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from Dave B.
By James Delingpole Politics Last updated: October 19th, 2011
(20 Comments Comment on this article)
“And you DEFINITELY won’t end up reliving Weimar or anything like that…”
It requires real talent and serious effort to become the worst Tory prime minister in history. To be honest, I never thought Cameron had it in him. I thought: “Well maybe they’re right, all those Tory “insiders” who tap the sides of their noses knowingly and say: ‘Don’t you worry. He knows what he’s doing. He’s just positioning himself, that’s all. Deep down he’s a true blue Eurosceptic small state Tory through and through.” And after that, I thought: “I mean however bad he does get, he’s never going to be a match in sheer bloody awfulness for the chippy, asexual sailor who first set our course for the rocks clearly marked Euro Hell Oblivion, all the while reassuring his nervous crew,
But Dave, I salute you. Today you have managed it with the most pointless, spiteful, vindictive, bullying absurd directive so far in youralready swollen catalogue of disasters as Prime Minister.
Even as MPs agreed to hold a Commons vote on a referendum, government sources made clear that the Tories would be whipped to vote against a poll.
Mr Cameron’s decision to impose a three-line whip has angered many MPs, since the vote was called under rules the Coalition promised would give backbenchers more freedom.
Not only will this decision needlessly alienate some of the most talented up-and-coming Conservative MPs, from Douglas Carswell and Steve Baker to Priti Patel, but it will confirm to what little of the traditional Tory constituency which hasn’t already deserted to UKIP that Cameron’s new, “detoxed” principle-free Conservative party is no longer capable of representing their interests in any way whatsoever.
Also, of course, it will provide the most splendiferous free gift both to Nigel Farage and to Dave’s old school chum Boris who, not unreasonably, is positioning himself rather more sensibly on the forthcoming Eurogeddon.
But don’t let’s allow Boris to steal Dave’s thunder on this, of all days, Dave’s very special day:
The day he finally got the title of the Worst Tory Prime Minister in British history.
The day Dave stole Ted Heath’s laurel crown!
Real-time updating is enabled. (Pause)
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NonAlignedUK
It would help if we knew what the strategy actually was. I mean Cameron (and Hague) must have one related to all of this, surely? It isn’t just “Europe is great, we must stay in at all costs”. That’s far too simplistic an argument James.I find it very hard to believe Hague at least is a “friend” to Europe, but stranger things have happened after a politician has landed at the FO.
No. I’m convinced there’s more going on behind the scenes than it seems on the surface. That could be me in denial, having voted for this lot and still being supportive of what they’re trying to do, of course.
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Lord North is generally accepted as the worst Tory Prime Minister of all time. With reason. But there’s nothing like hyperbole, and it wouldn’t be a Delingpole column without hyperbole.
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paulthorgan
I think that Sir Humphey’s analysis is the most perspective.We can’t influence the EU from the outside.
Traditional British policy for the last 500 years has been to secure a balance of power in Europe, in effect to stop them ganging up on us.
If we leave the EU, it becomes a Franco-German superstate and this Euro-bloc will have interests contrary to the English-speaking world.
At least from the inside we can drive debate and provide ‘checks and balances’ that would be swept away otherwise. The Countries of the EU do not have the traditions of democracy and freedom we do.
(In making the previous statement, if you are a socialist of any hue please do not pollute this chat with your complaints about democracy in this country, it’s old – no one votes for you or your policies, get used to it.)
Bear in mind that it was the English-speaking armed forces that imposed modern democracy and the rights of small nations on Europe. We have to be in to keep it there.
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Don’t get too excited.
Remember Major whipped the Maastricht Treaty through and apart from destroying his party, totally wiping out any residual credibility he might have possessed and handing the country to Blair’s Labour for thirteen years, there was no real fallout, was there?
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I have just written an email to ‘Brave Dave’ – I don’t want him to think that this action will be forgotten or that he will be forgiven for this treachery.
http://www.number10.gov.uk/con…
I included my Conservative membership number, just so he knows who he is lying to!
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ooopiop
This could be the Munich moment for Cameron. When the chips are down he is a dissembling Europhile who will do nothing to loosen ties with the Eurosocialist State.UKIP has been proved right, Powell has been proved right, all the Eurosceptics from Redwood to Cash have been proved right. Cameron is on the wrong side of this argument ,90% of his party membership and probably 75 %of the British people are on the other side.Only the Libdem Loonies, the BBC and half the Labour Party are with Cameron -a motley crew!This could be the tipping point for a mass organised exodus of Tory membership to join UKIP.Cameron’s attempt to straddle his Libdem friendship trist and the bulk of the Tory party is bound to end with a decisive rupture. He will have only himself to blame when it does.
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Brilliant piece this by James.
Dave thinks that if you follow the money, success will follow. It shows how he has never had to make any money for himself in his life. If you offer better than the rest, the money will come anyway…without the need to be principle-free.
Latest example: damning new evidence shows how Cameron misled everyone about the state of rural property development…to help his £3.5M donors….
http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/20… -
Brilliant? No… there’s little insight and even less analysis present here. It’s a ‘shooting fish in a barrel’ piece of editorial, designed to give voice to the frustrations of others – which it does pretty well. What’s lacking from the Tory media is a proper analysis of our PM, something long over due.
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If “Call me Dave” insists on a 3 line whip, then he’ll be a one term PM, assuming that is that he’ll actually finish the term.The EU is going to continue to cause ructions within the tory party until we leave the EU.
It will be interesting to see how quickly the tory party will haemmorhage members, and even more interesting to see how the 2014 Euro elections pan out (assuming there is still an EU)
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The duty of all good tories is to “shake the pagoda tree” as hard as they can.
To this end Blair and Cameron have both been successful tories.
I don’t think you can blame Cameron for his political shortcomings. He is a sound bite obsessed ad man, with no knowledge or experience of business or economics, so cannot be expected to have done any better than he has done, leave him in peace.
Blair on the other hand is reprehensible.
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At least the largely talentless Mike Yarwood could manage an impersonation of Ted Heath. I defy anyone to mimic DC, such is his lack of defining characteristics, although I have spotted a passing resemblance to Morph in as much as both seem to be endlessly flexible… a trait that suggest the absence of a backbone.
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peterbuss
What utter nonsense you do write. All these Tory MP’s were quite happy to be elected on a manifesto which said we were in favour of remaining in the EU and nowhere in the manifesto did Cam promise a referendum on changing that.When will people like you recognise that its the malcontents who are opposing Tory policy and not David Cameron. -
Cameron demands Lisbon referendum…..Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that too much power would pass from London to Brussels under the treaty, and promised he would “not let matters rest” if elected.
(BBC News) -
peterbuss
Nowhere did he promise a referendum on Lisbon after it was passed and just remember we are in Coalition and not governing on our own. -
yaosxx
peterbuss – You might do better if you aquainted yourself with a question mark… -
As suspected, Cameron is just another God-awful patrician politician, who believes he knows what’s best for the British people. We expect this from Labour MPs, because they’re egotistical control freaks who think that bullying and nannying people into serfdom is fine if you act with good intentions. But Conservatives are supposed to be the champions of truth and freedom. Not as long as Cameron’s in charge they ain’t. -
It’s puzzling just how quickly and thoroughly British politicians lose their political compass when coming into contact with the EU.
The political establishment, both left and right, is rudderless and has long-since ceased to reflect the views and values of the electorate. The whole political edifice has transformed into a soft-marxist lobby-group for, well, Anybody But Us.
In this context, Cameron is perfectly cast.
Maybe this is the time for mavericks like Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Frank Field to set out their stall with some serious alternatives to the current mire of mediocrity that currently represent the UK.
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If you’re a professional politician who sees power as an end in itself, then the EU is a wet dream: immense power, zero accountability, a big fat salary and a generous pension. What’s not to like?
Plus, of course, the Left has successfully convinced the nation that sovereignty equates to selfishness and xenophobia, meaning that no one interested in burnishing their halo (ie the entire political class and every left-leaning bell-end in existence) dare say a word against the EU for fear of looking bad.
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From ‘market’ to ‘community’ to ‘union’ . . . . next step is a federation with no escape, then our descent into international peonage will be complete. -
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And I have been saying it for monthsThat the history books will show Cameron’s government as the most damaging since the war. Not so much for what he does, but for what he does NOT do.
Never has a PM had so much information about how damaging the EU is to Britain’s very survival.
Never has a PM had such opportunity to steer Britain in a different direction.
Never has a PM had so much support from the public and from MPs (obviously not Liberals) to stand up for Britain’s vital national interest.He is meekly watching as his efforts to introduce (in a limited, timid way) competitiveness into Britain’s economy is thwarted by the EU at every turn.
He is seeing the UK being drawn into unlimited support for a bankrupt currency the British people were PROMISED they would have no part of.This man is weak. He is clueless. He is cowardly. He is an appeaser. We should carve his name with detestation.
The Conservative Party can in NO WAY return to credibility as long as this head-in-the-clouds TWIT remains as Tory leader.
He MUST go!
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Cameron isn’t much interested in public opinion. He is so insulated from reality and so sure of his own righteousness that the only opinion he cares about is that of the chattering classes, who he imagines represent the voice of sense and decency in Britain. As long as metropolitan liberals are in favour of the EU, sustainable energy and high taxes, so will Cameron.
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