Once more unto the breach...

There is a brand new Conservative blog which has recently been set up by a fairly distinguished group of right-leaning bloggers. At Once More, a group of British political bloggers, determined to carve out a bigger online presence for the Conservative Party, have decided that we can come together to help shape the perception and direction of the party on the blogosphere and maybe (well, blindly hopefully...) have a bit of an impact in the real world. I am honoured to have been invited to get involved, but with my move back to the UK have been a little busy.

Anyway, now I'm back I shall be dipping my toes into the less time-intensive world of group blogging but I shall also continue to update the soon-to-be-revamped Englishman in Philly/Trust People for my loyal readers (yes, both of you...)

Here is Once More's mission statement:

"We come from all walks of life. We have flirted with various political beliefs and ideologies. We have been party members and we have torn up our membership cards in disgust when we disagreed with Westminster machinations. Some of us have even threatened to vote Lib Dem, but never have (having thus avoided a dirty feeling that might have remained with us for some time afterwards). We do have principles.

This blog will bring together the best and the brightest of political writing talent from the Right-wing of British blogging. We share a common goal, although we may well often disagree about the details: we want the Conservative Party to win elections. You know, like they used to. By a landslide or even a full-blooded avalanche on occasion. Like that.

Some of us want to brutalise criminals, slash taxes, and rule you like a king (hat tip: Sideshow Bob). We are not modernisers; we are not One Nation Tories; we are not hang-'em-and-flog-'em Blue Rinsers. We come from different factions, but we all share the belief that we can only win if we unite. To that end, we'll be writing about whatever is topical, from policy and personality, to tactics and strategy. We'll be delving deep into the detailed depths of political life like the geeks that we are, and we'll be soaring over it all to discuss broad brush Utopian (well, maybe not too Utopian...) dreams of a better world all in equal measure.

We're not connected to the Conservative Party, although some of us are members. We'll be totally candid about them - when they screw up, you'll read it here in gory detail, as we agonise over setbacks and frustrations. All we ask of you is that you add us to your favourites, put us into your RSS aggregator, read and comment, however you like, and help us to shape the Tories into an election winning machine, ready to govern. Your Party needs you.

The name? Well...

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood...(Act 3, Sc 1, Henry V)"

Some of my, how shall I put this, 'Tory-sceptic' readers may wonder why, after my own recent scepticism and unhappiness prior to the election, I am committing to such a blog. The truth is this: I know my political instincts and I know which party ought to be promoting them. That is the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party is best placed to embrace them and I also strongly believe that it can and should do so to provide a real and present threat to Blair's reign. To distance myself from such a debate, at a time when the direction of the party can be set and influenced to such a degree as it can now, would be irresponsible. For evil to triumph, it only requires that good men do nothing.