Cameron's failure to communicate?
Peter Hoskin 11:00am
Fascinating stuff. ConHome's Tim Montgomerie has got his hands on a letter sent on House of Commons writing paper to all Tory MPs, by - allegedly - a group of Conservative parliamentarians. Tim has uploaded a pdf of the entire thing but, as he says, this is the key section:
"We all know that the expenses crisis is a massive problem, but it has brought out clear evidence of what all of us had sensed and feared, namely that the party in parliament has ceased to be a team effort and is now just run and dictated to for the personal advantage of David Cameron and George Osborne. We are concerned that the parliamentary party is just being used and abused by the leader and his inner circle. They are treating the party as if it is their private property.Action is being taken to respond to the expenses scandal but its main purpose actually seems to be to build up a position for themselves of permanent power. Colleagues are threatened with expulsion, older members are being forced out, untested candidates are being invited to apply from nowhere, and all of it is designed to assert a Stalinist hold over the party. The importance of parliament is being sacrificed to help them."
Now, you could say that is just a bunch of MPs trying to fight back - and hang on to their perks - in the wake of Cameron's response to the expenses scandal. Or it could even be an elaborate fraud. But it's still noteworthy to hear the word "Stalinist" used in connection with a party leader other than Brown. And it chimes with rumblings you hear around Westminister, as well as noises made by sections of the shadow cabinet. All in all, you feel that Cameron will eventually have to deal with this complaint, one way or another.
Previous
Sally Chatterjee
June 17th, 2009 11:10am Report this commentCameron is doing what Blair did with Labour: getting a Presidential grip on his party.
As much as I applauded Cameron's action over expenses, it revealed a strong centralising tendency, that rather than let MPs act for themselves, he called all the shots.
That said he's been right. Too many backbenchers only apologised after they were exposed, not one came forward in person. With low standards like this, the Conservatives need a leader.
boulay
June 17th, 2009 11:14am Report this commentmcbride has not really gone away. the old school tory grandees have never been particularly shy of fronting up rather than hiding behind anonymous letters.
i would put good money on it being a labour fabrication timed to cause problems for cameron at PMQs today.
tenpin
June 17th, 2009 11:21am Report this commentI like how you insert "allegedly". This sounds like a Labour tatic to try and destabilize the Tories. They have seen how damaging these accusations have been for Brown and are trying to play the same game with Cameron. I don't think Cameron should worry about this....if it is sour grapes from someone on the backbenches they should have been more careful with their expenses. It may be interesting to see if Brown raises this in PMQs....which would confirm that this has been planted.
dorothy wilson
June 17th, 2009 11:22am Report this commentWhether it is genuine or an "elaborate fraud" this is just the sort of reaction generated in any change situations. In any change - or renewal - situation there has to be some pruning of the dead wood. And unfortunately, some people get hurt and try to strike back.
My guess is that the situation in the Labour Party is far, far worse.
Publius
June 17th, 2009 11:26am Report this commentTrue or not, the wider issue is that parties are becoming top-down centralised, and Parliament is becoming a passive tool of the executive. This needs to be reversed.
The public are inconsistent on this problem. On the one hand they claim they want Parliamentary independence. On the other, they expect Cameron or Brown or Clegg to control MPs as if they were slaves.
Nicholas
June 17th, 2009 11:26am Report this commentThe form of words used smack more of lefty/Labour activists than any conservative.
Planted Labour smear. Is McBride back and up to all his old tricks? After those Euro results and the polling The Brown Gang will revert to using any means possible to discredit/smear the Tories.
oldrightie
June 17th, 2009 11:30am Report this commentMcBride?
David
June 17th, 2009 11:47am Report this commentSorry, but it's clearly a fake.
The language is all wrong, and the accusations come straight from Labour's playbook on how to attack Cameron, eg "we are led by two people of no experience."
Good to see the useful idiots on the web giving it credence though. Cheers, I don't think.
Vulture
June 17th, 2009 11:54am Report this commentThis ties in with reports that McBride has never really gone away. If Guido or any other hack can uncover evidence that he is still working for Bruin it would be lethal. That said, there are plenty of top Tories who loathe Dave's guts - one former front-bencher (admittedly with an axe to grind) described him to me ( I think pretty accurately) as "a man of no policies and no principles beyond attaining power". Sounds familiar?
rmh
June 17th, 2009 11:54am Report this commentSounds like a right old new labour tactic, loky looky, cameron is like brown.
Publius
June 17th, 2009 11:56am Report this commentYes, McBride. Surely. That is the only game Brown knows.
Peter Buss
June 17th, 2009 11:58am Report this commentMackay and Kirkbride were Cameroons.
We are either serious about winning power or not.If not then by all means publish this anonymous tittle tattle and give Labour an opne goal but just don't come complaining if this then helps Labour to win the next election.
Bill Rees
June 17th, 2009 11:58am Report this commentGordon Brown has apparently said that the key to a Labour revival is to "define the opposition" in ways that damage it and help him.
I think we are seeing this strategy taking shape.
The Labour Party are far better at doing this than the Tories are.
mac
June 17th, 2009 12:00pm Report this commentPlausibly McBride, but authorised by whom? Balls?
TGF UKIP
June 17th, 2009 12:07pm Report this commentLooks to me like a very accurate portrayal of what is blindingly obvious. The 2005 coup was mounted by a clique and that clique is using the Party for their own interests.
I just hope the Right of the Tory Party remember what the Left did to Hague in 2001 and Howard in 2005 and then take great pleasure in sabotaging the clique on the run in to the GE.
Andrew Cadman
June 17th, 2009 1:17pm Report this commentIt seems to me that the flaws that will eventually bring Cameron - and maybe the Tory party - down are already becoming apparent. No for a decade, maybe, but they are there.
The fact is that Labour has been destroyed morally by its lust for power and this may prove fatal for the party itself in the long term. It may well prove to be the same for the Tories. We need new parties to replace these hollow shams.
Liz Brown
June 17th, 2009 1:46pm Report this commentwhat a load of Balls.........
David Bouvier
June 17th, 2009 2:21pm Report this commentEven assuming it was written by Conservatives (which I am not convinced by) how short peoples' memories are.
Recall the atmosphere of crisis and revolution when the expenses scandal was in full flow. Cameron took responsibility, took charge, diverted the lightning discharge away from the Conservative party itslef, and once the storm had abated, allowed a fairer review process to trundle on.
It is possible some of those subject to summary justice via the Telegraph did not deserve their fate, but they were sacrificed for the best interests of the party. Tough luck I am afraid.
Edward
June 17th, 2009 4:20pm Report this comment"- in the wake of Cameron's response to the expenses scandal."
Erm ?
Fascinating stuff indeed.
Who wrote it ? Who cares.
Let's face it, if you put 100 monkeys in front of 100 keyboards, eventually one of them will write Shakespeare.
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