How bad are the Deripaska allegations for Osborne? At the very least, climbing on board that yacht raises questions over his judgement. But, as with so many Westminster scandals, all hangs on what more is to come. Labour will gun for him as hard as they can, knowing how important he is to Tory strategy. If nothing more emerges than what’s in today’s Times, he’s okay. But if it turns out that he was part of some operation to solicit an illegal donation, he’s finished. For my part, I can’t believe he would be so stupid as to do this, or to take the view that what happens in Corfu stays in Corfu. Yet I hear reports of blind panic in CCHQ, and I have spoken to two MPs who wanted to discuss whether Hague or Clarke would be the better replacement. People are expecting fireworks.
My hunch that immense political drama about to unfold is down to a simple fact: I’m spending this week off in New York, and my holiday plans do seem to tempt the news gods.
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