Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Tory Reaction Forces Clarification from Ancram

Michael Ancram has just emailed a copy of his pamphlet to each Conservative MP, accompanied by the following message...
In the light of today's somewhat lurid headlines, I am attaching the whole
pamphlet in the hope that you might find time to read it for what it is meant to
be; my offering to the debate on the Party's direction. You will notice that I
pay tribute to David Cameron for what he has achieved thus far and hope that the
exciting policies coming from the Commissions will be a fresh means of
articulating the principles and beliefs which I set out..

Michael

It strikes me he has been somewhat taken aback at the reaction to his comments in the Telegraph. I suspect his phone has been red hot this morning with various Tory MPs expressing their annoyance over his words. I understand that Iain Duncan Smith's former spinner in chief Nick Wood handled the press operation for Michael Ancram. Well he certainly got the headlines for him! Nick wrote an interesting piece yesterday on ConservativeHome about Cameron's media coverage HERE.

UPDATE: Read Ancram's policy paper STILL A CONSERVATIVE HERE. Thanks to An Englishman's Castle.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

He's still a prat!

Wrinkled Weasel said...

Ancram for London mayor and Pope.

(worthy of any troll, I think!)

(oh sorry, I broke my golden rule and alluded to mavis chancroid)

Anonymous said...

How could a man so experienced not realise how this would be taken up by the Labour-friendly media.
Eddie Mair covered Ancram's message on BBC' PM and had the cheek to say, "This latest Tory row has overshadowed the Tory Public Service Plans introduced today".
So PM didn't cover the launch by Stephen Dorrell and Baroness Perry.
I urge Tories to write to the attention-seeking fathead at The House of Lords to tell him what they think of him.

Anonymous said...

Hmm, an old backbencher says a few words and it's worth talking about?

Meanwhile the British troops begin their pull out from Basra. The Iraq policy has been a disaster from the beginning, from blunder to ignorace, we've made it a worse place than under Saddam, thousands are dead, billions of pounds have been wasted and even the oil price is higher. Yet Geoff Hoon and Jack Straw are cabinet ministers?

What's worth discussing?

The Splund said...

What Lucy said

MorrisOx said...

If the affable Earl really has been 'taken aback', as you put it, then he is a little out of touch with prevailing political reality.

The Crustygraph is far from being Cameron's greatest fan, and Ancram must know that.

In any case, amid all this 'new politics' (!), surely a man should be free to voice his opinions without fear of a corruscating response from semi-detached 'sources close to the Conservative leader' in tomorrow's op ed columns?

David Lindsay said...

You do realise that he's the sort of Tory people vote for (see the local elections - how many Cameroon Councillors are there?), whereas nobody votes Tory if it feels like voting for David Cameron (see the parliamentary by-elections since he took over)?

That isn't about being a "Thatcherite", which Cameron is, insofar as there really is such a thing. It is about being a conservative, which Thatcher wasn't, and which Cameron isn't, but which Ancram probably is.

Bob Piper said...

I thought the Tory Reaction Forces were the bulk of your commenters, Iain.

Anonymous said...

Bob Piper:

Why don't you and the laughably arrogantly self-named "Fair Deal Phil" go and take a very loooong walk off a short pier?

You never appear on here other than to insult Iain and you reckon you're "oh so clever" for doing it.

You're just a couple of pathetic nobodies who get an ego boost from posting on here and feeling all important.

I can tell you what most people here think of you - and even some people who I've spoken to who know you.

A cupid stunt.

Tapestry said...

Michael Ancram - say what you have to say in 250 words or @@@ off. The world will not be able to slow down to your pace, and read pamphlets more suited to past eras, when people had hours of leisure time to read such dullness. What's your slogan? What's your strapline? What's your main theme or themes - in 250 words only? Go....

Anonymous said...

"I understand that Iain Duncan Smith's former spinner in chief Nick Wood handled the press operation for Michael Ancram."

So the old right is still trying to undermine things. Brilliant. Cheers guys, obviously you agree with party unity but only on your terms.

Bob Piper said...

Nice to see anonymous took the bait. Catch one every time. Reel the bugger in.

Cast off... see if we can catch another passing clown.

Anonymous said...

Bob Piper (10.34pm) said: "Nice to see anonymous took the bait. Catch one every time. Reel the bugger in.

Cast off... see if we can catch another passing clown."

Ah, so it was a cunning stunt after all? Hat's off to you, Bob. You are obviously the sort of chap who could go far in local politics - have you thought about Basra? They are in need of someone of your obvious intellectual ability.

Anonymous said...

Personally I never had much time for Ancram when he was in government, but he's gone up hugely in my estimation over this.

I imagine that, while he may have had some angry phonecalls from MPS, he'll be getting lots of supportive letters from the grassroots as all he's done is express what most of us have been saying for months.

Anonymous said...

Heffer this morning suggests that 'the telegraph reaction'isn't all that negative.
He is tiresome in tone but i do share his yearning for something a bit crunchier from DC-and we are starting to see it,so i think the watch word is patience and continuing to expose the clunking fist's Big Lies.Shadowing the Governments expenditure plans seems defeatist on the ability to make the argument on wasted money and and a client cohort of unproductive workers.

Anonymous said...

Is that how Ancram wrote it? He doesn't seem to know what a semi-colon is for.

Anonymous said...

This is what you get when you have the b*stards outside the tent pi*sing in.