He could have then called, and won, a second General Election. So why did he strike a deal with the Lib Dems?
Plus: Princess Ann (Widdecombe); Jacqui Smith’s rampant rabbit; the BBC’s dreadful World Cup commentary; and, turning 52.
It is a very large olive branch indeed for the Right of the Party – which he needs to keep onside for his EU renegotiation plans.
Sir Peter Tapsell recalled voting in favour of the 1963 Peerage Bill
The Tory tradition is wide, not exclusive, and should encompass those who have felt forced to join UKIP
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter My series profiling the groups of Tory MPs continues with a look at a pioneering Eurosceptic group which helped backbenchers cause significant headaches for Prime Minister John Major during the early 1990s. The Bruges Group is a well-established forum for advocating looser ties with Brussels, and it has gone from a […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Earlier today MPs Bernard Jenkin and Bill Cash launched a paper entitled "The EU single market – is it worth it?". You can read a PDF of it here. The paper busts a number of myths about our relationship with the EU, including "MYTH 2" – “Three million jobs […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The Daily Mail this morning reports on the 118 Conservative MPs who have written to constituents indicating their opposition to gay marriage proposals. The Mail says "Their opposition has been expressed in letters and emails sent to constituents who have contacted them with their own concerns", and points out that […]
Bill Cash is the Member of Parliament for Stone. Ahead of the EU summit tomorrow, I and other Select Committee Chairmen and prominent eurosceptics from the new parliamentary intake have re-introduced a Bill in the House of Commons to require approval by Referendum and an Act of Parliament for provisions leading to fiscal union or […]
Bill Cash is Member of Parliament for Stone. This week, the Prime Minister attended a strategic informal dinner which included President Hollande. There is a stream of assertions by the political elite that the crisis in Greece and throughout Europe is essentially a Eurozone matter. It is not. It is a European Union matter of […]
Bill Cash is the Member of Parliament for Stone. Today, 9th May, is the centenary of the creation of the Conservative and Unionist Party out of the Conservative and Liberal Unionist parties of 1912. The merger took place at the Queen’s Hall in London. Against the backdrop of that ‘merger’, and the need for the Conservative […]
it is becoming increasingly clear that UKIP do not care that they cannot deliver – it is called cutting off your nose to spite your face.