Dear Mr Gabb,

Your list appears to omit quite a few names.

I, for my part, make no secret of my support for William Hague's line on European issues.

Brendan Anderson
(Candidate St Helens North, 1992, Candidates List 1989, 1999)

Dear Mr Anderson,

Many thanks for your e-mail dated the 7th October 1999.  I regret that Demon Internet has been slow in forwarding messages to me, but this problem has now been solved.

You are classified on the Candidlist as a don't know.  Your e-mail does not allow me to change this, as I am not sure if you follow the Party line because your approve a more sceptical approach to Europe, or because it is the Party line.

I shall be happy to reconsider my classification in the light of further information.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Sean Gabb
Candidlist Webmaster

Dear Mr Gabb,

I support William Hague's line on European issues out of common sense conviction.

What I do object to is the crude, simplistic and obsolete labelling you seek to apply to people. With all due respect to you, I don't have to comply with your classifications.

I would describe myself as a Pragmatist, and have no objection to you describing me as such on your website.

If you feel unable to comply with my description, please make sure that this e-mail is linked to my name, so that the people I do have to answer tocan read my position for themselves!

BRENDAN ANDERSON

Dear Mr Gabb,

Old Whigs were never Tories!

What you fail to publish is that William Hague's/ The Conservative Party Line on European Issues was decided by democratic ballot of the whole Conservative Party Membership, and not by any self appointed sheriff.

As your stated intent is to publish all correspondence, PUBLISH THIS!

 Yours sincerely,

Brendan Anderson

Dear Sean,

I have no intention whatever of coming up with anything "nastier" about your opinions! You are entitled to hold them and I respect that.

What I would ask you to respect is the democratic ballot held by the Conservative Party. To describe that as "weak" would seem to imply that democracy itself can somehow be swept aside. It can't!

What is important is that the Conservative Party wins the next election through its common sense policies to look after the interests of the British people.

If we don't win, then Labour will, and the chances then of all that you fear coming true are drastically enhanced.

Think about that and be very careful that no act of yours helps bring about a Labour victory.

I trust that you will be publishing this letter as well as yesterday's.

Yours sincerely,

Brendan Anderson

Dear Mr Anderson,

As you can see, I have published both your e-mail messages to me of last week.  I was reluctant to publish your first message because I thought it about as worthless a communication as could have been imagined - a waste of electricity and of screen pixels.  I asked for something "nastier", because I was hoping that you would elaborate on my libertarian views and on whether they have any legitimate place in the Conservative Party.  However, your second letter is almost as vapid as your first.  I suppose there is some value in publishing them:  they may tell a selection committee more about your fitness to represent a constitutency in the House of Commons than a mere question mark ever can.

You say that "Old Whigs were never Tories".  That is correct.  But you may care one day to study enough history to know that much of the Whig Party joined with the Tories after the revolutionary panic of the 1790s, and most of the rest of us came across after 1886.  There were further migrations from the Liberal Party during the Great War and during the National Government of the 1930s.

You may also care to ask yourself what Tory in the past would have been proud to be known as a don't know on the issue of whether we should abolish our own currency and risk our national independence by continuing to flirt with the European Union.  The only Tories I can think of who might have been were those who disgraced their party name by supporting James II in the 1680s.  Most of them recanted at the last minute.  I rather hope you will recant in similar fashion.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Sean Gabb
Candidlist Webmaster