Fractious Tories Need Soothing

That there is a group of right-wing Tory MPs who are distinctly out of sympathy with David Cameron is no surprise. That they are becoming more fractious is perhaps predictable in the wake of the Oldham by-election loss and the rebellion on Europe. But the Prime Minister probably also needs to take note of the fact that the every thought and bother of this group gets a good deal of media coverage, given the innate sympathy of much of the 'Tory' press for the certainties of Thatcherism, and their inability to deal with or understand coalition politics. The Spectator's James Forsyth, who earns a useful extra crust with a Daily Mail column, is a youthful cheerleader for them, and seems to have impeccable right-wing contacts. The first part of his column today (for in true Daily Mail style it is not deemed safe to spend too long in print on any one issue) illuminates the problem, including putting the verb 'to Flashman' into the public domain, and re-telling a nice little tale about Cameron and arch Euro-sceptic Bill Cash debating matters over lunch. It might be time for the PM to start getting his own tribe of media commentators behind him!