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Emotional politics
2007-12-22 19:22:00
Free exchange examines the problems inherently associated with populism, often one of the great organising forces behind illiberal 'democrats':The common thread between all forms of populism is a keenly felt coalitional antagonism. A great deal matters in how coalitional lines are drawn. I am often accused of "elitism" for supporting free immigration, which is completely baffling on its face, since the reason for my support is the welfare of very poor foreigners. But they are foreigners, after all, which excludes them from membership as part of "the people". All there is, according to the populist, is the fight between "the people" and "the elite". Poor immigrants are nobodies in this taxonomy. If you wish to help them, against the wishes of "the people"--i.e., those Americans who share "our" prejudices--you must really be cleverly helping the elite pull one over on the volk.Unless a ruling elite really is predatory or opressive, populism strikes me as morally backward, stoking ou...
More About: Politics , Emotional

Could do better
2007-12-05 19:01:00
The government is reacting to the immigration 'crisis' in a truly populist fashion, by simply banning unskilled migrants from outside the EU:Unskilled workers from non-EU countries will be banned from taking jobs in the UK for the "foreseeable future", the government has said...[Jacqui Smith] said that immigration policy should not just be about economics but should also take into account the wider impact on society...In moves aimed at strengthening "British values", Ms Smith wants a clampdown on forced marriages, English tests for spouses applying to enter the UK and tighter restrictions on convicted criminals gaining citizenship...But Mr Byrne said plans to include unskilled workers in the system had been shelved "for the foreseeable future".Mr Byrne denied the move would lead to labour shortages in the construction and other industries, saying: "We think Britain's needs for low-skilled workers can be fulfilled from within the EU."But he said voters' concerns about immigration...

Dark days for Mr. Brown
2007-11-30 18:32:00
After the scandals of recent weeks, it would be suprising if the latest YouGov poll in The Daily Telegraph did not put the Conservatives ahead of Labour. However, the results indicate that dissatisfaction runs deeper than might be assumed:The lead - the Tories biggest since Baroness Thatcher's heyday in 1988 - demonstrates the extent of the crisis now gripping Gordon Brown 's government in the wake of the run on the Northern Rock bank, the loss of 25 million child benefit records and the party funding scandal...The poll also reveals growing unease among the electorate over the prospects of an economic downturn - and a distinct lack of confidence in Mr Brown's ability to deal with the consequences.The results indicate the depth of this dissatisfaction. The Conservatives lead on both voting intentions and the forced choice question, by 11 and 7 percentage points respectively. The majority of voters are dissatisfied with Gordon Brown and disapprove of the Government's record. Labour...
More About: Dark , Days , Dark Days

Trust you to lose them
2007-11-25 17:59:00
Trust in the Government, the bedrock of electoral success, has been dangerously undermined by the loss of 25m child benefit records in the post. The Sunday Times assesses the damage, and finds that data protection protocols were not followed or even implemented:As more details have emerged, the scenario painted by Darling, and Gordon Brown, looks increasingly threadbare. Investigations by The Sunday Times have established that:- Senior HMRC officials were involved in releasing the data.- The access codes for downloading the entire database were restricted to a handful of top managers.- HMRC regularly dispatched sensitive data in unencrypted form, including personal details of hundreds of thousands of pension holders.- Government guidelines are ambiguous on whether data has to be encrypted.- The government’s own information watchdog raised the issue of data security with HMRC earlier this month. The dangers of identity theft hardly need stating, as those 25m records can be used to ...
More About: Trust

Not so different
2007-11-16 21:37:00
A new Ipsos MORI poll aims to shed light on the 'real' views of Muslims living in London. They find, unsuprisingly, that Muslims are just like Londoners:New data from Ipsos MORI shows the views of London's Muslims are similar to the views of Londoners on a variety of issues. Muslims and other Londoners share similar concerns and values on issues ranging from democracy to concern about crime, and freedom of speech to pride in the local neighbourhood. For example, around three-quarters of Muslims (74%), and a similar proportion of Londoners (70%), feel proud of their local neighbourhood, and around three quarters of both groups say they identify with London (79% of Muslims and 74% of Londoners).A majority of Londoners embrace diversity in the capital — 69% of Londoners say that multiculturalism makes the capital a better place to live, and 75% consider it important to hold regular events to celebrate the capital's diversity. As would perhaps be expected, London's Muslims embrac...

Beauty in need of protection?
2007-11-15 15:04:00
Football is always a charged issue in England, and the current debate over foreign players reflects certain views on protectionism and immigration. Stumbling and Mumbling notes that English players and managers are simply acting in their self-interest asking for quotas, and that the success of Arsenal is driving these calls:But there's a question here that's not being asked: why is there so much fuss about the number of foreign players now? Why wasn't there a fuss two or three years ago, when their numbers were almost as great?There are two reasons:1. 2-3 years ago, people thought England were a good team, and their failure to get beyond the quarter-final of the 2002 World Cup or Euro 2004 was due to bad luck or bad management. Today, this illusion is shattered. Everyone knows the England team are bad, and they're looking for someone to blame. And it's an old and universal fact that foreigners can be blamed for everything.2. Arsenal are a better team now. And their rivals, havi...
More About: Beauty

Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short
2007-11-14 22:19:00
Gordon Brown allegedly forced his security minister into a U-turn over the extension of detention without trial (currently, the upper limit is 28 days), claims The Times: Gordon Brown forced his own security minister to make an embarrassing political U-turn today before announcing major plans to protect Britain’s airports, stations, shopping centres and sporting venues against attack by terrorists...The fact that the former head of the Royal Navy appeared to have changed his views dramatically within the space of an hour would give rise to suspicions he had been "leant on" by No 10, said the Tory leader.Speaking on the Today programme, Lord West declared: "I want to have absolute evidence that we actually need longer than 28 days. I want to be totally convinced because I am not going to go and push for something that actually affects the liberty of the individual unless there is a real necessity for it. I still need to be fully convinced that we absolutely need more than 28 days a...
More About: Poor , Short , Nasty

Another pint?
2007-11-13 23:34:00
Doctors are treating ever increasing numbers of alcohol related diseases, claims the BBC:Whereas before most hospital consultants would have seen patients in their fifties or sixties in the past, they now describe seeing patients in their early twenties with alcohol-related hepatitis, and women whose livers are permanently damaged with the scarring known as cirrhosis by the time they are 30...He said: "If you look at the burden of damage to society, it's hugely greater for alcohol than for drugs, but the majority of money has always gone on drugs, partly because of the strong link to crime."What is to be done about the rise of damaging alcohol related behaviour? According to some, it should be that the Government should disincentivise drinking:The warning comes as a new alliance calls for a rise in alcohol taxes, and a bar on TV advertising before 9pm.Twenty-four organisations, representing doctors and charities, have joined together to form the Alcohol Health Alliance.It wants the...

Pay for it yourself
2007-11-06 16:48:00
Skipper has highlighted out the absurd system of funding that allows the SNP to fund free care for the elderly and free tuition fees for Scottish students:What can Gordon do to halt this apparently inevitable drift towards the break-up of the Union? Seems to me it's easy: reform the Barnett Formula which last year allocated per capita spending as follows:Ulster, £8,898;Scotland, £8,096;Wales, £7, 509; and poor oldEngland, £6,623.Even Joel Barnett himself admits the formula, based on the relatively higher English GDP in the seventies, is now absurd. Re-ordering it to make it less unfair will win votes in England and deliver a black eye to Salmond. Why has Gordon delayed so long?I have written about the unfair Barnett formula before, and it is a timely issue given the rising status of the West Lothian Question. The Conservatives are taking up this issue in order to attack Brown, hastily forgetting their Unionist past and the role of Ulster Unionists in past Governments.Skipper is...

They may be idiots, but they sure are are useful
2007-11-04 18:42:00
Following the end of the Cold War, many commentators have seen fit to change to usage of Lenin's famous pejorative in order to attack those who sympathise with the new threat to liberal democracy: theocratic extremism. However, The Times suggests there are some of these "useful idiots" who remain true to appeasing left wing totalitarianism:They have dubbed it the return of the useful idiots. More than half a century after western supporters of Soviet-style communism were derided for their misplaced sympathies, a new generation of celebrity activists is playing into the hands of Hugo Chavez, the leftist president of Venezuela.Chavez’s antiwestern rantings have not deterred a stream of celebrities from paying homage to the leader of the so-called Bolivarian revolution. The latest recruit is Naomi Campbell, the supermodel turned Latin American economic specialist who last week declared her “amazement” at the “love and encouragement” that Chavez poured into welfare programmes...
More About: Idiots

Putting out a fire with more fire
2007-11-03 15:02:00
The topic of discrimination in Britain remains contentious, and there are signs that certain groups are underrepresented in the workplace and in universities. Under a system of real equality of opportunity one would expect individuals from any background to have the same chance of success. Indications that this is not the case (for example, university admissions apparently favouring the privately educated) have led to a stream of well-intentioned but flawed initiatives to alter the demographics of British education and employment.Possibly the most famous example of such an initative was the Labour response to the underrepresentation of women in Parliament. In 1997, Labour briefly introduced all-women shortlists only to be challenged under the Sex Discrimination Act. In 2001, with only 118 of 659 MPs females, they then changed the law to allow all-women shortlists until 2015. In 2005, the Hansard Society was still pushing for more all-women shortlists to increase the number of female...
More About: Fire , Putting

Modernity and tradition
2007-10-27 19:44:00
The Fabian Society has asked MPs what they think Ed Miliband should include in the next election manifesto. The range of suggestions reflect what a broad church the Labour Party is, and as such some suggestions are better than others.It would be good to see advocacy of an expert House of Lords, an audit of the Scottish Executive (and the whole Barnett system), better sex education, a review of NHS treatment priorities, a new engagement with the EU, resolution of the Westphalian question and a renewed commitment to education. These are all key areas where a moderate social democratic response is needed.Some ideas are not so good, and should be left out of any future Labour programme. A reduction of the rich-poor divide would not help the poor and would disincentivise the rich. Universal childcare and school meals would prove expensive, especially as economic slowdown will reduce Treasury income (as the Scottish Parliament will discover). A War Powers Act would limit Britain's abilit...
More About: Tradition , Modernity

Proper planning
2007-10-27 16:48:00
The Government is maintaining its restrictions on low-skilled migrants entering Britain from Romania and Bulgaria. The Times reports: The Home Office has conducted a review of the policy imposed when the two states joined the EU in January and has come down firmly in favour of maintaining restrictions...Under the restrictions, low-skilled workers from both states are allowed to work in Britain in special schemes for the seasonal agricultural and the food-processing industries.Other workers allowed to enter are those who come under a migrant programme for the highly skilled, those whose skills cannot be found in the existing labour market and are given a work permit, and the self-employed. This is despite warnings from employers that Britain could be facing skills shortages if immigration tails off, especially in low-skilled occupations:The decision to limit the numbers of Bulgarian and Romanian workers comes despite warnings from some employers that the number of migrant workers hea...
More About: Planning

Read before you vote
2007-10-25 14:50:00
A report has blamed months "of partisan political discussion" for the elections fiasco in Scotland last May, when over 150,000 ballot papers were rejected (146,000 for the Scottish Parliament elections and 38,532 papers for the local council elections). The Times reports:The report says: “What is characteristic was a notable level of party self-interest evident in ministerial decision-making (especially in regard to the timing and method of counts and the design of ballot papers).“In considering the circumstances surrounding the planning, organising and implementation of the elections, the voter was treated as an afterthought by virtually all the other stakeholders.“Vote rs were overlooked as the most important stakeholders to be considered at every stage of the election.”...“Months of partisan political discussion were wasted that could have been used to establish a ballot paper that voters would find easy to understand,” says the inquiry report...The report recommends s...
More About: Read

Abuse of power
2007-10-24 21:25:00
The old spectre of abortion has been raised again, after calls for another reduction in the cut-off point for abortions. This is an issue where the government has been sensible, just like its predecessors, and respected the rights of an individual to make their own moral judgments. Party politics have largely been left at the door, hence the original Act was put to a free vote. This trend has continued with recent arguments. The Times reports:There is not enough scientific evidence to justify lowering the legal abortion limit below 24 weeks, Dawn Primarolo, the Health Minister, said today. Nothing had persuaded the Department of Health that survival rates have improved for extremely premature babies born before that time...Ms Primarolo was giving evidence this morning to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, which is looking at medical advances since the Abortion Act was passed in 1967 - rather than the ethical or moral issues associated with abortion time limits. I...
More About: Abuse , Power

Don't mention the EU
2007-10-20 01:56:00
Gordon Brown is seeking to placate Europsceptics by promising the latest EU Reform Treaty will be the last bout of institutional reform for a decade. Predictably, the Conservatives have repeated their calls for a referendum on the treaty.The Times reports:Speaking at the end of the summit, Mr Brown said that he had won agreement for an EU declaration in December ruling out further institutional changes “for many years”. Asked how long the moratorium would last, the Prime Minister pointed out that some of the provisions in the existing treaty did not come into effect until 2017.“I will not support further institutional change over the next period,” Mr Brown said, effectively threatening to veto any more treaties...As Mr Brown flew home to Britain, David Cameron repeated his demand for a referendum. He said that lengthy parliamentary scrutiny was no substitute for seeking the approval of the country. “I don’t think members of Parliament have the right to transfer that powe...

Still needing a niche
2007-10-17 23:44:00
In a moderately suprising move Sir Menzies Campbell has become the latest political leader to stand down, the fourth leader of the main parties to abdicate in this Parliament. The Times claims jibes about his age lead to his resignation, alongside the assurance that there will not be an early election and any subsequent leader will have time to establish himself. Despite Ming's claims, I do suspect he would have been pushed had he stayed on much longer, as poor polling was indicating that he was driving the Liberal Democrats into irrelevance.Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne are the current candidates for the leadership, with Clegg being the early favourite. John Hemming is also being mentioned as a "dark horse" candidate (Oliver Kamm has a few kind words on him). Hopefully, more names will step forward to provoke real debate over the future of Britain's third party.Peter Riddell is rather sceptical of the ideological differences between the main contenders, but nevertheless makes a good...
More About: Niche

The burden of happiness
2007-10-16 00:11:00
Johan Norberg asks a very sensible question in response to Conservative claims about happiness and wealth:A new report from Britain´s Tories claims that:"Beyond a certain point – a point which the UK reached some time ago – ever-increasing material gain can become not a gift, but a burden. As people, it makes us less happy"Where is that point? What level of wealth would the conservatives like to go back to? While they think about it, here is a graph of happiness and wealth around the world (from Angus Deaton (pdf), page 45).There are many arguments to be made for taxing the wealthy, but the claim that it makes them unhappy is ridiculous. Even if money did make an individual unhappy (which is appears not to), it is not the job of the State to decide it is "a burden." Individuals may choose to bear that burden. Presumably, since many people appear to enjoy being rich, money either makes one happier (as Norberg suggests) or many people enjoy the "burden." Either way, it is no busi...
More About: Happiness

A manager not a leader
2007-10-15 00:10:00
The Sunday Times today reported that Blairites are beginning to turn on Brown as the polls turn sour and he loses his bounce:GORDON BROWN was facing a backlash from Blairites this weekend for failing to set out an inspiring “vision” for new Labour and an “empty” conference speech.With the Tories rampant after the prime minister’s decision not to call an autumn election, friends of Tony Blair disclosed he was “unhappy” with the direction in which Brown was taking the party.Blair, who has been in the Middle East in his new role as a peace envoy, was said to feel Brown’s speech to the Labour conference was “empty” and to be “concerned about what new Labour stands for”.“Tony feels Gordon should be defending new Labour,” said one confidante of the former prime minister. “But the trouble is that when he talks of change, it sounds like he means a break with the past and new Labour.“Brown is defining himself not against Cameron but against Blair. One of the u...
More About: Manager , Leader

That old failed logic
2007-07-30 15:55:00
The think-tank Reform has published a report claiming "the initial decisions of Gordon Brown’s Government have put public service reform into retreat and will impose upwards pressure on taxation." This will create inefficient and expensive public services and increase the burden on indebted 18-34 year olds. It suggests the October Spending Review focuses on increasing competition and choice and reducing actual costs, rather than simply reducing administrative costs. The key findings of the report are:- The new administration has introduced a deeply divided policy programme. It is based on a positive approach to competition and financial management in the economy but a significant retreat from reform across the most important areas of the public sector: - the NHS – a twelve-month review of health policy when urgent decisions on cost control and reform are already one to two years overdue; and delays and cancellations of contracts to allow private sector comp...
More About: Logic , Logi

London's clowning around
2007-07-30 14:48:00
Political Betting asks whether the Liberal Democrats would be best served with Lembit Opik as their candidate in the London mayoral elections:One possibility that is being talked about within the party is Lembit Opik who is eloquent, great with the media and has what appears to be a main requirement for the role - a colourful reputation! Lembit is also hugely ambitious and with no element of self doubt.The mayoral elections are highly personal affairs, based around candidates rather than parties. However, the current raft of candidates do not give the impression that these elections are taken particularly seriously.Labour have 'Red' Ken, a man who courts Venezuelan oil and extremist clerics while leading London. The Conservatives potentially have Boris Johnson, who hides some rather right-wing views behind his baffling clown act. The Liberal Democrats are now considering Lembit Opik, famous for his relationship with Gabriela Irimia of The Cheeky Girls more than his ideological pos...
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Under Cameron, the trains would run on time
2007-07-29 19:16:00
The Sunday Time s has an interesting interview with David Cameron today. Most of Cameron's responses are the typical rubbish - Brown stole 'our' policies, we are the party of individualism but we want to incentivise families, law and order is still out thing, NHS investment has gone nowhere (flip the coin here), we still don't trust Europe, etc. There were a few interesting points amidst the rhetoric, however.Firstly, Cameron comes out with an incredible statement, and one which surely shows he is not reading opinion polls or listening to the nation: “As far as I am concerned the next general election should come as soon as possible,” Cameron says.This is all spin and political points scoring. Cameron is not really calling for an election, as he will know opinion polls do indicate the mood of the nation. An early election would be disastrous for the Conservatives if opinion polls are anything to go by, and Cameron would be ousted before the Labour majority was calculated. Cle...
More About: Trains , Would , Amero

Parliament does not know what is best for you or I
2007-07-28 19:06:00
Recently British politics has begun to include hints of a growing authoritarianism. British voters are ready to endorse wide ranging police powers, incentives for marriage, and compulsory organ donation. Gordon Brown is distancing himself from super casinos and 24-hour drinking, introducing a border police, and considering reclassifying cannabis as a Class B drug. ID cards continue to provoke only meager opposition, and it is possible that 28-day detention without trail could be expanded.The thinking behind some of these policies is a reaction to the dangers of a modern world (primarily terrorism) and their logic is sensible, if misguided. The state is in a better position to protect British borders and detain terror suspects than the individual. Its monopoly on force gives it such security capabilities.However, this falls down in other areas. In certain areas of policy, the state is not in a better position to make judgments. The state is not in a better position to decide whether ...
More About: Liam , Arli , Parliament , Amen

Liberty abandoned
2007-07-27 13:44:00
YouGov have two interesting polls today, The Daily Telegraph's "Voting Intention and Policy Issues" (pdf) and Channel 4's "Political Spectrum and Brown versus Cameron" (pdf).The Daily Telegraph poll has some interesting results that will be of great encouragement to Labour. Labour lead voting intention by nine percentage points (41 percent vs. 32 percent), despite high levels of disappointment with the Government. Moreover, Labour have a twelve percentage point lead on the questions of "Which party do you think is more likely to run Britain’s economy well" (37 percent vs. 25 percent) and "which would you prefer to see after the next election" (46 percent vs. 34 percent). Gordon Brown has a lead of eighteen percentage points (37 percent vs. 19 percent) over David Cameron on the question of "Who would make the best Prime Minister".Even more interesting is the prediction question - "Irrespective of how you yourself will vote, who do you think will win the next general election?" F...
More About: Liberty , Done , Abandon , Abandoned

More police does not resolve anything
2007-07-26 15:08:00
Brown is showing his authoritarian tendencies again with his new border police force. The Times reports:Every person who leaves or enters Britain will be electronically screened under new measures designed to expose terrorists hiding among the travelling public, Gordon Brown announced yesterday.Profiles detailing passengers’ criminal records, employment histories and even spending patterns – derived from credit cards used to buy airline tickets – will be available to security agencies.The enhanced entry and exit checks will apply equally to British citizens and foreign travellers.Some of his other plans are slightly more sensible: –– A review by Lord West of Spit-head, the Home Office minister, of the way that shopping centres and sports venues are protected;–– Ring-fenced funding for armed police guarding gas supply sites;–– The linking of the UK watchlist of suspects to Interpol’s database of lost and stolen documents at a cost of £5 million;–– £70 millio...
More About: Police , Anything , Poli

Floods prove nothing, so try CO2 and thermometers
2007-07-25 18:03:00
The recent weather in Britain has provoked two reactions - one camp placing the blame on global warming, and the other claiming there is a strong historical precedent that rules out climate change. Paul Simons, writing in The Times, is of the latter opinion: But a simple fact has been overlooked: Britain is a wet country. Yes, it comes as a shock. Over the past few years we’ve become so used to years of scorching, Mediterranean-like summers, when hosepipe bans were the norm, vines were bursting with vintage grapes and water diviners were doing big business. But the truth is that our summers are supposed to be wet: it’s our climate.Simons is right on one level - weather patterns do not make climate change. Weather is erratic and chaotic. Hence, scientists talk of climate change. Climate is fairly stable over time, and the changes in the general trend are what meteorologists are concerned about. There is wealth of evidence that climate is changing, and that something different re...
More About: Floods , Rove , Meters , Meter , Flood

Crisis? What crisis?
2007-07-24 21:11:00
David Cameron is facing further attacks, from both his own party and Rwandan television, reports The Times:Now even the Rwandans are wondering what David Cameron is doing visiting the African state at a time when large tracts of his Witney constituency are under water.The Tory leader reassured viewers of Rwandan Television earlier today that he would be returning to his flood-hit constituents as soon as possible after being asked why he had not cancelled the trip.Mr Cameron might have expected gentler treatment from local journalists after he emerged from a meeting with the Rwandan president Paul Kagame this lunchtime. He reckoned without the steel of the female correspondent from the national television network, however. “What do you have to say about continuing with your visit to Rwanda when part of your constituency is completely devastated by floods?” she demanded. Even Rwandans seem perplexed as to why Cameron is in Rwanda, especially since he can do little more than shout ...
More About: Crisis , Isis , Cris

Change not colours but spots
2007-07-23 19:31:00
Ipsos MORI has published its July Political Monitor, with encouraging headline results for Labour and Gordon Brown:Ipsos MORI's July Political Monitor puts Labour's share of the vote six points higher than the Conservatives' (41% vs. 35%). As in June, the Liberal Democrats share of the vote is 15%. Gordon Brown's first satisfaction rating score as prime minister is 35% satisfied and 20% dissatisfied, producing a 'net satisfied' score of +16.The lead for Labour amongst all those naming a party is even higher (45 per cent vs. 31 per cent), Brown is the only leader with a positive satisfaction score from all respondents, and he has the highest rating from party members (+48).What is curious is that behind this Brown bounce there lies a deep level of pessimism and even cynicism towards government (as opposed to Gordon Brown). The level of net satisfaction in government is -17, lower than Cameron or Campbell, and over half the respondents were "dissatisfied with the way the Governm...
More About: Colours , Change , Spots , Chang , Chan

Where do we go Gordon?
2007-07-22 18:37:00
The Times claims Gordon Brown is considering a spring 2008 election following his by-election successes and lead in the opinion polls:Following victory in Thursday’s two by-elections, the first electoral test for the new prime minister, it can be revealed that he is unlikely to go to the country this autumn, as has been speculated, because he wants to give enough time to show he can deliver on big issues such as housing and public services.Plans for an election next spring or early summer are being stepped up a gear. That would allow time for voters to see the benefits of October’s spending review – and for the Labour party to try to raise the £20m needed to fight the campaign.Given Cameron's recent problems, it is unsurprising Gordon Brown is considering sending out the ballot boxes. The seven percentage point lead over the Conservatives is a phenomenonal Brown bounce, and Conservative MPs are beginning to question Cameron's style: Lord Tebbit, former party chairman, was u...
More About: Where , Ordo

True blue?
2007-07-21 17:38:00
Backbench MPs are questioning Cameron's leadership following the twin by-election failures of Thursday, reports The Times: David Cameron’s leadership faced the first murmurings of revolt yesterday as MPs, officials and activists reacted with dismay to the Tory party’s failure in by-elections in Ealing Southall and Sedgefield...A leading moderniser said that Tory MPs were questioning Mr Cameron’s direction: “There is a lot of talk about style over substance. There is a lot of talk about it being a PR machine. The accusations that the Labour Party have been making are being regurgitated by Tory MPs. One senior back-bencher has been privately questioning whether the emperor is wearing any clothes.”It also emerged that Mr Cameron had clashed with traditionalist MPs over his request that statements from party groups, such as the traditionalist Cornerstone, should be cleared through party headquarters. Party sources said there was a real desire to stop the party turning in on i...
More About: Blue , True , True Blue