David cameron

Downing Street has spent the past 24 hours trying to clarify David Cameron’s links to an offshore fund set up by his late father, which never paid tax in Britain. Initially, Downing Street said this was a ‘private matter’, Cameron was then asked about the matter, and said ‘I own no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that. And, so that, I think, is a very clear description.’ Then Downing Street issued a statement saying ‘to be clear, the Prime Minister, his wife and their children do not benefit from any offshore funds’. And today Number 10 had to clarify further: ‘There are no offshore funds/trusts which the prime minister, Mrs Cameron or their children will benefit from in future.

This hasn’t been a good week for the government. As I say in my Sun column today, it has been oddly off the pace in its response to Tata’s decision to sell off its UK steel plants. We have had the absurd sight of the Business Secretary flying to Australia and then turning round and coming back again. What makes all this so odd is that everyone knew that Tuesday’s meeting of the Tata board was key to the future of these plants. Government insiders say that the government being caught on the hop is another example of how Number 10’s obsession with the EU referendum means that it is dropping the ball elsewhere. One Minister tells me that ‘Downing Street are totally distracted’.

When Sir Gus O’Donnell was head of the civil service, those who worked under him would have prided themselves in the code that he was supposed to uphold: to be impartial, avoid politics and do their best to make sure the public is not misled. This morning, Sir Gus was involved in what can only be described as a systematic attempt to mislead the public about the EU and the terms in which Britain would leave. His point: that it would take more than two years to negotiate the terms of UK’s exit, and this deadline could only be prolonged with hard bargaining from hostile partners. "Obviously at the end of two years anything we haven't negotiated has to be extended by unanimity of a vote excluding us so that's a bit scary.

It is good that Matthew Parris has taken on Boris. The Mayor has had too easy a press in many quarters. There is a good reason for this: he is one of us. There is a bit of the Bullingdon in Fleet Street: we are often too disinclined to attack our own. Matthew Parris acknowledges this, and the vitriolic nature of his Times column on Saturday is an attempt to redress the balance. But for me, my objection is not that Matthew has gone over the top in his attack on Boris – it is that his line of attack is fundamentally wrong. The same is true of Nick Cohen’s blast yesterday on the same subject. Let’s brush over Matthew’s complaint that a man who once supported Clause 28 has no right to boast on an LGBT ‘out and proud’ video.

Early on in his leadership, David Cameron was clear that he wanted the Tories to stop ‘banging on about Europe.’ But Europe—or more specifically, the EU referendum—is now dominating Cameron’s time so much that he is neglecting domestic policy. I report in my Sun column today that one of those intimately involved in the disability benefits cuts debacle and IDS’ resignation told me that ‘Cameron is completely obsessed by Europe, he has taken his eye off the ball’. Now, as David Cameron takes a break in Lanzarote, he would be well advised to reflect on whether he wants to carry on letting the EU referendum crowd out other government business.

Why have David Cameron and George Osborne overreached? Why are so many in their own party no longer disposed to obey them? Obviously the great issue of Europe has something to do with it. But there is another factor. Victory at the last election, followed by the choice of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, has convinced too many Tories, including Mr Osborne himself, that they will be in power for ten more years at least. So they get careless and cocky. Then they make mistakes. Then they come up against the most admirable fact about parliamentary democracy, which is that you can never guarantee being in power for ten years. (You can’t even guarantee it for the prescribed five, though the iniquitous Fixed-term Parliament Act of the coalition has made this easier than before.

With the Conservatives currently experiencing inner party turmoil following Iain Duncan Smith's resignation over the Chancellor's Budget, there are concerns that in-fighting may soon overshadow the party's work. However, despite several backbenchers speaking out about their doubts in George Osborne's ability,  not every Tory is so fussed about the growing row. In an interview with Conservative Home, Nicholas Soames has offered his take on the situation. The Tory grandee says that Duncan Smith's resignation is simply an 'inconvenience' even though the media reaction suggests that there has 'been a coup by a black African dictator'.

With George Osborne's disastrous Budget the main topic of conversation today in the Chamber, Jeremy Corbyn surprised his colleagues by opting not to mention the Tories' current inner-party turmoil -- let alone Iain Duncan Smith's resignation -- in his speech. Instead it fell on his estranged comrades Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall to land some blows. Happily Dennis Skinner also joined in -- offering up one of his trademark one-liners. He asked David Cameron whether he would pledge to make this Budget Osborne's last: 'Will the Prime Minister give us an assurance that in the view of the financial mess that's been created with this Budget that this will be the Chancellor of Exchequer's last Budget? He's had eight already, only cats have nine lives.

Well, that was quick. In his letter responding to Iain Duncan Smith's resignation, the Prime Minister has this to say:- "We collectively agreed - you, No10 and the Treasury - proposals which you and your Department then announced a week ago. Today, we agreed not to proceed with the policies in their current form and instead to work together to get these policies right over the coming months." It was the disability benefit cuts that triggered the IDS resignation (or, rather, their being used in the Budget to help finance cuts to the higher rate of tax). The £1.3 billion cut was stated as a fact in the Budget, and the money banked. Then it was downgraded to a "suggestion" by Nicky Morgan on Question Time last night.