Coalition calamity
The Conservative led coalition hit the buffers again this weekend thanks to their own MPs publically briefing that the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley and his Health Bill should go. David Cameron was clinging onto him by his finger tips whilst seeking to reassure Lansley that he has his full support and that his job was safe. The gossip around Westminster was not as reassuring as the PM’s warm words. Over the weekend three senior Tories inside cabinet were briefing against him, whilst on BBC’s Andrew Marr show the Lib/Dem’s Deputy Leader called for Lansley to go.
Chaired
I chaired the Health Bill through its Common’s Committee stages and witnessed firsthand the tensions inside the Committee that is currently unfolding in the House of Lords. Even Conservative bloggers have begun briefing against Lansley saying, “He should be taken out and shot”. The PM will resist the political assassination of his Health Secretary for now, but with the Lib/Dems leadership calling for him to go, will Cameron face them down along with his own dissidents inside Cabinet to keep Lansley, or will he seek to calm the waters by promising to move him on in a Spring reshuffle whilst accepting more Lords amendments to the Bill? My money is on the latter.
Coalition Calamity / Chaired
Coalition calamity
The Conservative led coalition hit the buffers again this weekend thanks to their own MPs publically briefing that the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley and his Health Bill should go. David Cameron was clinging onto him by his finger tips whilst seeking to reassure Lansley that he has his full support and that his job was safe. The gossip around Westminster was not as reassuring as the PM’s warm words. Over the weekend three senior Tories inside cabinet were briefing against him, whilst on BBC’s Andrew Marr show the Lib/Dem’s Deputy Leader called for Lansley to go.
Chaired
I chaired the Health Bill through its Common’s Committee stages and witnessed firsthand the tensions inside the Committee that is currently unfolding in the House of Lords. Even Conservative bloggers have begun briefing against Lansley saying, “He should be taken out and shot”. The PM will resist the political assassination of his Health Secretary for now, but with the Lib/Dems leadership calling for him to go, will Cameron face them down along with his own dissidents inside Cabinet to keep Lansley, or will he seek to calm the waters by promising to move him on in a Spring reshuffle whilst accepting more Lords amendments to the Bill? My money is on the latter.