Queen’s Speech row: whose fault is it?

Tory eurosceptics are threatening to cause the first government defeat on a Queen’s Speech since 1924 by joining forces with Labour MPs over an amendment expressing regret that there is no bill exempting the NHS from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. It’s the second time the eurosceptics have worked with Opposition MPs to try to force an embarrassing and historic defeat on a major government event: the last one was on the Tampon Tax after the March Budget (which turned out to be the least embarrassing bit of the aftermath of that Budget, as it happens).

But why are Tory eurosceptics joining in with this opposition game-playing? They had been reluctant until recently to do so, but feel that the Number 10 scare tactics in the referendum campaign, and what they feel is a briefing campaign against Michael Gove in particular (though today’s papers report suspicions that the Justice Secretary is not an entirely innocent victim) have pushed them into guerrilla tactics.