Cameron: Blair should leave to end civil war
David Cameron insists Tories are a good alternative to govt
Monday, 08, May 2006 12:00
The feuding at the top of the Labour party is "deeply damaging" for the British government and the British people, David Cameron warned today.
The Conservative leader said the public rowing between supporters of Tony Blair and his chancellor showed a "state of civil war at the highest level of government".
He warned the prime minister had made a "great mistake" in pre-announcing his departure from office, and said: "I think the sooner he goes the better."
Mr Cameron was speaking after the newspapers this weekend were full of reports about a divided Labour party, with up to 50 MPs thought to have signed a letter calling for Mr Blair to give a timetable for when he will quit.
The prime minister has so far only said he would not serve a full third term, but speculation about his departure has reached a fevered pitch in the wake of Thursday's local election results, where Labour lost more than 300 council seats.
Mr Blair's supporters insist only he can put the party back on track, but critics say he is the problem and must go within the next 12 months.
"It is ludicrous what is taking place…we need a succession plan, but there's not going to be one. It's shambolic…this is a malaise that goes right through the party, with teams forming on either side to attack each other," Mr Cameron said this morning.
The Tory leader was providing reporters with an update on the party's policy reviews, in a press conference similar to Mr Blair's monthly briefing, which will take place later today.
Mr Cameron said his job was to provide "the best alternative for this government", and that he was doing this through long-term policy work carried out by the six review groups, and changes to the candidacy rules to ensure the party better reflected modern Britain.
The priority list for parliamentary candidates has now been drawn up and just over half of the candidates are women, and about ten per cent are from black and ethnic minority communities.
By the end of July, about 50 target and safe Tory constituencies should have selected their candidate for the next election from the list.
Mr Cameron also laid out plans to improve his party's representation in Britain's urban areas, particularly big northern cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle, where the Tories failed to gain any council seats in last week's local elections.
Lord Heseltine is already heading up a cities' taskforce to establish how the party can improve its appeal to urban voters, but the Tory leader said today that shadow ministers would also be given certain cities on which to focus their attention.
"We don't have a problem in cities per se," Mr Cameron said, citing the party's successes in London. "It is just those cities where our organisation has gone down and where our message is not getting across."
He added: "We're doing the long-term policy work to meet the challenges of tomorrow and creating a party to reflect Britain as it is today.
"We are building a party and a team that is credible alternative for government, and the contrast with the current government could not be clearer – they are incompetent, running out of steam, running out of ideas, and hopelessly divided".