held from the 23rd – 25th October in the beautiful surroundings of Wellington College, Berkshire.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397641762656404898" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SuhGlc_yxaI/AAAAAAAAADI/mia5sRLHVQY/s320/DSC01838.JPG" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;During the three-day conference we heard from 6 MPs, 1 MEP and many other leading figures from within pressure groups, lobbying, the blogosphere and the media. Practical talks were also given on how to campaign effectively, handling negative information, legal advice and dealing with the media.&lt;br /&gt;Last year’s YBF5 saw practical training in the form of a TV Techniques Training Workshop; this year we had a Political War Game, a chance for us to put the campaign skills we learnt into practice in creating posters, leaflets and inventing pressure groups in order to win the battle over the fate of a fictional piece of land.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SugwEBdZ_iI/AAAAAAAAACo/qBM-rLu9N08/s1600-h/Blog+Image+2.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397616999072923170" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SugwEBdZ_iI/AAAAAAAAACo/qBM-rLu9N08/s320/Blog+Image+2.JPG" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of the speakers a particular personal favourite was Dan Hannan MEP, who gave a passionate and thought provoking speech about the European Union and our country’s relationship with it. Being ever the gentleman, he also very kindly posed for photos with us afterwards, but in truth he must have been bloody sick of us all asking!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SugwQAhPMNI/AAAAAAAAACw/Ne_rqrQjZls/s1600-h/Blog+Image+3.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 326px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 198px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397617204978987218" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SugwQAhPMNI/AAAAAAAAACw/Ne_rqrQjZls/s320/Blog+Image+3.JPG" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The evening’s dinners on the Friday and Saturday night were also speaker packed affairs. On Friday night we had the Eric Forth Memorial dinner, where the winner of the Activist of the Year award was announced and speeches were given by Conor Burns (Conservative Way Forward), the Rt Hon Lord Forsyth (former Scottish Secretary), and Jonathan Isaby (ConservativeHome.com), and on the Saturday we had the Margaret Thatcher Banquet with speeches from Harry Cole (Tory Bear), Iain Dale (blogger) and Matthew Richardson (YBF Executive Director). The dinners were a great chance for us to share thoughts and views (and campaign strategies of course!) with our fellow conservative students, as well as being able to meet a wide range of people, and mingle with some of the guest speakers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SugwcAuniXI/AAAAAAAAAC4/juWXvOQQPG8/s1600-h/Blog+Image+4.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397617411193538930" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SugwcAuniXI/AAAAAAAAAC4/juWXvOQQPG8/s320/Blog+Image+4.JPG" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was particularly interesting to meet our fellow conservatives, particularly as this year YBF had invited members of the Young Americans Foundation. It was motivating to meet not only people with different views to us, but also from a different country, background and upbringing. Despite usually having fundamentally the same opinions as each other, we did manage to start a few debates on issues where there was clear disagreement!&lt;br /&gt;So, not only was YBF6 an amazing experience in allowing us to listen to and meet a vast array of speakers, but also in meeting likeminded people. It was both fantastically edifying and a great social experience and I think that everyone who attended would testify that it was a weekend very well spent!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SugwwHVtOJI/AAAAAAAAADA/egUXwvOsLRA/s1600-h/Blog+Image+5.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397617756565485714" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SugwwHVtOJI/AAAAAAAAADA/egUXwvOsLRA/s320/Blog+Image+5.JPG" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks must be given to YBF and especially to Donal Blaney and Steven Dent, who organised the event, and special thanks must also be given to Mark Clarke who organised and judged the Political War Game. YBF6 was such a valuable experience, and I’m sure that all involved would also agree that the freebies in particular made the trip all the more worthwhile! I for one carry my TaxPayers’ Alliance “I Love Low Taxes” bag with the utmost pride, and my walls are now adorned with YBF posters and propaganda!&lt;br /&gt;Hopefully YBF7 will prove to be (as appears impossible), even better than YBF6, and once again everyone will be subjected to hearing “Are you from Nottingham as well?” as we invade YBF7 with an even bigger attendance!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lizzie Hepworth - NUCA 1st year Rep &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-7577005243852758667?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/7577005243852758667/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/10/nuca-at-ybf6-activist-training.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/7577005243852758667'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/7577005243852758667'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/10/nuca-at-ybf6-activist-training.html' title='NUCA at YBF6 – Activist Training Conference'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SuhGlc_yxaI/AAAAAAAAADI/mia5sRLHVQY/s72-c/DSC01838.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-6538343946568672625</id><published>2009-10-12T10:25:00.002+01:00</published><updated>2009-10-12T14:39:24.133+01:00</updated><title type='text'>The Army</title><content type='html'>For generations untold, the defender of our realm and our way of life. The Royal Navy declined in power and influence, yet remained our Senior service while the British Armed Forces grew from strength to strength. The split in the Civil War, where Cromwell - the traitor - committed regicide and slew a Sovereign, to the destruction of the tyrant Bonaparte's land forces during the Napoleonic wars under the Iron Duke to the massive casualties taken in the Crimean War. The Army has given our people cause to sleep safely at night during those darker days. Then the prospect of peace, which had so hopefully been built upon, was so dashed by the Germans with Bismark and Wilhelm II requiring the British again to thrash those nun-raping Huns up and down the continent during the Great War and finally during the Second World War. Such massive sacrifices which have not been seen since by our generation, serve only to illustrate the point that our Armed Forces are, in modern times, the true defenders of our country and stalwart guardians of our way of life. Indeed our modus vivendi could never have survived without the sacrifices and commitment that our servicemen have so often proffered to us without asking, a situation that so many of us would like to be seen in many different walks of life - asking not what can be done for us but instead what we might do for our country.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Indeed the Army is not one whole unit, indeed it is an organisation composed of various different elements. Some Cavalry (generally based on the principles of fighting in armoured vehicles), most Infantry (the chaps with the muscle and firepower to take and hold ground from the enemy) they are supported by every other element of the modern Army to help them with their goal of winning the fire fight. This could include Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Army Air Corps or the services of the Signals Corps and Intelligence Corps. However, there is a more important distinction between the Army, that of Regular Army and the TA (Territorial Army). Nowadays, as opposed to bygone times, both forces fight side-by-side to defeat their mutual enemy, which is a matter for pride in all fields of the Armed Forces.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, the British people are faced with a change. A political change, which threatens the century of improvement which the TA has gone through since Haldane introduced the idea of a TA into legislation in 1907 and instigated them as a part of the Army in 1908. This political change has been brought about due to a chronic mismanagement of our country's finances. A government which has so poorly handled our money that they have had to hack away at those people who go out with the service of their country in mind in the morning. We must take a step back and smell the coffee.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We have sat idly by whilst the Labour government borrow through boom and then borrow in bust, we have sat idly by whilst they sell our Gold Bullion reserves for a quarter of what they would have been worth now and we have sat idly by whilst we have a Prime Minister who has no mandate for rule as he has not taken himself to our electorate as a leader of his party. Will we sit idly by whilst he continues to bankrupt us as a country to the extent that every newborn child has over £20,000 of debt on their consciences? Will we sit idly by whilst we borrow from other countries at a rate of £330,000 a minute? And might this step of his to shut down the TA for half a year not raise a flicker of anger? In short will we let this shit fly any longer?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In short I am referring to Labour's latest gimmick to save money they have squandered. They have very little to offer us apart from cuts; indeed they say we must continue to support private and public services in the recession by offering support for unemployed people. It would be ludicrous to disagree with the notion of helping the jobless get jobs, but let us ask how we have come to such a stage of financial crisis; it is because Gordon Brown is such a bad man to run our country, his own staff frequently leave citing personal clashes as reasons, instead they are decent people but this tyrannical man is so awful that if he instead had left ten years ago we would probably not be in such a sorry state of affairs. When will people wake up and smell the coffee? When will people say enough is enough and insist this man leave office? What more will it take for us to remove this tyrannical cretin from anywhere apart from a padded cell?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As ironic as this may sound, I must go to the worst sort of criminal and borrow his words, as regicide is the worst possible crime to imagine then this ought to ring true "In the name God, go!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Christopher Loftus&lt;br /&gt;NUCA General Secretary&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-6538343946568672625?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/6538343946568672625/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/10/army.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/6538343946568672625'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/6538343946568672625'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/10/army.html' title='The Army'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-6776918268422384080</id><published>2009-10-02T19:01:00.001+01:00</published><updated>2009-10-02T19:04:11.716+01:00</updated><title type='text'>PR vs FPTP</title><content type='html'>PR is a bad form of election, look at why we have enjoyed FPTP for so long. I am not so naive to say that FPTP is the best form of election, but it is the best form available to us currently; Scotland has a Minority Government in the form of the SNP which is hardly desirable as they wish to decapitate our Union. The European Elections approved two BNP members, who would have been black-balled under FPTP so, under all that I can see I would say it does a pretty poor job - you might even say it allows racism! The only benefit of PR is that more people have more of a say in government, this leads to more discussion and less action - which makes for a weaker and less decisive executive - imagine if Chamberlain had to seek a vote to defend the realm against the Nazis, or if Thatcher had to ask permission to defend our territory from the Argies?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There is a balance between representation and decision, some would argue that weirdos such as the greens and the Left don't get enough support but that is because we live in Britain. A country where there is always a clear mandate, unless you're an unelected PM like our beloved leader Gordon Brown, is a strong country one which is capable of clear decisive action in whatever field. PR works for university societies and other quasi-representative bodies but not nationwide executives.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is a fact that PR would lead to minority government and hung-parliaments to the point that no decisions would be made to the detriment of the host country, I feel sure that any level-headed person would see the dilemma between getting more people involved and being able to make a clear decision quickly without the need for endless deal-making and weaseling.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am in favour of the FPTP system, entirely.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Christopher Loftus - NUCA General Secretary&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-6776918268422384080?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/6776918268422384080/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/10/pr-vs-fptp.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/6776918268422384080'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/6776918268422384080'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/10/pr-vs-fptp.html' title='PR vs FPTP'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-4104501011846797012</id><published>2009-09-29T20:43:00.008+01:00</published><updated>2009-09-29T21:23:00.980+01:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Gordon Brown Christopher Loftus Labour Party Conservative Future Speech Conference Nottingham University'/><title type='text'>Go Gordon! Just go...</title><content type='html'>I have just been listening to the speech by our Prime Minister at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton. I must say that I am shocked and angry at that man. He continues to drivel on about "Tory cuts" and "tax cuts for the few not the many", I cannot stand it any longer. The Conservative Party stands for individual choice above all else, less state control and greater happiness at a basic level of the family. A sensible balance between rights and responsibility, I see no sense with Gordon Brown.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Firstly, he is an unelected Prime minister. He has not taken himself and his party to the electorate and sought office - this tyrannical abuse of our most intrinsic principle is shocking. The President of Iran has just rigged an election - at least there has been an election there! Secondly, he asks why the Conservative Party are promising cuts across the board in the public sectors of NHS, Policing and the Civil Service - I shall tell you why, because that baboon has presided over our economy, as Chancellor, since 1997. In that dozen year span Britain has borrowed more money than every previous administration put together - inflation adjusted. To put that in perspective, we, as a country, are borrowing £330,000 a minute. We are saddled with such a gargantuan debt, that because of this total arse, each new born child is saddled with a personal responsiblity of £20,000. If he were the CEO of a corporation he would have been fired 11.9 years ago!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Suffice it to say, that yes, the Conservatives are having to promise cuts - but if he wants to know why there is no money in the coffers to fund the sort of change that everyone wants, then he should look at his record. What could we have done differently? We would not have borrowed during a boom, we would have put money away for a rainy day, but because of him we have borrowed more money than Churchill did whilst fighting off the Nazis, than Thatcher whilst retaking the Falklands, than the Duke of Wellington used whilst fending off Bonaparte. I cannot stand it when I see that man stand in front of a television camera and drop his jaw every two seconds explaining that he is the right man - he is guilty of bankrupting our country and leaving us so badly off that we are the worst prepared country in the G20 for weathering this financial storm. We do want change, Gordon, and most certainly not from you - you have done enough damage already - In the name of God man, GO!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Christopher Loftus - NUCA General Secretary&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-4104501011846797012?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/4104501011846797012/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/09/go-gordon-just-go.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/4104501011846797012'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/4104501011846797012'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/09/go-gordon-just-go.html' title='Go Gordon! Just go...'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-3795652901213516556</id><published>2009-09-19T16:10:00.007+01:00</published><updated>2009-09-19T17:20:32.952+01:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Philip Hammond Bluecoat School Derek Hobbs Nick Allsopp Conservatives Nottingham University Future'/><title type='text'>Philip Hammond MP at the Nottingham Bluecoat School</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SrT31KzcY3I/AAAAAAAAACQ/IRCurotd2ZU/s1600-h/DSC01683.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383199947419837298" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SrT31KzcY3I/AAAAAAAAACQ/IRCurotd2ZU/s400/DSC01683.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;NUCA were privileged to arrange and enjoy the visit of Philip Hammond MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, for an open question and answer session at Nottingham Bluecoat School on Thursday 17th September, a few days before university term starts. Mr Hammond spoke to an audience of around a hundred GCSE and Sixth-form pupils at the school, as well as several NUCA members who were in attendance, on topics ranging from the economy to university education to the invasion of Iraq. He spoke convincingly and with clarity on these issues, but what stood out the most was a commendable honesty about the state of the nation’s finances: Over the past twelve years, the national debt has increased to almost 100% of GDP, and, according to Hammond, this is closer to 200% when the balance sheets of the recently nationalised banks are included in the calculations. Under Gordon Brown, the nation is borrowing £300,000 per minute, and even the Labour Party have begun to use the C-word to talk about future public spending: Cuts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SrT30tAWkbI/AAAAAAAAACI/GEqOO1kCwBg/s1600-h/DSC01685.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383199939420918194" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SrT30tAWkbI/AAAAAAAAACI/GEqOO1kCwBg/s400/DSC01685.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Hammond was frank about the need for the next government to restrain public spending and seek savings wherever possible. He pointed out that about half of public spending was not on things like education, defence or health, but consisted of “transfer” activities: namely, giving money to people in tax credits, pensions and benefit payments. Many of these transfer activities introduced under New Labour have had precious little effect on the problems they are designed to address; for example, benefit payments intended to reduce child poverty do not appear to be working and child poverty has actually increased. It seems likely that we can expect much of the needed savings to come from better management of public money in this area under a Conservative government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It wasn’t all grim economic news, however. Hammond rightly presented the Conservative party as the party of genuine opportunity, decentralisation and limited government. Appropriately enough, his constituency of Runnymede and Weybridge contains the site of the signing of the Magna Carta, the start of a great British tradition of opposing tyranny and excessive government interference; a tradition which has fallen somewhat out of vogue in the corridors of power under New Labour, but which we can hope to see revived under a Conservative administration. If the first Cameron term in office is going to be dominated by an agenda of fiscal responsibility and education reform, then the second will be about decentralisation. Hammond sees this as a tremendous possibility for the long-term as it could break the cycle of the last thirty years of British politics. Currently parties in opposition build up support locally, win power at the national level, lose local government support gradually, and then lose general elections. Local elections are used to register protests against the party in power in Westminster since local authorities have no power to speak of anyway, and decentralising local and regional issues to local and regional authorities will reinvigorate politics at these levels and radically change electoral dynamics at a national level.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SrT31tkeTCI/AAAAAAAAACY/9VIiItZPNA0/s1600-h/DSC01687.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383199956752288802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SrT31tkeTCI/AAAAAAAAACY/9VIiItZPNA0/s400/DSC01687.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(L-R:Philip Whitehead, Christopher Loftus, Hamish Stewart, Philip Hammond MP, Derek Hobbs (Assistant Headteacher), and Nick Allsopp)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our thanks go to both Philip Hammond MP for speaking at the school and to Derek Hobbs (Bluecoat Assistant Headteacher) for being willing to organise and host the event.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Following the Q&amp;amp;A session, NUCA President Nick Allsopp interviewed Philip Hammond (&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EITZRa__daE"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EITZRa__daE&lt;/a&gt;) and also saved the taxpayer a £10 taxi fare by giving him a lift to his next engagement in the city centre. As Tesco would have it, every little helps.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Philip Whitehead - NUCA Member &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-3795652901213516556?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/3795652901213516556/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/09/philip-hammond-mp-at-nottingham.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/3795652901213516556'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/3795652901213516556'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/09/philip-hammond-mp-at-nottingham.html' title='Philip Hammond MP at the Nottingham Bluecoat School'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SrT31KzcY3I/AAAAAAAAACQ/IRCurotd2ZU/s72-c/DSC01683.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6688559182142964329.post-3170078879660020779</id><published>2009-09-19T15:37:00.002+01:00</published><updated>2009-09-19T16:10:02.015+01:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Welcome'/><title type='text'>Welcome to the NUCA Blog</title><content type='html'>Welcome to the Official Blog of the Nottingham University Conservative Association. In addition to our established website (&lt;a href="http://www.nottinghamcf.co.uk/"&gt;http://www.nottinghamcf.co.uk/&lt;/a&gt;) and our newly launched YouTube channel (&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/nottinghamcf"&gt;www.youtube.com/nottinghamcf&lt;/a&gt;) we are launching this blog as a means of expanding our association's reach both on and off campus, to promote what we do and to allow our members the opportunity to publish articles, to review our events and make any other written contributions relevant to NUCA.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you are a member of NUCA or would like to get involved with the society this year, this blog is just one of the great opportunites what we can offer to our members. With the next academic year being the general election year this is an especially exciting time for NUCA and I really look forward to NUCA fully playing its part in delivering the next Conservative government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nick Allsopp - NUCA President&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6688559182142964329-3170078879660020779?l=nottinghamcf.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/feeds/3170078879660020779/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/09/welcome-to-nuca-blog.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/3170078879660020779'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6688559182142964329/posts/default/3170078879660020779'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nottinghamcf.blogspot.com/2009/09/welcome-to-nuca-blog.html' title='Welcome to the NUCA Blog'/><author><name>Nottingham University Conservative Future</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09554781366946292644</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XYeSPOEmyJA/SqLajr9FGwI/AAAAAAAAABE/6reF86k2i3M/S220/Trent+Building.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
