- Former minister said there was a ‘political price to pay’ for appointment
- Mr Cameron was also dragged further into row over ‘swivel-eyed loons’
- Lord Feldman denies making the remark about party grassroots activists
- The PM was accused of using the insult himself last year
- Lord Howe says David Cameron has open a political ‘Pandora’s Box’
- He said row over lack of an EU referendum was a ‘new, almost farcical, low’
- UKIP polls record 20 per cent support, behind Tories on 29 per cent
By
Helen Lawson
04:41 EST, 19 May 2013
|
11:27 EST, 19 May 2013
Former minister David Mellor has today criticised David Cameron for appointing his university ‘chum’ and tennis partner Lord Feldman as co-chairman of the Conservative party, as the row over an alleged ‘swivel-eyed loons’ remark about grassroots supporters intensified.
The Prime Minister was dragged deeper into the ‘swivel-eyed
loon’ row engulfing his party – after it was claimed today that he used the
insult himself to deride Euro rebels.
Tory chairman Lord Feldman, a key member of Mr Cameron’s inner
circle, was yesterday forced to deny he had used the term against
Conservative local activists, saying the claims were ‘completely
untrue’.
David Mellow, left, weighed into the row, saying there was a ‘political price’ to pay for David Cameron’s appointment of his Oxford University friend and tennis partner Andrew Feldman, right
‘You can’t elevate tennis-playing friends to co-chair of the party without there being a political price to pay,’ Mr Mellor told the Daily Telegraph.
His comments came as former Cabinet minister John Redwood weighed into the row, telling BBC1′s Andrew Marr Show today that there should be disciplinary action if it was proved that someone used the insult.
Mr Redwood said: ‘If there is such a person, not named of course, they should be reprimanded because I, and my colleagues, think our members are very good people who work hard for our local communities they serve as councillors.
‘We agree with their views on Europe, we think that the European government is not working in Britain’s interest, it is taxing us too much, it is costing us too much and we want that new relationship.’
Lord Feldman said he was ‘very disappointed by the behaviour of the journalists involved’ in reporting the claims.
The newspapers who made the claims, The Times and The Daily Telegraph, are standing by their reports. A source at News International,
which owns The Times, said: ‘There is no doubt Feldman used the words
loons and swivel-eyed.’
The source said it was a ‘lie’ for Feldman and
Mr Cameron to deny it.
Mr Cameron put his reputation on the line by backing his Oxford University pal and tennis partner.
But The Mail on Sunday today disclosed that the Prime Minister was accused of using the same ‘swivel-eyed’ jibe last year.
Andrew Feldman, circled left, and David Cameron, right, were friends and tennis partners, and are seen here in a tennis club photograph, at Brasenose College, Oxford in the 1980s
Former Conservative Cabinet minister John Redwood told the Andrew Marr Show that the person who made the ‘swivel-eyed loons’ comment should be reprimanded by the party
It
is a matter of public record that Mr Cameron called UKIP supporters
‘fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists’ – although he rowed back after
UKIP’s success in the recent local elections.
Lord Feldman was accused of making
the ‘swivel-eyed loons’ remark to journalists at a London hotel.
They reported that an unnamed ‘close
ally’ of the Prime Minister blamed Tory activists for pressuring MPs to
take hardline stances on Europe.
They said he stated: ‘There’s really
no problem. The MPs just have to do it because the [Tory] associations
tell them to, and the associations are all mad, swivel-eyed loons.’
But yesterday afternoon, after crisis
talks with Mr Cameron, and amid growing claims on Twitter that the
unnamed person was Lord Feldman, the peer issued a statement, saying the
allegations against him were ‘completely untrue’ and he was considering
legal action.
‘I did
not, nor have ever, described our associations in this way or in any
similar manner. Nor do these alleged comments represent my view of our
activists,’ he said.
‘On the contrary, I have found them to be hard-working, committed and reasonable people, the backbone of the party.’
Conservative vice-chairman Bob Neill attacked the press over the ‘swivel-eyed loons’ story.
He
told Sky News’ Murnaghan programme that Lord Feldman had ‘denied very
explicitly that he said it’.
Mr Cameron has put his full support behind his tennis partner Andrew Feldman
He added: ‘I think we have to be very, very
wary of this, I think, rather slipshod bit of journalism where neither
he nor Downing Street were ever approached for comment.’
Mr Neill said he had never heard Lord Feldman ‘or anyone in central office or in Downing Street say anything of that kind’.
In a high-risk gamble, Mr Cameron fully backed Lord Feldman.
A
No 10 spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister supports Lord Feldman’s
position. It is categorically untrue that anyone in Downing Street made
the comments reported in The Times and the Telegraph.’
Feldman
was ennobled and made co-chairman of the Tory party by Cameron, who has
been his friend and tennis partner since they met at Oxford University.
A titanic trial of strength between
No 10 and the two newspapers now seems inevitable. Defeat for Feldman
would force him to resign and could inflict potentially catastrophic
damage to Mr Cameron.
Grant Shapps, who shares the party
chairman role with Lord Feldman, questioned the accuracy of the
potentially incendiary remark reported in a number of papers, claiming:
‘I don’t believe it’s ever been said.’
In an effort to avoid a damaging rift
with Tory volunteers, a party spokesman said the Prime Minister had the
‘highest regard’ for the Conservative Party’s activists and praised
their ‘incredibly hard work’.
Tory
MP Brian Binley said if the remarks were made it would not be a
surprise because the leadership has a ‘disdainful’ view of the party’s
volunteers.
Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps has questioned whether media reports of a senior Tory calling activists ‘swivel-eyed loons’ are accurate
Mr Binley, a
member of the party board which is chaired by Lord Feldman, said: ‘I
certainly will be wanting to know more about it when we have our next
board meeting.’
He said: ‘Certainly the gap between
the party leadership and the party’s voluntary sector in the country is
sizeable. I have made that complaint again and again.’
Mr
Binley added: ‘If this was said, by whoever, it would not surprise me.
There has been a disdainful view of the voluntary party.’
But Mr Shapps disputed the papers’ version of events, setting the party’s high command on collision course with the press.
He compared the row to the ‘plebgate’
stories surrounding former chief whip Andrew Mitchell and internet
rumours against peer Lord McAlpine which have resulted in libel claims.
PM’S ‘CHUMOCRACY’: SURROUNDED BY ETONIANS AND OXFORD FRIENDS
Old Etonian Jo Johnson was David Cameron’s latest appointment of a friend to his political inner circle
Lord Feldman, educated at the elite Haberdashers’ Aske’s School, was elevated to the Lords and made co-chairman of the Conservative Party by Mr Cameron, who has been his friend and tennis partners since they studied together at Brasenose College, Oxford from 1985-1988.
Since coming to power in 2010, Eton-educated Mr Cameron has surrounded himself with fellow old Etonians and university friends, leaving him open to criticism that he only wants to listen to those from similar backgrounds in his ‘chumocracy’.
Last month, he appointed Jo Johnson, brother of London mayor Boris, to lead the Number 10 Policy Unit, while he counts fellow school Jesse Norman and Sebastian James as advisors.
His chief of staff Ed Llewellyn also went to Eton and Oxford, while deputy chief of staff Kate Fall is another of Cameron’s university pals.
Chief Whip Sir George Young and Cabinet office minister Oliver Letwin attended Eton, as did the Chancellor’s chief economics advisor Rupert Harrison, who was the school’s head boy.
George Osborne himself was educated at the elite St Paul’s school before Oxford, while Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg went to Westminster School and Cambridge.
Another recent policy appointment, former journalist Christopher Lockwood, was schooled at St Paul’s, as was minister Ed Vaizey, who later became vice-president of the Oxford Union.
Education Secretary Michael Gove was at Oxford at the same time as the Prime Minister, becoming president of the Oxford Union. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was another of Cameron’s contemporaries at the university, after attending Charterhouse school.
Attorney General Dominic Grieve attended Westminster school before Oxford, serving as president of the university’s Conservative Assocation in 1977.
Asked
who was behind the ‘swivel-eyed loons’ remark at the Conservative Friends
of Pakistan event on Wednesday, Mr Shapps told Channel 4 News: ‘Unfortunately I
can’t reveal the answer to that, simply because I was not there and as
far as we are aware it was not even said, but we just don’t know.’
He
added: ‘I don’t believe anyone senior would say this type of thing,
it’s not an attitude or a view I have ever heard expressed in No 10, in
Central Office, we respect and work with people who work incredibly hard
as volunteers, unpaid, for the party.
‘I’m
trying to make clear, I don’t believe it’s ever been said. You can
always run a story that said there were 250 people in a room and one of
them said this.
‘The trouble is with this story we don’t know who is supposed to have said it.’
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the
Andrew Marr Show: ‘The person who is alleged to have said that has
denied it, I know the individual and trust him. He is a man of great
honour.
On BBC1′s Andrew Marr Show today, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Lord Howe’s views did not ‘represent the reality’ of the situation and insisted the Tories were united over Europe
‘The views of those people are incredibly important to the DNA of the policies we put into place.’
Lord Feldman added that he was ‘very
disappointed by the behaviour of the journalists involved, who have
allowed rumour and innuendo to take hold by not putting these
allegations to me before publication’.
Lord Howe has launched a scathing attack on David Cameron, saying the Prime Minister seems to be losing control of the Tory party
Number 10
said the Prime Minister ‘supports Lord Feldman’s position’ and it was
‘categorically untrue that anyone in Downing Street made the comments’.
A Tory spokesman said: ‘The Prime
Minister, like every member of the Cabinet, has the highest regard for
the Conservative Party’s activists – for their patriotism, their
dedication, their incredible hard work at elections and between
elections and the time they give of their own free will to the
Conservative cause.’
Relations
between the party leadership and grassroots traditionalists have been
strained by Mr Cameron’s support for gay marriage, the coalition with
the Liberal Democrats and the perennially difficult issue of Europe.
Today former chancellor Lord Howe claimed the Prime Minister is losing control of his party as the
Conservatives’ ‘long, nervous breakdown’ over Europe continues.
Lord
Howe, whose differences with Baroness Thatcher over Europe led to his
resignation and triggered her downfall, said Mr Cameron had ‘opened a
Pandora’s box politically’ through his plan to renegotiate the UK’s
relationship with the European Union.
His
attack came as polls showed record highs of support for UKIP, with one
showing Nigel Farage’s anti-EU party would be backed by 20 per cent of
the British public if a general election were to be held now.
In a strongly-worded attack Lord Howe said the Tory leadership was ‘running scared’ of its backbenchers and had allowed Euroscepticism to ‘infect the very soul of the party’.
Writing in The Observer, Lord Howe said the row over the lack of legislation paving the way for the Prime Minister’s referendum by 2017, which led to a total of 116 Tories opposing the Government’s legislative programme, marked a ‘new, almost farcical, low’ for the party.
RECORD POLL HIGH FOR UKIP
The UK Independence Party surge has continued with two opinion polls giving the party record levels of support.
An Opinium poll put Nigel Farage’s party on 20 per cent, while a ComRes survey put them on 19 per cent.
The
ComRes poll for the Sunday Mirror and Independent on Sunday found
support for Nigel Farage’s party was up 4 per cent since the last survey
a month ago, with Labour down three points to 35 per cent, the
Conservatives down one to 29 per cent and the Liberal Democrats were
unchanged on 8 per cent.
The Opinium poll for the Observer put Labour on 37 per cent, Tories on 27 per cent and the Lib Dems on 7 per cent.
According
to the ComRes study 46 per cent of Britons would vote to leave the
European Union in a referendum now, compared with 24 per cent who would
stay in.
But if some powers
were returned to the UK from Brussels 43 per cent would vote to remain
in the EU, with just 24 per cent determined to see Britain leave.
The
poll found only 26 per cent said David Cameron was a good prime
minister, a record low in ComRes studies, while 31 per cent believed Ed
Miliband was performing well as Labour leader, a new high.
The
ComRes survey also revealed that 57 per cent of voters believed Mr
Cameron’s party was more divided over Europe than it was under Sir John
Major, with 14 per cent disagreeing.
But
there was some comfort for the Prime Minister, with 49 per cent of
voters saying the offer of a European referendum would be important to
them at the next general election, with 27 per cent disagreeing.
And
32 per cent believed Mr Cameron would make the best prime minister of
the party leaders, with 24 per cent opting for Mr Miliband.
He wrote: ‘Sadly, by making it clear in January that he opposes the current terms of UK membership of the EU, the Prime Minister has opened a Pandora’s box politically and seems to be losing control of his party in the process.
‘The ratchet-effect of Euroscepticism has now gone so far that the Conservative leadership is in effect running scared of its own backbenchers, let alone Ukip, having allowed deep anti-Europeanism to infect the very soul of the party.
‘The risk now is that, if it loses the next general election – a far from negligible possibility – the Conservative party will move to a position of simply opposing Britain’s continued membership, with or without a referendum.’
Lord Howe said the United States looked to the UK to play a leading role in Europe and leaving the EU would ‘be a tragic expression of our shrinking influence and role in the word’.
The former chancellor added it would represent ‘the humbling of our ambitions, already sorely tested by the current crisis, to remain a serious political or economic player on the global stage’.
He claimed ‘clear thinking’ and ‘strong leadership’ was needed to protect the UK’s status within the EU.
‘Last
week has shown that the Conservative party’s long, nervous breakdown
over Europe continues and what is essentially a Tory problem is now,
once again, becoming a national problem.
‘Serious mistakes have been made, but the situation is not irretrievable,’ he wrote.
‘What
is needed is a mixture of clear thinking, strong leadership and an
overriding concern for the national interest, not party management or
advantage.
‘If the
Conservative party is losing its head, a heavy responsibility now rests
with Labour and the Liberal Democrats to hold their nerve and stick to a
path they know to be right.
‘In the complex and interdependent world we inhabit today, to walk away from the European Union into the unknown would be a very dangerous choice indeed.’
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted
the Tory party was ‘absolutely united’ on the issue of Europe and Lord
Howe’s views did not ‘represent the reality’ of the situation.
He told BBC1′s Andrew Marr Show: ‘If you look at the substance of the issue, the Conservative Party is absolutely united.
‘We look at the European Union and we
worry about Britain’s ability to compete in the global race, we look at
the regulations and the red tape that comes from Europe, yesterday some
new regulation about selling olive oil in restaurants.
‘If you go into the boardrooms in New York or Tokyo or Singapore they think the European economy is frankly a joke.’
Lord Howe’s differences with Baroness Thatcher over Europe led to his resignation and triggered her downfall
Mr Cameron was ‘showing leadership’
on Europe by promising to work to change the relationship with Brussels
and the Tories were the only party prepared to ‘do the heavy lifting on
this’.
Mr Hunt added: ‘Of course we have a
debate. Patriotism runs deep in the veins of all Conservatives and when
you have an issue of sovereignty it’s something we debate fiercely.’
But he said ‘don’t underestimate
David Cameron’ because he had shown through his use of the veto and
securing a cut in the EU budget ‘this is someone who has delivered a
very great deal’.
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Do these people exit the womb in a suit and tie?
Englishman
,
Mansfield,
19/5/2013 20:42
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David Cameron made his friend a Lord and promoted him to be chair of the party. The whole honours system is based on cronyism. Worthless baubles
Simply The Best
,
Glasgow,
19/5/2013 20:36
Report abuse
That’s OK. This swivel eyed loon is now a UKIP member.
molly
,
South Shields,
19/5/2013 20:31
Report abuse
After these comments I used to be Conservative but now I am UKIP.
Ted
,
Donny, United Kingdom,
19/5/2013 20:19
Report abuse
life on a plate; all down to his fathers wealth; didn’t ignite anything at Carlton tv ; no self made men in conservative govt; just people who are used to receiving on a wink and a handshake; social mobility scroungers; no real ability or talent;
fedupgeordie
,
Newcastle,
19/5/2013 20:16
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I blame Cameron’s nanny she should not let him out of the nursery.
Zippy
,
Richmond UK,
19/5/2013 20:14
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Toffs looking after Toffs No suprises here
NZ Brit
,
NZ, United Kingdom,
19/5/2013 20:03
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Lord Howe: ‘David Cameron Is Losing Control’
GEOFFREY HOWE WAS ALWAYS A TRAITOROUS EU LOVING FOOL SO NO CHANGE THERE
If the UK political parties do not listen to the voices of UK voters they will all be out leaving only UKIP the winner.
If Cameron was replaced by a more right-wing PM who was prepared to work with UKIP and secure REAL CHANGE that would break the coalition leading to a General Election which the Tory party would stand a good chance of winning ¿ at present they stand NO CHANCE.
Fiona
,
Northampton, United Kingdom,
19/5/2013 20:00
Report abuse
what a bunch of toffs who are so disconnected to the reality of the real worlds. It should be a requirement that every Prime Minister should have a background of hardship: have had two jobs just to make ends meat, work long hours etc. all these snobs getting into power know nothing of real world and real people. UKIP UKIP UKIP
cdst20
,
cardiff, United Kingdom,
19/5/2013 19:53
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Yukky Yahhs! Gawd whats happened to the UK?????? Has it gone back 100 yrs.? Can I have a butler now please?? GET THEM OUT!!!!
sequinn
,
Crete, Greece,
19/5/2013 19:40
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