Even those who like to specialise in the inner workings of the mind of a Tory backbencher are rather baffled by the twists and turns of the party this week. But amid all the turmoil, there has been one very important change. Backbenchers are no longer just angry with the leadership. They’re also angry with each other.
The Conservative party can, at the best of times, resemble a bunch of ferrets fighting in a sack, but until this week the ferrets have all been scratching and biting one victim. Now they’re scrapping with one another. As James reported last night, the eight key Eurosceptic factions of the party met yesterday morning to discuss their tactics and ended up splitting five to three over whether to continue to push David Cameron. John Baron says he intends to push his amendment to a vote this afternoon, and the number of Tories who support it won’t have diminished a great deal. There may be a few more abstentions following the publication of the draft referendum bill. But many will be voting, not out of approval for Baron’s tactics, but because they fear being labelled ‘Europhiles’ if their name appears on the list of MPs who voted against. That word is the dirtiest insult you can fling at a sceptical Tory MP, and even if their voting record demonstrates they are a robust sceptic, they would never want to give even the slightest hint of wavering. ‘We’re voting for this with gritted teeth,’ says one MP.
Number 10 has been briefing newspapers that Tory MPs really have reached the red line. The Guardian carries a quote from one source saying:
‘This is our red line. We are not going to give any more ground. We have got Obama and now this bill. It’s like building a dam.’
But the dam might have been a little more watertight had Downing Street bothered to square this with the one MP who has been leading the charge, and who could have turned the herd around. All they needed to do was to make John Baron feel that this bill was part of his campaign and a big victory for those backbenchers who have signed two letters on the subject, and then the sack of ferrets would have been wriggling less vigorously today. So both groups are now shooting themselves in the feet. Forget the Nasty Party: this is the Angry Party.
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