The shock of David Davis’ resignation and the joy of Ireland’s "no" has distracted us from paying sufficient attention to what is very significant news in its own right. The Conservative Party has, of course, a new Home affairs spokesman, Dominic Grieve.
Over at The Spectator’s Coffee House, James Forsyth hasn’t missed the significance of the appointment and has listed five reasons why he is worried. James fears that…
ConservativeHome knows Dominic Grieve to be intelligent and one of politics’ gentlemen. Few have done more to build better relations with minority communities but we worry with James Forsyth, in particular, about his views on the ECHR.
One of the first things that Mr Grieve needs to do is rebut Labour suggestions that the party is soft on terrorism. David Cameron made an excellent speech to the Community Security Trust in March. Dominic Grieve needs to revisit the themes of that speech and make it clear that, unlike Labour, a Conservative Government will not allow extremists to enter Britain and will ensure no public funds go to extremist organisations. Mr Grieve must also make it clear that he shares Dame Pauline Neville Jones’ view that the Conservative Party does not approve of many of the attitudes of the Muslim Council of Britain.