Tory chaos is so bad they bring back David Cameron

David Cameron (Picture: The Open University) 

The scale of the protests over Palestine and the rage at Suella Braverman have further broken Rishi Sunak’s government.

But it’s not the only issue splintering the Tories. The return of David Cameron, made a member of the House of Lords so he could be foreign secretary, will also further enrage the ultra-Brexiteers who didn’t want Braverman sacked.

It’s Sunak’s sign that those who opposed Brexit are welcome to return. Many Tories will see that as an admission they already lost the “Red Wall” constituencies they took in 2019. 

In 2015 an article in Haaretz newspaper had the headline “Is David Cameron the Most pro-Israel British PM Ever?” It said the idea of Cameron losing the election “is causing a shudder of dread to pass through Israeli diplomats and lobbyists in London”.

But Lord Cameron of Remain is no friend of workers. As prime minister his economic policy was to the right of Margaret Thatcher and, alongside George Osborne, he was the architect of bitter austerity from 2010 to 2016.

After he was forced out by the Brexit vote, he was embroiled in the Greensill scandal. He lobbied government ministers and civil servants on behalf of Greensill Capital. 

He lobbied at least four government ministers, including the then chancellor Rishi Sunak, health secretary Matt Hancock and two Treasury ministers.

But he may not last long. He is the seventh foreign secretary in seven years. More Tory turmoil is coming.  On Wednesday of next week, 22 November, chancellor Jeremy Hunt will unveil his Autumn Statement. 

It sets out public spending plans and, in many ways, is more important than the budget. And it comes as figures last week said there was zero economic growth between July and September.

Desperate measures floated in advance include lowering or scrapping inheritance tax, which would benefit the rich. 

It is paid on only about one in 20 estates at the moment. Half of the cut would go to those with wealth of £2.1 million or more. 

The Telegraph newspaper also reports that Hunt is “determined to give businesses a £10 billion tax cut”.

And the Daily Mail says Hunt wants “a fresh clampdown is looming next week on the ‘swathes’ of costly ‘box-ticking’ woke jobs in the civil service

Such plans reveal the warped priorities of the government—cash for the rich, wage cuts for workers and a squeeze on schools and the NHS.

But no such plans will be enough for the many Tory MPs and members who support former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

They want to go much further with tax cuts paid for by another assault on the poor.

This is a rotten and weak government which is still brutal. We need to finish it off with Palestine protests, strikes and more resistance.

More benefit cuts planned

Ministers plan to savage benefit payments for people who are unable to work due to health conditions.

The changes, affecting hundreds of thousands of people from 2025, would slash £4 billion from the welfare budget.

The cruel plans follow the announcement in March that the government wants to scrap the Work Capability Assessment. This is used to determine if people can receive additional benefits payments.

The new scheme would mean that people who, for example, are in severe pain while awaiting an operation or face depression and anxiety won’t receive the additional payment. Instead they would be expected to look for work.

Work coaches in Job Centres would determine how much effort a person had made to find a job. Those considered not to be trying hard enough could have their benefits cut.

Cost of living payments for people on disability benefits have already been dropped by the government this winter.

A £150 payment was available between 20 June 2023 and 4 July 2023 to people in receipt of certain disability benefits, including personal independence payment (PIP). 

But it will be withheld this autumn.