By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Yesterday, the Prime Minister looked set to back George Eustice's amendment. Yesterday morning, it looked as though David Cameron was moving to quell the gathering backbench revolt over Monday's EU referendum vote. Today, it seems that he has decided that the Government has no alternative but to let it […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Roughly six months ago, I gave ten reasons why many Conservative MPs don't entirely trust the party leadership. To the factors I listed can be added two more: the disgruntlement of male MPs at their lack of promotion prospects – signalled by the elevation in the Liam Fox-necessitated reshuffle […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. In my Sunday Telegraph column I return to the issue of the Right's representation inside the Cabinet: "Fox was one of only three traditional Right-wingers in the Cabinet, the others being Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson. Cameron could have maintained the existing balance by replacing Fox with someone […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Most papers this morning report the consensus account of Liam Fox's depature: he leapt. In other words, he concluded that his position was impossible yesterday and phoned Cameron yesterday lunchtime to resign. The Financial Times hints at a different narrative: the former Defence Secretary was pushed. According to this […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. I gave my initial reaction to Liam Fox's resignation yesterday evening. Drawing on comment in today's newspapers here are a few other thoughts. The Thatcherite Right are outside the tent and Osborne's power grows "These Thatcherite Tories already felt under-represented in a Government led by a Macmillanite Old Etonian; […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. David Cameron has three main reasons not to sack Liam Fox. The first is that he dislikes reshuffling his own team, let alone one in which the Liberal Democrats are involved. The second is he believes governments look and are weak if they allow the media to dictate terms […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. What's in a paper's online comment section in the morning sometimes lags behind its newsprint equivalent. I add this cautionary note because I can only find two editorials in the centre-right press online this morning about the Liam Fox affair – and neither call for him to go. But […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. It is a statement of the obvious to say that the Coalition is not a steady ship. Liam Fox has as good a claim as anyone to be the leader of the Conservative right in Parliament – never shy of asserting his identity as a "free marketeer, Unionist, Euro-sceptic […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. In a video made yesterday (and linked to here today), the Secretary of State for Defence, Liam Fox, responded to reports questioning the nature of his working relationship with former flatmate Adam Werritty. Fox said: "When accusations get made, the appropriate thing is to investigate them properly, not ask […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. Always angry but with a great instinct for middle Britain, Paul Dacre edits what is probably the most powerful newspaper in Britain. After a slow start the Daily Mail has developed a hugely successful web presence. Powered by an infamous right hand column of celebrity images (with the attention […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. This week's Spectator trails a Peter Oborne pamphlet for the Centre for Policy Studies. Oborne names the guilty men (and women) who attempted to lead Britain into the €urozone. He names prominent businessmen, politicians and other establishment figures. He pays particular attention to the BBC's dreadfully biased coverage at […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter The Times claims this morning that David Cameron is gearing up for a fight with Nick Clegg over the European Court of Human Rights – "Britain would be able to ignore human rights rulings from Europe if MPs voted to override them, under proposals submitted to Downing Street. The […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. Hardly a day passes without someone in the centre right press suggesting that we should cut the aid budget in order to reduce the deficit, cut taxes, increase police funding, protect the military from cuts, reduce train fares or save the BBC World Service. Here's a taste of what […]
That’s Jenni Russell’s message in her column for The Guardian. She accepts that the Conservatives are almost certain to be Britain’s next government and she encourages the Left to engage with David Cameron and avoid him (a) failing or/and (b) coming under the influence of the dreadful Tory right: "The dominance of the progressive wing […]
Have you watched Telegraph TV’s new politics programme, Right On? It’s well worth twelve minutes of your time. It’s perfect for the internet: lots of short, fast-moving segments, well presented and also, of course, right-of-centre. The strongest segment of what is intended to be a weekly show is the Heffer Confronted feature. Iain Dale, who […]