Inside David Cameron’s meeting with Tory MPs

David Cameron addressed Tory MPs this evening at a meeting of the 1922 committee following his shock return to government last week as part of Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle. The impromptu meeting saw around 100 MPs gathered in parliament’s Boothroyd room rather than then usual committee corridor room 14. Cameron joked that he was relieved at the location change – as it meant he could avoid his more traumatic memories of addressing the 22’ when he was prime minister. ‘It was nostalgic for a lot of us’, says one attendee.

As for the purpose of Cameron’s address to MPs, the former Tory leader was keen to emphasise his commitment to the party – after his appointment received a mixed reception. Cameron said he wasn’t just coming back to be foreign secretary – instead he wanted to be part of the team and insisted he was ‘all in’ several times. He said he had benefitted from his time outside of No. 10 – telling colleagues: ‘When you are prime minister you have no time to think, when you are not you have lots of time to think’. Cameron added that he realised having a peer as Foreign Secretary is unusual and so he is looking at the ways in which he can be accountable to MPs.

In the question and answer session that followed, Cameron was pressed on how he would handle the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East. A handful of MPs asked if he would take a tougher line on Israel when it comes to settlements on the West Bank – arguing a two state solution would only be possible if both sides were held accountable. Cameron said he was willing to be tough on Israel but added that he is a strong supporter. On Ukraine, Cameron spoke of his recent trip to meet with President Zelensky. He told MPs he had also tried to do his bit – taking in a Ukrainian family in Chipping Norton but they had now left him for a posher part of the Cotswolds – Chipping Camden. This won him laughs.

But perhaps the most political question came from the red wall MP Jonathan Gullis. Following the Supreme Court verdict last week ruling the government’s Rwanda scheme unlawful, Gullis asked Cameron whether he would be willing to leave the ECHR given his former colleague George Osborne had suggested on a podcast that Cameron would not. The new Foreign Secretary replied that while Osborne knows him well, he does not know him as well when it comes to the ECHR. Cameron pointed to the fact that as Prime Minister he at times ignored ECHR rulings such as on prison votes. As for now, he said he supported Sunak’s plan for a new treaty along with emergency legislation declaring Rwanda safe. Once in place, Cameron said the situation could be properly assessed as to if anything else is necessary.