By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter "At a certain point in a political leader’s career, a national idea of what they are and what they’re there for can snap into place. Thereafter — however absurd a caricature of the leader’s personality, whatever violence the simplification does to the ambiguity of any human story — the legend […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Click on Carla Millar's drawing to enlarge Over the last 24 hours we have learnt that the Liberal Democrats are very angry. Friday's measured reactions to the EU 'veto' from Nick Clegg and Ming Campbell gave way to this morning's press briefings. On the Andrew Marr programme the Deputy Prime […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Last night we learnt that the British people overwhelmingly back the Prime Minister on Europe. 62% said Mr Cameron was right to exercise his veto and only 19% said he was wrong. They are warming to the message that William Hague sets out in The Sunday Telegraph: "Some people doubted […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Sunday at 10.45pm: A Populus poll for The Times (£) confirms public backing for David Cameron. It finds 57% support the PM's use of Britain's veto with only 14% against. Even 49% of Lib Dem voters support the PM. *** There'll be happy faces inside Number 10 tonight. A Survation […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter On Thursday we conducted a special pre-summit poll. The Daily Mail ran with it yesterday morning. I had intended to cover the results then too but when I got out of bed it seemed more important to cover the sensational overnight news. Anyhow here are the main results of that […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter A small boy was isolated in a crowd of 26 people yesterday evening when he claimed that the Emperor is wearing no clothes. The child is reported to have cried out: "But he isn't wearing anything at all!" before rapidly being silenced by 23 members of the crowd. His […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter If you read ConHome's front page today you'll get links to probably the best press that Cameron has enjoyed since becoming Prime Minister. Each columnist is competing to outdo the others. "Genius," declares Peter Oborne. Cameron has been braver, in a sense, than any previous Prime Minister, says Charles Moore. […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter James Chapman, the Political Editor of the Daily Mail, has just tweeted the above. I'm hearing the same but only unofficially. It's essential that Cameron does play hardball. France cannot be intransigent in negotiations and then expect to still use EU infrastructure… and by infrastructure I mean everything from EU […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Things may have worked out almost perfectly for Cameron. By keeping his demands so modest (and not asking for any repatriation) he forged a negotiating position that ensured Liberal Democrat support. By Europe (and I mean France in particular) then acting so intransigently all Tories will now rally to the […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter This morning seems like a very big moment. David Cameron went to Europe with only modest demands. The Prime Minister was ready to agree to a fiscal union of the seventeen – within existing EU structures – if Britain's financial sector received some safeguards in return. He couldn't even get […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter The following note from CCHQ has been forwarded to Tory MPs by the Chief Whip in the Commons: “Although most Conservative backbenchers alert the CCHQ press office about broadcasting bids, a small minority continue to by-pass us and pop up on TV and radio without warning. It’s in all […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter A group of senior Ministers including Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson sought to meet the Prime Minister during the run-up to today's Brussels summit to urge him to harden his stance on the repatriation of powers. The group features Chris Grayling, the Employment Minister in Duncan Smith's Work […]