British Conservatives, attending the party’s annual conference in Birmingham yesterday, were scathingly critical of MP Mark Reckless’s defection to the UK Independence Party (Ukip) and lying about his intentions.
The defection of the arch-Eurosceptic Kent MP had been unveiled by Ukip leader Nigel Farage to cheers from more than 2,000 delegates gathered in Doncaster for the party’s Conference.
The news partly overshadowed the opening of the Tory party conference even though the leadership had decided to go on the attack.
“I share your deep sense of betrayal and anger. We’ve been repeatedly let down by someone who lied to his constituents and you. He lied, lied and lied again,” said party chairman Grant Schapps. Prime minister David Cameron is concerned that the defection, first, of Douglas Carswell, and now of Reckeless could provoke others worried by the threat Ukip poses to their Commons seats.
Mr Cameron's mood was not helped by the forced resignation of a junior Conservative minister, who had sent compromising pictures of himself to a Daily Mirror reporter who had posed as a PR worker.
The prime minister, accepting that the conference “had not started well”, described Mr Reckless’s decision as “senseless and counterproductive” because only the Conservatives can guarantee an EU membership referendum. This line was pushed, too, by William Hague – who gave his final address to a Tory conference before he quits as an MP next year – who urged voters to reject Ukip in next year’s elections.
“It is not only self-defeating and counterproductive, it is also hypocritical and dishonest to say you want to give people a choice on Europe and then help the election of a Labour government that would never give people that choice,” he said.
The Conservatives are particularly angry at Mr Reckless, who has been a thorn in the party’s side because of his rebellion in Commons votes, and because of past declarations about staying in the party.
Mr Cameron must neutralise the Ukip threat on one side, without appearing to be bowing to a right-wing, libertarian ideology that could threaten centre-ground support.
The prime minister, reflecting the need to square the circle, told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "So, even if you don't agree with my renegotiation strategy, I'm the only prime minister who is going to give you the chance to have a vote to stay in or get out of the European Union."
“If you want to have a European referendum, if you want to have immigration controlled, if you want to get the deficit down, if you want to build a stronger Britain that we can be proud of, there is only one option and that is to have a Conservative government after the next election,” he said.
Buoyed by his latest acquisition, Farage told his party that not only can it win seats in next year’s general election, but it could even hold the balance of power.
However, his decision to target Labour so bluntly – even to the extent of blaming it for knowingly tolerating abuse of young girls by Asians gangs – is a risk.
In constituencies in southern England, Farage will need Labour supporters to support his candidates in order to break the Tory hold.
Polling by Michael Ashcroft shows that the Conservatives are ahead of Labour on management of the economy, crime, curbing welfare abuses, but lag behind on the National Health Service and on fairness.
The Ashcroft poll held a warning for the Conservatives in that they may not take as many Liberal Democrat-held seats as they expect.
The two parties are running neck-and-neck in English seats where the Lib Dems had majorities of up to 8 per cent in 2010.
Chancellor George Osborne, in a nod to public opinion, will announce that welfare benefits will be capped at £23,000- a-year, down £3,000.
He will also declare that 18- to 21-year-olds will be put to cleaning parks, or doing other community work after six months on welfare, or else lose their benefits.
