David Cameron faced down accusations yesterday that he was ignoring bread-and-butter issues as he set off on a two-day visit to Rwanda to champion the Conservatives' emphasis on international development.
Aides said the Tory leader was relaxed about signs of renewed strife in the party's ranks after two byelection defeats and a run of negative polls. The latest, by YouGov for yesterday's Sunday Times, put Labour seven points ahead.
But at least two, and perhaps as many as six, unnamed MPs have written to Sir Michael Spicer, chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, urging a vote of no confidence, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
Though the chances of such a motion being tabled are unlikely - 29 names are needed to force a vote - it was reinforced by attacks from the former home office minister Ann Widdecombe and David Davies, the MP for Monmouth, who urged him to concentrate on crime and immigration. Ms Widdecombe said: "He has been very successful in getting support from people who previously would not have looked at us. But he must now pay a great deal of attention to shoring up our traditional vote."
The party's leadership believes aid is a key issue. In an interview for Sky News, Mr Cameron said: "What we are not going to do is retreat to the comfort zone. I made changes to the Conservative party over the last 18 months for a very clear purpose - to get us back into the centre ground, to get us into a position where people would listen to what we were saying, where we were in touch with Britain as it is today, talking about the things people care about. I am proud of the fact that we are the greatest aid donor to Rwanda."
He said the Tories' visit was "a damn good thing for an opposition to do".
Mr Cameron will be greeted in Rwanda by 43 Conservatives, including MPs, candidates, councillors, and public servants, who are spending a fortnight working on small aid projects designed and organised by Andrew Mitchell, the shadow international development secretary.
Mr Cameron will welcome the report by the party's policy group on globalisation and global poverty, advised by Bob Geldof and chaired by the former social security secretary Peter Lilley, to be launched tomorrow. "In the 21st century extreme poverty is not only a preventable economic absurdity but a moral disgrace," Mr Lilley will say.
The report will call on wealthy countries to decide which will take the lead in monitoring how aid funds are spent in each country. The plan will involve a "global donor index" that names and shames countries which tie up their aid in red tape or create grand schemes for their own benefit.
Yesterday Mr Mitchell, speaking of events back home, condemned "the gutless wittering of unnamed colleagues", behind the calls for a no-confidence vote.
David Mundell, the shadow Scotland secretary, said the "tea-room chatter" seemed irrelevant in a country such as Rwanda. "If some of our colleagues concentrated on the important issues both at home and internationally and less on the internal machinations of the party, they'd be doing the party and the country a service," he said. "It's the same people who have been grumbling for 20 years."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/jul/23/conservatives.politics
Aides said the Tory leader was relaxed about signs of renewed strife in the party's ranks after two byelection defeats and a run of negative polls. The latest, by YouGov for yesterday's Sunday Times, put Labour seven points ahead.
But at least two, and perhaps as many as six, unnamed MPs have written to Sir Michael Spicer, chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, urging a vote of no confidence, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
Though the chances of such a motion being tabled are unlikely - 29 names are needed to force a vote - it was reinforced by attacks from the former home office minister Ann Widdecombe and David Davies, the MP for Monmouth, who urged him to concentrate on crime and immigration. Ms Widdecombe said: "He has been very successful in getting support from people who previously would not have looked at us. But he must now pay a great deal of attention to shoring up our traditional vote."
The party's leadership believes aid is a key issue. In an interview for Sky News, Mr Cameron said: "What we are not going to do is retreat to the comfort zone. I made changes to the Conservative party over the last 18 months for a very clear purpose - to get us back into the centre ground, to get us into a position where people would listen to what we were saying, where we were in touch with Britain as it is today, talking about the things people care about. I am proud of the fact that we are the greatest aid donor to Rwanda."
He said the Tories' visit was "a damn good thing for an opposition to do".
Mr Cameron will be greeted in Rwanda by 43 Conservatives, including MPs, candidates, councillors, and public servants, who are spending a fortnight working on small aid projects designed and organised by Andrew Mitchell, the shadow international development secretary.
Mr Cameron will welcome the report by the party's policy group on globalisation and global poverty, advised by Bob Geldof and chaired by the former social security secretary Peter Lilley, to be launched tomorrow. "In the 21st century extreme poverty is not only a preventable economic absurdity but a moral disgrace," Mr Lilley will say.
The report will call on wealthy countries to decide which will take the lead in monitoring how aid funds are spent in each country. The plan will involve a "global donor index" that names and shames countries which tie up their aid in red tape or create grand schemes for their own benefit.
Yesterday Mr Mitchell, speaking of events back home, condemned "the gutless wittering of unnamed colleagues", behind the calls for a no-confidence vote.
David Mundell, the shadow Scotland secretary, said the "tea-room chatter" seemed irrelevant in a country such as Rwanda. "If some of our colleagues concentrated on the important issues both at home and internationally and less on the internal machinations of the party, they'd be doing the party and the country a service," he said. "It's the same people who have been grumbling for 20 years."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/jul/23/conservatives.politics
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