The Conservative Party are working on plans to cut the size and scope of the BBC, which receives £3.6 billion a year from licence fee payers. I love the BBC, but there is no doubt that are too big, too unaccountable and too expensive.

The Shadow Minister with responsibility for the Media, Jeremy Hunt said there should be “total transparency” on their fees and salaries. “The public should know what they are paying for,” he said.

Pay cuts would form part of the renegotiation of the licence fee due in 2012. The BBC spends £54 million on stars earning more than £150,000 a year and another £16 million on those earning £100,000 to £150,000.

Jonathan Ross, who is leaving in the summer, is paid £6 million per year, or nearly three per cent of the entire budget for “talent”.

The top pay bracket also includes Fiona Bruce, who is said to earn £500,000 for reading the news and presenting Antiques Roadshow, and Graham Norton, who is reported to earn £2 million per year.

Others on large contracts include Jeremy Paxman, with a reported £1 million annual package, and Kirsty Young, the Desert Island Discs and Crimewatch presenter, who is thought to earn around £500,000.

Under Labour the fat cats are paid out of the public purse. The Conservatives are going to sort it out.

It’s about three minutes long and is well worth watching.

David Cameron has welcomed the announcement that all three main party leaders have agreed to participate in TV debates during the General Election campaign 2010, to be hosted by ITV, SKY and the BBC.

“I am absolutely delighted that these debates are going to happen”, he said.

“I first called for them in May 2007 and since then, whether we’ve been up in the polls or down in the polls, I’ve kept the pressure up. So now they’re finally going to happen I’m proud of the part we’ve played in making this particular part of British political history.”

He expressed his hope that the debates will play a part in helping to restore trust in politics.

“We will have the chance to talk to millions of people in our country who are fed up with politics, fed up with politicians, think we’re all the same, think nothing changes. We’ve a chance to convince them it could be different; we can go in a different direction if we get rid of this failed Labour government and get a better one.”

As well as trust, he said they will also help to get people engaged in politics. “I think they could get people more excited about this election, more likely to take part. And there’s a great opportunity to be able to talk to millions of people about the change we want to bring in this country”.

“I think people have got a right to look at the people putting themselves forward as our next Prime Minister and to see the choice, then they can make up their own minds. Members of my Shadow Cabinet will also be challenging members of the Cabinet to debates.”

Cameron added that there is “a big choice facing Britain” at this election: five more years of Gordon Brown or change with the Conservatives. “That’s why I really relish the challenge the debates will bring”, he said.

“This weekend showed very vividly why we can’t afford five more years of Gordon Brown”, Ken Clarke said. “There’s a choice to be made, and the choice of Gordon Brown is a very expensive choice indeed”.

He pointed out the Conservatives had been arguing for months that it is only the prospect of a Conservative government that has been holding down interest rates and holding up sterling. “Yesterday’s and today’s market movements show how nervous our foreign creditors and investors are about the prospects of a Gordon Brown victory or a hung parliament”, he said.

“The argument from a British point of view is if investors do not believe the new British Government has the political will to deal with the deficit and pay down some debt they will demand much higher interest rates before they will lend us any more money.”

Clarke went on to compare Labour’s policy of matching his spending plans when they were last in the Opposition, to the mess they have created and the need for the Conservative Opposition to lead the way forward.

“Only by dealing with the debts we can provide confidence to businessmen and families up and down the country that they can plan ahead with confidence, that we can get a grip on our debts, and that with interest rates lower for longer, and we can unleash the forces of enterprise to show Britain is open for business again”, he said.

“The Conservatives have done that in the past. We turned around an economy left in tatters by Labour, got Britain growing, and left Gordon Brown with a golden economic legacy. Now we need to do it again.”

Read Ken Clarke’s speech in full

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne criticised Gordon Brown’s economic policies helping to ”lead us into this mess”, and his “debt, waste and taxes” for “holding us back and threatening the recovery with higher interest rates”.

“That’s why we need change in the economy”, he said. “We need to bring back aspiration and opportunity for all. We need action now to cut the deficit, help to keep mortgage rates low and get the economy moving. And we need to get Britain working by boosting enterprise.”

And, he added, “at the coming election, that is the change the Conservatives will be offering”.

Read George Osborne’s speech in full

In a letter to my branch Chairman, I wrote, ‘I have had eight years pretty much at the top of Bromley politics, it has been an enormous privilege and honour, and I will take away many fond memories of my time as a public servant on Bromley Council.’

As far Erith & Thamesmead is concerned, this is an area that has been taken for granted by Labour. It deserves better, I am hopeful that I will be elected in Erith & Thamesmead so that I can bring change and leadership to an area that badly needs it.

Obviously it will be a massive wrench to say goodbye to Bromley, but I am confident that the team I leave behind will continue to serve the people of Bromley with distinction. I will stand down from all my responsibilities in May 2010.

My good friend Stephen Carr, the Leader of Bromley Council said that he was “gutted” to be losing me, but he recognised that Bromley’s loss was Erith & Thamesmead’s gain.

He said, “Colin has served both Bickley and Bromley with dedication, passion and integrity for nearly eight years. He will be sorely missed. However, he will make a terrific MP and so he goes with the support and affection from his colleagues on Bromley Council.”

As someone who has devoted significant energy in seeing better healthcare, sanitation, education and social justice in the developing world, I was absolutely delighted when David Cameron and George Osborne announced that despite the reccession, UK spending on supporting places like Africa would not be cut under a Conservative Government.

This video, demonstrates how we Conservative’s have the right ideas about how we can not only spend more, but also how we can spend more wisely in helping make our world a more just and better place.

A vote for the Conservative’s means a vote for a fairer settlement for the poorest people on earth.

A report claims that those who earn little spend most of their money on food, energy bills and public transport – where prices are increasing rapidly.

The study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a leading social policy research charity, concludes that a single adult needs to earn £13,900 a year to afford a basic standard of living.

This is an increase of 5.3 per cent (about £500) on the figure for 2008, the report claims, while the official rate of inflation that excludes mortgage payments, the Consumer Prices Index, is running at 2.2 per cent.

I am sure that Gordon Brown didn’t come into politics to harm people, but it’s his policies that have crippled the country and are disproportionately affecting the most needy. If he had a shred of self respect left, he should apologise and clear his desk.