Tintinnabulate
21-05-2010, 07:03 AM
David Cameron has been accused of trying to bully his MPs and press-gang a ‘patsy’ in to lead a powerful backbench committee.
The prime minister ‘ambushed’ the 1922 Committee ahead of a meeting on Wednesday night, saying he wanted major changes to how it operated.
Key among them would be allowing frontbenchers to join the committee, which would shift power from the rank-and-file MPs.
It would mean Mr Cameron’s frontbenchers would be able to vote in the election of the 1922’s new chairman on May 26 – possibly installing a stooge who would not rock the boat.
Storming out of the meeting, one backbench MP told Metro: ‘There is a lot of anger in there tonight.
‘Being under the rule of David Cameron is like being in an abusive relationship: one minute it’s all kisses and cuddles and the next you are cowering in the corner.’
Another, Douglas Carswell, ignoring a party whip within earshot, said: ‘This is wrong, wrong, wrong and I don’t care who knows I said that. This is not new politics, it is taking power away. We all want this new government to work but this effectively destroys the 1922 Committee and with it the safety valve which allows us to speak out against the government.’
The 1922 Committee, which takes its name from the year it was founded, is separate from the Tory leadership, and keeps it informed about the mood on the backbenches. The committee meets each week to discuss parliamentary business and take grievances to the party leadership.
A ballot on the proposed changes runs until 11am today. It is a secret vote, so party whips have no way of knowing which way MPs voted and no power to punish dissenters.
MP Bill Cash told the BBC: ‘There’s going to be a ballot but there was no discussion, no previous consultation. I heard about it, candidates for the chairman of the committee only heard about it ten minutes before the meeting.’
He said the move, along with a ‘tsunami of changes taking place’ – a reference to concessions to the Liberal Democrats in the coalition deal – could ‘create a great deal of uncertainty and tension’.
Those tensions surfaced as Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg used his first major speech to warn off trying to water down Britain’s commitment to the Human Rights Act.
The Tory manifesto pledged to replace it with a Bill of Rights. But Mr Clegg insisted backbenchers tampered with the act ‘at their peril’.
He said the coalition would ‘ask you which laws you think should go’. But, when pressed if that meant the Human Rights Act would be scrapped if the public wanted it, he ducked the question.
Mr Clegg defended the new plan for a 55 per cent majority of MPs to agree to an early dissolution of parliament, insisting it was necessary to ensure stable government.
The prime minister ‘ambushed’ the 1922 Committee ahead of a meeting on Wednesday night, saying he wanted major changes to how it operated.
Key among them would be allowing frontbenchers to join the committee, which would shift power from the rank-and-file MPs.
It would mean Mr Cameron’s frontbenchers would be able to vote in the election of the 1922’s new chairman on May 26 – possibly installing a stooge who would not rock the boat.
Storming out of the meeting, one backbench MP told Metro: ‘There is a lot of anger in there tonight.
‘Being under the rule of David Cameron is like being in an abusive relationship: one minute it’s all kisses and cuddles and the next you are cowering in the corner.’
Another, Douglas Carswell, ignoring a party whip within earshot, said: ‘This is wrong, wrong, wrong and I don’t care who knows I said that. This is not new politics, it is taking power away. We all want this new government to work but this effectively destroys the 1922 Committee and with it the safety valve which allows us to speak out against the government.’
The 1922 Committee, which takes its name from the year it was founded, is separate from the Tory leadership, and keeps it informed about the mood on the backbenches. The committee meets each week to discuss parliamentary business and take grievances to the party leadership.
A ballot on the proposed changes runs until 11am today. It is a secret vote, so party whips have no way of knowing which way MPs voted and no power to punish dissenters.
MP Bill Cash told the BBC: ‘There’s going to be a ballot but there was no discussion, no previous consultation. I heard about it, candidates for the chairman of the committee only heard about it ten minutes before the meeting.’
He said the move, along with a ‘tsunami of changes taking place’ – a reference to concessions to the Liberal Democrats in the coalition deal – could ‘create a great deal of uncertainty and tension’.
Those tensions surfaced as Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg used his first major speech to warn off trying to water down Britain’s commitment to the Human Rights Act.
The Tory manifesto pledged to replace it with a Bill of Rights. But Mr Clegg insisted backbenchers tampered with the act ‘at their peril’.
He said the coalition would ‘ask you which laws you think should go’. But, when pressed if that meant the Human Rights Act would be scrapped if the public wanted it, he ducked the question.
Mr Clegg defended the new plan for a 55 per cent majority of MPs to agree to an early dissolution of parliament, insisting it was necessary to ensure stable government.