I suppose this would not be a good time to post the following extracted from the Freeserve news site.

Tories need to break with Thatcherism, says vice-chairman

A leading Tory says the party must break with Thatcherism.

Vice-chairman Gary Streeter says they need to act in the same way that Tony Blair convinced Labour to ditch Clause Four.

He says Baroness Thatcher was a fantastic Prime Minister but she has only a very small part to play in the future.

Mr Streeter told GMTV: "We are talking about 15 and 20 years ago and it's a very different world in which we live today.

"Society has changed enormously and I think if we are to attract support from a wider group of people, then we have to say, 'that was great then but that's yesterday, we leave that behind and we look forward'.

"I think you will find that Baroness Thatcher has a very small part to play in the future of our party, although she was a giant in the century that we've just enjoyed."

Mr Streeter says the party could benefit from a confrontation between Mr Duncan Smith and hardline Thatcherites.

"If we are to show people we are changing and we have changed, picking a fight with a reactionary group within the party, as Mr Blair did, is not necessarily a bad thing," he said.

Those reactionary forces include racist party members, according to Mr Streeter.

"I think we have to pick a battle with them and say that will not do for the future of this Party because we are now looking forward to a multi-racial, multi-cultural society," he said.

Let us respect thier greif in private.

Gareth