The Prime Minister looked as if she was merely going through the motions.
“That is a true reach-out to the common ground of our country – open-minded, generous, believing in the rule of law.”
The new Solicitor General and FCO/DfID minister are both sensible choices, which might say more about the Prime Minister’s position than her judgement.
Plus: The Chief Whip’s swift transformation from Francis Urquhart to Mr Bean. And: why I can’t bring myself to vote Tory in the local elections.
Though there may have been extenuating circumstances – namely, contradictory instructions from Number Ten and the Whips respectively.
Details of the proposals negotiated to try to bring the Conservative Party together.
He learned at Westminster Council and City Hall the politics of persuading people to agree.
Plus: Cox, another possible. Plus 15 names in total. Women for May. And: I will make sure the Treasury backtracks on the loan charge scandal.
But, he adds, “I’m not going to gainsay what the Lords will produce”, and “the Lords are just as important an element in this as the Commons”.
There’s little that Conservative MPs can do to stop the Speaker – they don’t have the votes to depose him.