Oh dear. Oh dear.
There could be a snap, crackle, pop election in thirty days time, but dear old David Cameron is under fire from Tory heavyweight Michael Ancram.
David Cameron 'is trashing Thatcher legacy' is the headline in the Telegraph.
It seems that Cameron has missed a trick in not putting Ancram in charge of one of his commissions to keep him busy. Instead, Ancram has put together a document of 30 pages describing how he thinks the Tory party has lost its "soul", publishing it on the very day that Cameron wants the spotlight to be on the latest report from his commissions.
Having said that, the things which Ancram wants Cameron to focus on - tax cuts, law and order, Europe - have indeed been key elements in the "Cameron rightward lurch" programme during the last couple of weeks.
It really is extraordinary that a heavyweight loyal Tory feels so strongly as to fire a shot at Cameron below the water line, so near to a potential election date.
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I am in two minds about the Tories ripping themselves apart.
ReplyDeleteUnlike many, I do not see them as the devil incarnate. I think they do sometimes (well, very very occasionally) say some sensible things, although invariably they get the wrong end of the stick.
But if the Tories collapse we're left with yet more Labour government. More managerialism, more centralisation, more wasting money on ID Cards.
Then again, a Tory government would supply many of those things and wouldn't be much of an improvement (if any at all).
Perhaps we're stuck between a rock and a hard place...
I think ideally I'd like a Tory minority government. Then we can get rid of ID cards without triggering another election, but we can keep them under a bit of control.
I do oppose coalition with either party though, although it looks like Ming might favour a Brown led Labour-LibDem coalition...
Michael Ancram a heavyweight? Well, perhaps physically.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tristram - I think a Tory collapse would actually benefit the LibDems the most.
ReplyDeleteAnon - Michael Ancram is a former government minister, the Marquess of Lothian, a privy councillor and was chair of the Conservative party for three years (quite a lengthy period for them). So he has a great deal more experience than most members of the current Conservative shadow cabinet.