Irate Nadine Dorries is a Boris Johnson loyalist – but she’s no Tory titan
PROUD Scouser Nadine Dorries is warm, funny and smarter than Tory critics think she is.
She is also one of the few top Conservatives ready to die in a ditch for hero Boris Johnson.
But the ex-Culture Secretary is no Tory titan.
Her record in Cabinet does not qualify as a masterclass in political footwork.
To quote one admirer: “Nadine may not always be honest, but she always honestly says what is on her mind.”
Which sums up her wild and often savage tirade against Rishi Sunak as the alleged leader of “very powerful men” fomenting “corruption at the heart of our party”.
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The thrust of Nadine’s bombshell is that saintly BoJo was “assassinated” by lesser mortals such as the current PM, who have since made a hash of running the country.
“You flashed your gleaming smile in your Prada shoes and Savile Row suit from behind a camera, but you just weren’t listening,” she seethes.
Meanwhile, she claims Rishi stepped in personally to stop her receiving one of the dozens of peerages on Boris’s controversial resignation honours list.
Sources insist this is delusional rubbish. The PM has no say in these decisions.
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Nadine goes on to suggest Rishi has betrayed Conservative principles by raising taxes and failing to take full advantage of Brexit.
She makes no mention of the splurge in state spending under Boris, which saddled the UK with crippling levels of debt.
Nor his own failure to maximise our prospects outside the EU by cutting regulation.
Or the costly madness of Net Zero.
Nadine also claims a cabal of unnamed figures are to blame for dumping four Tory leaders in seven years.
Seizing on divisions
But David Cameron had no choice but to resign in 2016 after losing his own Brexit referendum.
Remainer Theresa May can blame nobody else after making a hash of leaving the EU.
And the less said about Liz Truss’s 49 days in office, the better.
As for Boris, even his closest allies concede he may have been a brilliant election-winner and Brexiteer but he was below par at running the country.
None of this washes with diehard BoJo fans, whose views about his successor are more or less unprintable.
Indeed, if you were a conspiracy theorist, you might wonder if there was anything they would not do to sabotage an already unlikely Rishi election victory.
Such as publishing resignation letters like Nadine’s.
The Labour Party, understandably, is seizing upon these divisions.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has convinced fat-cat City sponsors that Labour — not their traditional Tory allies — is safe with their money.
The party’s campaign coffers are overflowing with cash for the next election.
In what must be music to the business world’s ears, Reeves rules out “any plans” for a wealth tax, mansion tax or hikes in capital gains tax or the top rate of income tax.
Instead, in what might be mistaken for the authentic voice of Tory Central Office, she vows to do “whatever it takes” to attract private investment to Britain.
But can we trust Labour promises?
Reeves is apparently ditching tax policies which seemed set in concrete just a couple of years ago. What’s changed?
The answer is: whatever it takes to win power. Remember American President George Bush Senior’s sacred vow: “Watch my lips: No new taxes”.
He lost the next election after raising taxes soon after.
Breaking your word
Saying you have “no plans” is a standard political con trick — weasel words which mean whatever you want them to mean.
All sorts of unforeseen circumstances can be found or invented to justify breaking your word.
Take London Mayor Sadiq Khan . . . please.
Today he insisted he has “no plans” to use his detested Ulez cameras to roll out a pay-per-mile road tax across the capital.
In point of fact this is precisely what Labour will do nationwide if elected.
It’s the old thimble and pea trick — now you see it, now you don’t.
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And by diverting voters’ attention, Nadine Dorries and her fellow BoJo conspirators are letting Labour get away with it.
Some might call it a betrayal.