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David Cameron becomes Britain's new Harold Wilson over EU referendum

Prime minister lays ground for referendum after EU negotiations in which UK would be lucky to secure cosmetic changes Share 6 inShare0 Email Harold Wilson held a referendum to confirm Britain's membership of the EEC in 1975 after securing cosmetic changes. Photograph: Imagno/Getty Images David Cameron will loathe the comparison. But he is lining up to become the new Harold Wilson of British politics. Labour's second longest serving prime minister famously papered over cracks in his cabinet by holding a referendum in 1975 to confirm Britain's membership of the EEC. The referendum is held up as an example of Wilson's central flaw – that he was a schemer whose main aim was to hold his feuding cabinets together. Cameron finds himself in a similar position. The prime minister laid the ground for a possible referendum on Britain's place in the EU when he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that "the two words 'Europe' and 'referendum' can go tog

Tory right to David Cameron: we should be ready to go off 'on our own'

Ex aide shows spectacular brilliance or spectacular stupidity by saying minority government would deliver true Tory agenda Share 19 inShare0 Email David Cameron and Nick Clegg with engineers Garry Matthews (left) and Michael Bailey at the Soho railway depot in Smethwick. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA So that's clear then. David Cameron and Nick Clegg have swept aside critics in both their parties who hope the coalition will end before the next general election in 2015. The obvious target in their sights is Graham Brady, the chairman of the Conservative 1922 committee, who suggested that the coalition might end before 2015. Since Cameron and Clegg's joint appearance in Smethwick, Stewart Jackson, who resigned as a ministerial aide last October over a proposed EU referendum, has just raised the prospect of a minority Conservative government. It is worth examining exactly what Brady and Jackson said to illustrate how the Tory right still struggles to understand why Britai

Nick Clegg: extra welfare cuts can only be made if rich pay up too

Deputy prime minister proposed emergency wealth tax amid fears George Osborne will target poor with £10bn welfare cuts Share 8 inShare0 Email Nick Clegg is being compared to Denis Healey, pictured here holding up his 'mini-budget' box in October 1977, who famously said he would tax property speculators 'until the pips squeak' Photograph: Mike Stephens/Getty Images My interview with Nick Clegg in Wednesday's Guardian, in which the deputy prime minister proposed an emergency wealth tax, appears to have livened up Westminster. George Osborne warned during a visit to Sunderland that his idea could hamper the economic recovery. Bernard Jenkin, who is rapidly turning into a Tory grandee, dismissed the idea as the politics of envy. Chris Leslie, the shadow treasury minister, said the Lib Dems were "taking the British people for fools" because they voted in favour of cutting the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p. And now Denis Healey, who is 94 tomorrow

Top Tory: David Cameron is no Margaret Thatcher. He's our Ted Heath

Conservative MPs say prime minister weakened by reshuffle which resulted in 'culpable homicide' of talented ministers Share 28 inShare0 Email David Cameron is turning into the Tories' new Ted Heath, according to senior Conservatives. Photograph: Composite David Cameron's position must be serious. At the launch of the new Conservative Voice Group on Tuesday morning, a group of Tories on the centre right of the party were muted in their criticisms of the prime minister. The group was originally set up to put a brake on Cameron's modernisation project. On Tuesday members of the group simply said they wanted to ensure there is a strong Conservative voice as the party shares power with the Liberal Democrats. Why kick an injured man while he is down, goes the thinking. The latest barb about Cameron doing the rounds, even in ministerial circles, is that he is fast becoming the Tories' new Ted Heath. This is one of the biggest insults in the Tory lexicon bec

Boris Johnson passes nuclear button test as he beats Margaret Thatcher

London mayor grows in gravitas as new poll shows he is UK's most respected politician, even beating the Iron Lady Share 97 inShare0 Email Boris Johnson will hope he is now seen as a serious figure who can be entrusted with the nuclear deterrent after a poll showed he is more respected than Margaret Thatcher Photograph: Peter Jordan/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image Boris Johnson will be familiar with the Peter Sellers film Dr Strangelove. The film, which famously satirises the dangers of having the wrong finger on the nuclear button, highlights the main charge against the London mayor as he strives to succeed David Cameron. Can a man who has made a career out of playing the buffoon be trusted with Britain's nuclear deterrent? Downing Street, which was irritated with the media attention lavished on Johnson when he upstaged David Cameron at the Olympics and Paralympics parade, believes the nuclear button is, to mix a metaphor, its trump card. Serious times require

Tories: Police Federation fanning flames of Andrew Mitchell row

Some Tories believe the Police Federation is exacting revenge for government cuts by prolonging the row over Andrew Mitchell Share 32 inShare0 Email Tories believe the Police Federation is stoking the row over Andrew Mitchell after his confrontation with armed officers in Downing Street. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian It is a sign of how politics has moved on from the days of Margaret Thatcher that a senior Conservative can find himself in a slanging match with the police and survive. In the 1980s it was irresponsible left wingers, who had no respect for law and order in the eyes of the Thatcherites, who would clash with police. And yet Andrew Mitchell, the man charged with ensuring discipline in the Tory ranks as chief whip, remains in his post even after admitting that he swore at police in Downing Street last week. There is one simple – and one deeper – reason why Mitchell has survived. In the first place David Cameron accepts that Mitchell did not call the p

Jack Straw's memoirs: knocking the halo off John Smith

I remain largely in agreement with Straw's low-key pragmatism but his warts-and-all assessment of Smith will make him a few more enemies Share 4 inShare0 Email Jack Straw, who says John Smith's immense inner confidence was not matched by courage. Photograph: David Levene Whenever discussing the Blair government in its heyday an old chum and I found that he would take whatever Robin Cook's position was on, say, Europe or constitutional reform while I would instinctively align myself with the more sceptical instincts of Jack Straw. Cook is long dead and I will resist rehearsing my still-held doubts about his approach to politics, though whenever I walk through a deserted House of Commons at eight o'clock at night I think of Robin's ardent commitment to "family friendly" hours with a wry smile. Our last proper conversation was on the morning of the 7/7 bombings when we found ourselves walking across St James's Park towards Westminster after th