Labour is enjoying some success with its narrative that the government is running scared of all sorts of awkward votes and campaigns at the moment, from plain packaging to payday loans. Yesterday Miliband’s spinners were briefing that this included the Immigration Bill amendment tabled by Nigel Mills and supported by influential backbenchers such as 1922 Committee chairman Graham Brady. It now has 49 signatures.
It’s worth noting that Mills’ amendment is the latest example of how Tory Eurosceptics now work together to get what they want from the Prime Minister. I explained this unity between the factions in a recent Telegraph column:
‘Now all these factions have united into a motley coalition that meets regularly to discuss strategy. Between them, a small number of representatives negotiate a line that all the groups can support, before working their way through the party in private discussions, or “cells”, to garner support for an open letter or a troublemaking Commons vote.’
One part of their strategy is to put up a ‘unifying figure’ from the backbenches to lead an amendment. It’s why you don’t see big Eurosceptic names like John Redwood or Douglas Carswell tabling amendments themselves: the reasoning is that more backbenchers will feel comfortable about supporting a relatively unknown MP who doesn’t have a strong allegiance to any particular faction in the party.
In this instance, the coalition of factions appears to have provoked the Prime Minister into giving away details of his renegotiation shopping list, and they tell me they plan to do more. ‘Power to the Bolsheviks!’ joked one key agitator when we spoke this morning, referring in part to the need for bolshy MPs to put pressure on David Cameron using numbers as their main weapon, rather than arguments.
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