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| British Leader’s Liberal Turn Stirs a Rebellion in His Party | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| LONDON — First, a prominent Tory called the party’s rank and file “swivel-eyed loons.” Then the populist politician Nigel Farage called Prime Minister David Cameron and his Tory-led government “a bunch of college kids.” Then The Daily Mail called Mr. Farage, the leader of the U.K. Independence Party, a “pint-guzzling eccentric.” | LONDON — First, a prominent Tory called the party’s rank and file “swivel-eyed loons.” Then the populist politician Nigel Farage called Prime Minister David Cameron and his Tory-led government “a bunch of college kids.” Then The Daily Mail called Mr. Farage, the leader of the U.K. Independence Party, a “pint-guzzling eccentric.” |
| At the heart of all this competitive insulting in the halls of Westminster this week was something deadly serious: a battle over the future of the fractured, fractious Conservative Party and its leader, the increasingly fragile prime minister. | At the heart of all this competitive insulting in the halls of Westminster this week was something deadly serious: a battle over the future of the fractured, fractious Conservative Party and its leader, the increasingly fragile prime minister. |
| Mr. Cameron had a respite Thursday from the negative chatter swirling around him when he appeared outside 10 Downing Street to denounce the murder one day before of a British soldier on a London street. The attack, he said, “will only bring us together and make us stronger.” | Mr. Cameron had a respite Thursday from the negative chatter swirling around him when he appeared outside 10 Downing Street to denounce the murder one day before of a British soldier on a London street. The attack, he said, “will only bring us together and make us stronger.” |
| The country, maybe. But the Conservative Party itself is in no mood for unity. | The country, maybe. But the Conservative Party itself is in no mood for unity. |
| Buffeted by criticism of his policy on Europe, battered by rebellion in the ranks over his bill to legalize same-sex marriage and wounded by the perception that he is supercilious, contemptuous and out of touch with mainstream Conservatism, Mr. Cameron earlier this week took the highly unusual step of sending a mass e-mail (or, as he called it, “a personal note”) to his party’s grass-roots members. | Buffeted by criticism of his policy on Europe, battered by rebellion in the ranks over his bill to legalize same-sex marriage and wounded by the perception that he is supercilious, contemptuous and out of touch with mainstream Conservatism, Mr. Cameron earlier this week took the highly unusual step of sending a mass e-mail (or, as he called it, “a personal note”) to his party’s grass-roots members. |
| Mr. Cameron praised what he said were common Conservative values like “duty, decency and civic pride.” He said he believed “that you change things not by criticizing from your armchair but by getting out and doing.” And then, in a reference to damaging reports that one of his closest allies had dismissed provincial Tories as unhinged (and crazy-eyed), he declared that he had nothing but respect for such Tories. | Mr. Cameron praised what he said were common Conservative values like “duty, decency and civic pride.” He said he believed “that you change things not by criticizing from your armchair but by getting out and doing.” And then, in a reference to damaging reports that one of his closest allies had dismissed provincial Tories as unhinged (and crazy-eyed), he declared that he had nothing but respect for such Tories. |
| “I am proud of what you do,” Mr. Cameron wrote. “And I would never have around me those who sneered or thought otherwise. We are a team, from the parish council to the local association to Parliament, and I never forget it.” | “I am proud of what you do,” Mr. Cameron wrote. “And I would never have around me those who sneered or thought otherwise. We are a team, from the parish council to the local association to Parliament, and I never forget it.” |
| At a time when Mr. Cameron is being squeezed from both sides — from the right by members of his own party and by the anti-immigrant, anti-Europe U.K. Independence Party, and from the left by his Liberal Democrat coalition partners — the move seemed uncharacteristically clunky. | At a time when Mr. Cameron is being squeezed from both sides — from the right by members of his own party and by the anti-immigrant, anti-Europe U.K. Independence Party, and from the left by his Liberal Democrat coalition partners — the move seemed uncharacteristically clunky. |
| “Is it not a bizarre moment when a party leader has to write to his members to say he respects them?” Chris Bryant, a Labour member of Parliament, said on Twitter. | “Is it not a bizarre moment when a party leader has to write to his members to say he respects them?” Chris Bryant, a Labour member of Parliament, said on Twitter. |
| Indeed, the party does not seem convinced. Last week, the problem was Europe; this week, it was same-sex marriage. When Mr. Cameron said he would introduce legislation to make it legal for same-sex couples to marry, the bill seemed like a sure thing, a chance for him to fulfill one of his progressive social policy goals with relative ease. | Indeed, the party does not seem convinced. Last week, the problem was Europe; this week, it was same-sex marriage. When Mr. Cameron said he would introduce legislation to make it legal for same-sex couples to marry, the bill seemed like a sure thing, a chance for him to fulfill one of his progressive social policy goals with relative ease. |
| But the bill ran into unexpected trouble this week, as more and more Tories publicly attacked it, with 129 of them deviating from the party line to vote against it Tuesday. The bill is likely to become law eventually, but only with help from the Labour opposition and only after inflicting substantial wounds on the government. | But the bill ran into unexpected trouble this week, as more and more Tories publicly attacked it, with 129 of them deviating from the party line to vote against it Tuesday. The bill is likely to become law eventually, but only with help from the Labour opposition and only after inflicting substantial wounds on the government. |
| With Mr. Cameron already on the back foot after a parade of influential Tories declared that Britain should hold an immediate referendum on whether to leave the European Union — instead of waiting, as Mr. Cameron favors — other unhappy party members have seized on the chance to air wider criticisms. | With Mr. Cameron already on the back foot after a parade of influential Tories declared that Britain should hold an immediate referendum on whether to leave the European Union — instead of waiting, as Mr. Cameron favors — other unhappy party members have seized on the chance to air wider criticisms. |
| Their basic complaint: Mr. Cameron is too liberal, too metropolitan, too snobby, too out of touch with what traditional Tories, who tend to be older and live outside of London, are feeling. | Their basic complaint: Mr. Cameron is too liberal, too metropolitan, too snobby, too out of touch with what traditional Tories, who tend to be older and live outside of London, are feeling. |
| Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary, the University of London, and the author of “The Conservative Party From Thatcher to Cameron,” said the prime minister made a fundamental mistake in trying to impose his socially liberal agenda on members of his party without persuading them of its merits. | Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary, the University of London, and the author of “The Conservative Party From Thatcher to Cameron,” said the prime minister made a fundamental mistake in trying to impose his socially liberal agenda on members of his party without persuading them of its merits. |
| “One can make a reasonable argument that the guy is out-Thatchering Thatcher in some ways,” Dr. Bale said, referring to the government’s austerity spending program and increasingly tough line on immigration, “and yet his party still has a problem.” | “One can make a reasonable argument that the guy is out-Thatchering Thatcher in some ways,” Dr. Bale said, referring to the government’s austerity spending program and increasingly tough line on immigration, “and yet his party still has a problem.” |
| Capitalizing on the restive mood, Mr. Farage, the U.K. Independence Party leader, took out an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph this week inviting unhappy Tories to defect. In it Mr. Farage sniped that the Cameron government — made up disproportionately of career politicians who graduated from Eton and Oxbridge — was “run by a bunch of college kids, none of whom have ever had a proper job in their lives.” | Capitalizing on the restive mood, Mr. Farage, the U.K. Independence Party leader, took out an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph this week inviting unhappy Tories to defect. In it Mr. Farage sniped that the Cameron government — made up disproportionately of career politicians who graduated from Eton and Oxbridge — was “run by a bunch of college kids, none of whom have ever had a proper job in their lives.” |
| Moreover, he said, these “kids” are “obsessed with wind farms and introducing gay marriage, and happy to open the door to 29 million Romanians and Bulgarians from January 1 next year.” (The last bit was a reference to the lifting in 2014 of restrictions on the movement of Bulgarian and Romanian citizens through the European Union). | Moreover, he said, these “kids” are “obsessed with wind farms and introducing gay marriage, and happy to open the door to 29 million Romanians and Bulgarians from January 1 next year.” (The last bit was a reference to the lifting in 2014 of restrictions on the movement of Bulgarian and Romanian citizens through the European Union). |
| London’s right-leaning newspapers, which tend to run hot and cold on the prime minister, are veering toward Arctic right now. | London’s right-leaning newspapers, which tend to run hot and cold on the prime minister, are veering toward Arctic right now. |
| The Times of London said that Mr. Cameron was weak and “lacking in the most basic party management skills.” The Daily Mail, which provides a running litany of how the country is going down the tubes, accused the prime minister of “sublime incompetence,” calling his management of the European Union issue a “fiasco” and his handling of the same-sex marriage bill “an embarrassment.” The Daily Telegraph compared the current situation to that faced by former Prime Minister John Major, whose premiership was buried beneath a mountain of internecine squabbling, mostly over Europe. | The Times of London said that Mr. Cameron was weak and “lacking in the most basic party management skills.” The Daily Mail, which provides a running litany of how the country is going down the tubes, accused the prime minister of “sublime incompetence,” calling his management of the European Union issue a “fiasco” and his handling of the same-sex marriage bill “an embarrassment.” The Daily Telegraph compared the current situation to that faced by former Prime Minister John Major, whose premiership was buried beneath a mountain of internecine squabbling, mostly over Europe. |
| And then, from out of right field, came Norman Tebbit, a former Conservative Party chairman who tends to speak for a small but steady right-wing minority in the party, dead against same-sex marriage. | And then, from out of right field, came Norman Tebbit, a former Conservative Party chairman who tends to speak for a small but steady right-wing minority in the party, dead against same-sex marriage. |
| In an interview with the magazine The Big Issue, Mr. Tebbit imagined a situation in which some future queen is a lesbian “who marries another lady and then decides she would like to have a child.” If “someone donates sperm,” he continued, “and she gives birth to a child, is that child heir to the throne?” | In an interview with the magazine The Big Issue, Mr. Tebbit imagined a situation in which some future queen is a lesbian “who marries another lady and then decides she would like to have a child.” If “someone donates sperm,” he continued, “and she gives birth to a child, is that child heir to the throne?” |
| Downing Street had no comment. | Downing Street had no comment. |