Nick boles

Gosh! Cripes! Gazooks! It seems that those tireless seekers of truth at the Guardian have done it again. They've stumbled on something of a scoop: so toxic is new Prime Minister Liz Truss that even her former colleagues don't want to vote for her. This afternoon the newspaper published a scathing piece by Nick Boles, the MP for Grantham and Stamford between 2010 and 2019. Headlined: 'I was a Tory MP, but Truss and Kwarteng have convinced me to vote Labour' it opens with this gem: 'Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng possess a level of intellectual self-confidence usually found among undergraduates. They always have' before rattling through 30 years of British economic policy-making, ending with this lacerating conclusion: In two years’ time, voters will be given a choice.

Who is your favourite brave Remainer Conservative MP? Anna Soubry has to be near the top of the list, for having remarked before the referendum: ‘We are trusting the British people. We will go to the people, and let the people decide whether or not to stay within the EU.’ And then at about lunchtime on 24 June 2016 bravely insisting that we should take not the slightest bit of notice of what the British people had decided. Or what about that brave no no-deal triumvirate of the early Victorian funeral directors ‘Hammond, Grieve and Gauke, for Exceptional Service in the Sad Event of Your Passing’, sunlight palely glinting on a cheap coffin lid?

At first, it seems fanciful. A backbench MP, Nick Boles, proposes to take power away from the government and place it in the hands of MPs, to prevent a no-deal Brexit. Can one backbencher usurp power in this way? It’s ambitious. But under the British system, government reports to parliament, not the other way around. Usually the distinction is moot, because government can control the Commons. But when that control collapses, every kind of mischief becomes possible. Until a couple of months ago I was director of legislative affairs under Theresa May in No. 10, where it was my job to look at parliamentary procedures. It’s quite a minefield.

Despite the good weather and England's good World Cup result, it hasn't been a relaxing weekend for all. Step forward Gavin Williamson. The ambitious defence secretary has found himself in the line of fire, with the Mail on Sunday splashing on reports that he has threatened to topple the prime minister unless defence spending is increased by £20bn. Given that Theresa May doesn't yet have a firm plan in place to fund her £20bn NHS pledge, it's hard to see her signing up to this anytime soon. Allies of Williamson – known as Private Pike in the Treasury – have moved to deny the reports. However, regardless, the incident has not gone down particularly well with Williamson's colleagues.

Sajid Javid has only been Home Secretary for seven hours but already he appears to have settled into the role with gusto. In his first appearance at the despatch box as Home Secrtary, Javid was greeted with cheers from the Tory benches before warning Diane Abbott – his opposite number – that she did not have a 'monopoly' on anger over the Windrush debacle. Javid also made sure to put some clear blue water between himself and his predecessor's predecessor – one Theresa May. Asked by Labour's Stephen Doughty whether about the net deportations target, Javid said he was not currently aware of any cases of wrongful deportation – before adding that he will not be using the term 'hostile environment' as it does 'not represent our values'.

On Friday night, Nick Boles set the cat among the pigeons when he tweeted his frustrations at Theresa May's timid government: https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/954409789152514049 With Boles not a typical rebel, his complaints appear to mirror what many MPs have been saying privately. Now, Nicholas Soames has spoken out. Winston Churchill's grandson has joined Boles in using hashtags to criticise Theresa May. Soames says '#wherestheboldandbravesofaritsdulldulldull' needed to beat the 'Corbini': https://twitter.com/NSoames/status/955386579895373825 Expect more critical MPs to come out of the woodwork in the coming days.

It's the end of the week and it's hard to say what the government has actually achieved. Whether it's deciding not to launch a judicial inquiry in the John Worboys case or not to tackle the growing pressures on the NHS, the government appears to be in a state of drift. Unfortunately for Theresa May this has caught the attention of one of her more amiable MPs. Step forward Nick Boles. The former minister has taken to social media on a Friday night to criticise his party leader. Boles says 'there is a timidity and lack of ambition about Mrs May's Government which means it constantly disappoints'. He concludes that she must 'raise her game'. https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/954409789152514049 This unprecedented intervention will worry No 10 is that Boles is no typical rebel.

Watching the general election from my newsroom is an out-of-body experience. I’ve been involved in the last five general elections variously as photocopy boy, parliamentary candidate, shadow minister, campaign manager and chancellor. This time I’m reporting on the election as editor of the Evening Standard. I have a lot to learn; but I have a great team to help me.

One of the more dispiriting things about this reshuffle has been the way in which important policy areas appear to have been downgraded. This week's leading article in The Spectator lambasts the decision to move Michael Gove from Education, arguing that it means his reforms will slow and future politicians will still be able to criticise the number of Old Etonians in the Cabinet: The Prime Minister and his coterie embody the problem. Gove was out to fix it, fighting a battle on behalf of the state school pupils -a battle that even Thatcher shied away from. Cameron has now decided that he’d rather this battle was not fought. His decision to abandon this battle and move Gove to become Chief Whip puts party before pupils.

If I was going to measure possible reasons to desert the Tories at the next election, and I can think of a couple, plans to concrete over the countryside would score pretty highly. As a theoretical idea about something happening miles away from my home it almost makes me want to write letters to the Telegraph; if it were in my backyard I’d be shaking my fist at passing traffic or whatever people in the countryside do when they’re angry. This is moderately dangerous to the party, because what’s different now to, say, five years ago is that disaffected shire Tories have a plausible alternative to turn to, one that isn’t just opportunistically opposing plans (and therefore likely to change) but which is campaigning against the primary cause of de-greening.

From Fraser Nelson: David Cameron proposing delaying welfare payments to EU immigrants – which some might see as his listening more to Lynton Crosby and less to the likes of modernisers like Nick Boles (whose approach to politics Bruce Anderson critiques below). But Boles has advocated going far further: deporting EU immigrants who don’t work. He believes he has found a clause in EU law that allows it. Given that Boles is generally seen as an uber-moderniser,  I thought Coffee Housers may be interested in seeing another side to his political thought -  a deportation plan which is further than most right-wing Tory MPs would go.  The below is abridged from his book 'Which Way’s Up'? I have changed my mind about immigration.