Anglican Mainstream

Half of MPs vote to reject gay marriage.  Jeremy Paxman presses Maria Miller.  Councillor Mary Douglas talks about legislation of which a 'tinpot dictator would be proud'. 

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By Peter Dominiczak, Telegraph

Jeremy Paxman, the veteran BBC presenter, has revealed that he has heard senior Tories describe activists as “swivel-eyed loons”

The Daily Telegraph and other newspapers disclosed on Saturday that a member of David Cameron’s inner circle had described Conservative association members as “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.

Speaking during his BBC Newsnight programme, Mr Paxman said that he had been present when high-ranking Tories had used those terms to describe local party members.

Mr Paxman’s comments are sure to increase the pressure on Mr Cameron over the issue, which has caused deep divisions in the Tory Party.

The Prime Minister yesterday attempted to assure party members in an email that neither he nor his inner circle would ever “sneer” at them.

Mr Cameron did not refer explicitly to the “mad, swivel-eyed loons” remark, but insisted that he admired and respected his party’s activists.

Interviewing Tory activist Binita Mehta on his programme last night Mr Paxman said: “What about this swivel-eyed loon[s]…that such language can be used by people near the centre of the party about people who get the party elected?”

He added: “I have heard senior members of your party talking about local activists in these terms.”

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Read also:  The big winner of last night's gay marriage vote is the metrosexual establishment by Cristina Odone

By Nicholas Watt, Guardian

Rebel Tories are defeated in Commons after PM's last minute plea to Ed Miliband

The government's gay marriage bill was saved after David Cameron was forced to rely on Ed Miliband to defeat an attempt by his own MPs to derail the measure by trying to extend civil partnerships to heterosexual couples.

An 11th-hour plea to the Labour leadership by the Tory chief whip Sir George Young, who warned that the government was in danger of losing the vote, prompted a change of heart by Miliband, who had been planning to abstain on the amendment.

The Labour move meant that the amendment, tabled by the anti-gay marriage Tory and former children's minister Tim Loughton, was defeated by 375 to 70 votes, a majority of 305.

The decision by the Labour leadership, which has gone from supporting the amendment on civil partnerships to rejecting it within the space of 24 hours, means that the marriage (same-sex couples) bill will now experience a safer journey through parliament.

But the prime minister, who attempted to reach out to his party by emailing a "personal note" to all members saying that he would never work with anyone who "sneered" at them, suffered the humiliation of having to plead with the Labour party for support. He also saw more than 100 Tory MPs, including the cabinet ministers Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson, vote against him on the first amendment of the day.

The prime minister will understand the dangers of relying on opposition support for a flagship measure after he personally ensured that Tony Blair's schools reforms survived with Tory support in 2006 three months after he became leader. Within months, supporters of Gordon Brown forced Blair to name the date of his departure the following year.

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By George Eaton, New Statesman

Support for UKIP surges to a record high of 22 per cent in the latest Survation poll, with the Tories down five points to 24 per cent.

By James Kirkup, Telegraph

[...]  Bear that in mind when you hear the inevitable claims that David Cameron has been humiliated by having to rely on Labour votes to avert defeat over gay marriage, meaning the Prime Minister is weakened and embarrassed. That assessment may well be correct, but probably only for MPs and others in the Westminster village who follow the detail of parliamentary proceedings and political powerplay.

For people outside the bubble, I suspect the key point will be this: David Cameron wants to let gay people get married and now Ed Miliband is saying he does too. (Nick Clegg also, but anyone who pays attention will surely have assumed that anyway.)

So will today’s events change anyone’s mind about the issue? I doubt it. But for those who don’t want gay marriage to be allowed, the fact that the party leaderships are in broad agreement to allow it could well reinforce the feeling that a Westminster-based political elite is trying to enforce its consensus view on the rest of the country.

Because for a lot of people, politics today is not something to participate in. It is something that is done to them, and done to them by a small group of middle-class men in with similar careers, suits and accents. Rightly or wrongly, that group is blamed for people feeling like it’s somehow bad or wrong to think and believe as they do, that, people who disagree with the men in smart suits are “mad, swivel-eyed loons”, or “bigoted” or “clowns”.  (Emphasis ours.)

And anyone who doubts the importance of that view should ask Nigel Farage to explain it to them.

Now the precise level of public opposition to gay marriage – and the intensity of that feeling – is debatable. But there are people who are unhappy, and they each have a vote. And elections are won one vote at a time.

For each of Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband and Mr Clegg, the die is cast. They have committed themselves to the same course of action on gay marriage and cannot go back.

That being so, there is surely a political prize to be taken by the first leader to appeal convincingly to those who disagree with him, to persuade them that while he does not share their views, he respects them nonetheless.

So far, that prize looks like going unclaimed.

Want to read more about the gay marriage row? Try these:

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By Tim Bale, Telegraph

The latest row between leadership and base shows that the Tories can no longer rely on unquestioning loyalty, argues party historian Tim Bale

Judging by the number of constituency association officers willing to take to the airwaves over the weekend, to call the Conservative grassroots grumpy doesn’t quite cut it. Many activists are clearly livid with a leadership they believe is riding roughshod over everything they hold dear. The high command, meanwhile, is increasingly exasperated with its own supporters. Not all would go so far as the close ally of David Cameron who was reported by this newspaper as venting his frustration at the “swivel-eyed loons” among the membership, but both MPs and party officials will privately admit that the grassroots are far more restive than they once were.

There are clearly an awful lot of Tories who are awfully angry. They are also more prepared than ever to vent that anger in ways that risk doing irreparable harm to Mr Cameron’s already slim chances of winning an overall majority, whether by convincing voters that the Prime Minister can’t manage his party, or depriving him of the ground troops he needs to knock on doors, distribute leaflets and the like.

But what is really happening? Is it that the so-called “loons” – and one wonders how long it will be before the label becomes a badge of honour rather than a gratuitous insult – are more numerous than they once were? Is it because they have become even “loonier”? Or is it because slagging off one’s superiors has become perfectly acceptable, where once it would have been unconscionable – or at least terribly bad form?

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Read also:  Cameron's chums DO despise the grass roots, Melissa Kite, Mailonline

The real swivel-eyed loons are inside Number 10 by Michael Heaver, Telegraph

By Rowena Mason, Telegraph

Ukip has seen a three-fold surge in visitors to its website since an ally of David Cameron called grassroots Tory activists "mad, swivel-eyed loons", the party has claimed.

A Ukip spokesman said there is "no doubt" the party has seen a rise in interest since the row about the Tories' attitude towards its grassroots members blew up on Saturday morning.

The Daily Telegraph, The Times and the Daily Mirror reported that an unnamed senior Conservative called Tory activists “mad, swivel-eyed loons” who were forcing MPs to take hardline positions on Europe and same-sex marriage.

Lord Feldman, a co-chairman of the party, has denied making the remarks after rumours circulated on social networking sites that he was responsible.

He admitted speaking to journalists after a private dinner for Conservative Friends of Pakistan at the InterContinental Hotel in Westminster on Wednesday night but said it was “completely untrue” that he had called activists “swivel-eyed loons”.

Senior Conservatives have rallied round Lord Feldman, saying he is a man of "great honour" and cannot be the unnamed Tory who made the remarks.

However, grassroots Tory activists are furious at reports that any member of David Cameron's circle expressed such sentiments.

The row also comes as 36 Conservative associations delivered a petition to Downing Street warning that the party must drop either gay marriage or David Cameron to retain their support.

Last night, Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, issued an appeal to disaffected Conservative activists to join his party.

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From BBC News

Plans to legalise same-sex marriage in England and Wales return to the Commons later, amid continuing opposition from some Conservative activists and MPs.

The Marriage Bill was approved by a 225-vote majority when it was last debated by MPs in February, but nearly half of all Tories voted against it.

On Sunday, a letter signed by more than 30 past and present local Tory Party chairmen urged the PM to drop the bill.

David Cameron has said it would help build a stronger and fairer society.

The return of the controversial plans to the Commons comes amid other divisions within the Conservative Party on Europe and attitudes towards the party's grassroots.
 
On Sunday, 34 current and former local party chairmen delivered a letter to Downing Street opposing the gay marriage policy as "flawed, un-Conservative, divisive and costing us dearly in votes and membership".

They complained of a "crisis of conservatism" and said Europe, same-sex marriage and the "contempt" for party membership from the leadership were currently "destroying the party".
 
However, a separate letter, signed by more than 100 Tory activists, called on the party's MPs to back same-sex marriage legislation.

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By Rowena Mason, Telegraph

The ally of David Cameron accused of calling Tory activists "mad, swivel-eyed loons" should be reprimanded if he made the remarks, a former Cabinet minister has said.

[...]  Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, said he knows the Tory party co-chairman well as a "man of great honour".

He said he does not believe anyone close to the Prime Minister described grass-roots Conservatives as "mad, swivel-eyed loons".

However, Tory activists are already furious about the alleged remarks. Conservative activists this weekend told the Prime Minister he must repair the broken relationship between the party leadership and the grassroots.

A profile of Mr Cameron in the Financial Times last year reported he had used a similar phrase, and "tells colleagues that anyone who wants to talk to him about the EU is 'swivel-eyed'".

One leading activist accused elements at the top of the party of “utter contempt” for supporters, while a leading MP said activists were being treated as “pariahs”.

Two issues — Europe and same-sex marriage — have been seized on by grassroots activists to claim that Mr Cameron and his inner circle are “out of touch” with the views of ordinary party members.

The chairman of Conservative Grassroots, a leading activists’ pressure group, said the Prime Minister and his inner circle lived in a “Westminster bubble”.

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By Sara Smyth, Mail on Sunday

Support for the UK Independence Party has reached a record 19 per cent, while both Labour and Conservatives are losing ground, it has emerged.

Despite a week of controversy, in which UKIP leader Nigel Farage visited Edinburgh and was locked in a pub by angry protestors, public backing for the party has never been higher.

The UK Independence Party leader said the left-wing extremists who trapped him were the ‘ugly face of Scottish nationalism’ pursuing an anti-English agenda.

However, poll results do not reflect the crowds who just this week shouted 'racist scumbag' and 'scum' at the leader, who has begun to pose a real threat as a major political party.

[...]  The threat that UKIP now poses was acknowledged by Tory council leader Keith Mitchell, who said David Cameron needs to behave more like Nigel Farage to reverse Ukip's rise.

Mr Mitchell accounted for the huge rise in popularity for the Right-wing party, who are believed to be chipping away at the Tory's traditional supporters.

He said: ‘I am afraid the UKIP leader has a style and a manner of speaking that connects with ordinary mortals much better than professional politicians.’

‘He is unafraid to be filmed with a pint of beer and a cigarette in his hand when all of our media training tells us to eschew either image.

‘He also uses soundbites that appeal to Conservatives.’

His warning came as figures revealed UKIP enjoyed a 51 per cent surge in members during the past 12 months, with many of them defecting from the Conservative Party.

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From Conservative Grassroots

More than 30 local Conservative Party chairmen and former chairmen are calling on David Cameron to abandon attempts to redefine marriage as it is “driving voters to UKIP” and “harming the Party’s electoral chances”.

The group, in a letter to be delivered to 10 Downing Street at 1.30pm today (Sunday 19th May), sets out six reasons why the same-sex marriage legislation should be dropped. They include: it is driving voters to UKIP, could cost the Conservative Party the next election and it breaks a promise made just days before the general election that the PM was not planning to redefine marriage.

And in a strongly worded section of the letter – which is also signed by two party officers from the Prime Minister’s own Witney constituency – says, “You have failed to listen and respond in an appropriate manner to the concerns of loyal grassroots members. Some of us attended a very large non-political pro-marriage rally in your own constituency on 30th April and were very embarrassed on behalf of the party when your Witney Conservative office refused to receive or even open the door to the pro-marriage petition signed predominantly by your own Witney residents and voters…”

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Read full text of letter here

Listen to Conservative Grassroots' Mary Douglas on Radio 4 here  (8.30 minutes in).  The 'swivel-eyed loongate' story starts 5 minutes in.

DAVID Cameron was engulfed in open warfare with “loony” Tory activists over gay marriage last night.

At least 35 angry party chairmen signed a letter warning he is out of touch and will cost them the next election.They torpedoed the PM hours after one of his close allies was said to have branded them “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.

The chairmen accused Mr Cameron of refusing to listen and showing “utter contempt for ordinary people”.They claimed his failed promises were undermining their years of hard work and driving voters to UKIP.

The letter — seen by The Sun — shows the PM’s relationship with his grassroots has sunk to an all-time low.

It is signed by volunteer workers from across the country, including two officers from his Witney constituency. The letter comes as more than 100 Tory MPs threaten to vote against same-sex marriage in a Commons revolt tomorrow.

It says: “Your refusal to listen to reason and grassroots opinion is causing many previously loyal Conservatives to leave the party. “Some are lost forever and many will not contemplate rejoining unless the Bill is abandoned or the party leadership changed.”

Grassroots Tories claim the gay marriage row could cost the party 1.3million votes. One of the signatories, Robert Woollard, of Wycombe Conservative Association, said: “It has made winning the next election virtually impossible.”

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Read also:  Gay marriage: David Cameron faces revolt from over 100 Tory MPs, Sunday Mirror

By David Burrowes, Daily Telegraph

Ordinary Conservatives cannot understand why the leadership is being distracted by the issue of gay marriage, and are being treated as "pariahs" for expressing their doubts about a change in the law, says David Burrowes

I want marriage to stay as it is, as do most of those that are bothered by the issue.

The irony is that it is Tories who are leading the opposition to the Bill and the Government is dependent on Labour’s support to secure safe passage of the legislation.

The Government’s latest attempt to limit the damage of the Bill is to carefully review civil partnerships over the next few years because of the huge financial impact of heterosexual civil partnerships. If only it had showed the same care for the social impact of redefining marriage.

Sadly, it is only proving what many of us have been warning the Government about. This Bill will undermine the importance of marriage in society.

It is the freedom to express support for traditional marriage that needs protecting, but the Government’s focus has solely been on protecting churches and clergy from being forced to officiate at ceremonies with which they disagree.

I have tabled a raft of amendments that will give proper protection to people who want to keep marriage as it is. The belief that marriage is the voluntary lifelong union of a man and a woman should be specifically protected under equality laws. It is up to Conservatives to protect these freedoms.

Labour show how little they care by imposing a three-line whip on MPs to oppose these amendments. It wants to prevent MPs exercising their consciences on amendments that will protect their constituents’ consciences.

There is already a “chill factor” suppressing the freedom to stand up for traditional marriage. I have never in my 20 years in politics – as a councillor and now as an MP – experienced such hostility and hate-filled abuse simply for supporting marriage.

This intolerance has only encouraged me to do all I can in this Bill to at least protect our constituents’ freedom to express their reasonably held view. It is time to drop the Bill or at least amend it, and then let the Lords put us out of our misery and kill it off.

David Burrowes is the Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate

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by Simon Walters, Mail on Sunday

David Cameron has been dragged deeper into the 'swivel-eyed loon' row engulfing his party – after it was claimed that he used the insult himself to deride Euro rebels.

Tory Chairman Lord Feldman, a key member of the Prime Minister's inner circle, was yesterday forced to deny he had used the term against Conservative grassroots supporters, saying the claims were 'completely untrue'.

Mr Cameron put his reputation on the line by backing his Oxford University pal and tennis partner. But The Mail on Sunday can disclose that the Prime Minister was accused of using the same 'swivel-eyed' jibe last year.

A report in the Financial Times at the time said Mr Cameron 'tells colleagues that anyone who wants to talk to him about the EU is 'swivel-eyed'.'

The comment came in a major profile of the Prime Minister by the paper's respected political editor George Parker. Mr Parker last night declined to say who told him the PM uses the term. The FT profile was compiled with substantial help from Lord Feldman, among others.

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From BBC News

David Cameron's support for gay marriage has made winning the general election "virtually impossible", Conservative activists have said.

In a letter to the PM, more than 30 past and present local party chairmen warned his backing for a change of law had led to voters switching to UKIP.

They said many would not return unless the plans were abandoned "or the party leadership changed".

MPs will debate the Marriage Bill for England and Wales on Monday.

'Unravelling of marriage'

The letter to Mr Cameron was organised by the Conservative Grassroots umbrella group. 

Its chairman Bob Woollard said: "The prime minister's bizarre drive to ram this legislation through Parliament, without any democratic mandate and without the support of party members, has been a disaster and has driven thousands of voters to UKIP.

"The marriage-based family is at the heart of Conservatism.

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From BBC News

No 10 has denied that "anyone in Downing Street" made comments reported in several newspapers describing Tory activists as "mad, swivel-eyed loons".

The reports claimed a figure close to the PM used the term at a party event in blaming activists for urging MPs to amend the Queen's Speech over Europe.

They sparked anger among grassroots Conservatives, who demanded an inquiry.

Party chairman Grant Shapps said it was difficult to comment as the words were not attributed to a named individual.

"I wasn't there to overhear a conversation," he told the BBC, referring to the private event.

He said it was "very difficult to combat" stories attributed to unnamed sources, adding: "Until somebody produces a name, it's impossible to know."

Daily Telegraph political editor James Kirkup tweeted: "I stand by my story."

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By Julian Mann

Though he did not mention UKIP in his now famous declaration against the same-sex marriage bill on BBC Question Time on Thursday, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond articulated very clearly the reason why Mr Farage's outfit is providing such an attractive alternative for conservatively-minded voters.

But how reliable is UKIP on marriage? Or, to phrase the question another way, how passionate was the Conservative Party of the 1980s about restoring the institution of marriage after the ravages of the 1960s?

By Paul Goodman, Conservative Home

There are activists in every Party whose eyes aren't entirely steady in their sockets. And swivel eyes, to mangle a metaphor, cut both ways – see here. But most Conservative members are normal enough. Tory activists are not untypical of the class which, if one takes a romantic view, has been the backbone of England for centuries – and, even if one takes a prosaic one, works (largely in the private sector), earns, provides, saves, and gives generously to charity. A high proportion of the members I know are involved in their local communities: indeed, they are the Big Society. But Tory members have undergone one significant change in the last 25 years or so. They are, on the whole, older people. The Conservative Party has been hit hard by the hollowing-out of conventional politics.

The response of the Party leadership, since 2005, could have been to strive for new members – or, alternatively, to abandon the concept of membership, and seek to build a new movement based on overlapping interest groups. Its view of what to do about declining membership has ebbed and flowed as Party Chairmen have come and gone, but one big point is clear. People who join political parties want to have a say in them – or at least a sense of ownership. At a national level, party members have no more say than when David Cameron became leader. And at a local level, they have less: the power of local members to select their own Parliamentary candidates has been diminished by the vogue for primaries. Membership costs £25 a year: no small sum. Payment is followed by a steady stream of letters and e-mails asking for more.

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By Rowena Mason, Telegraph

Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, said that Gay marriage laws have created a "real sense of anger in England" ahead of a parliamentary debate on the proposals next week.

He told BBC1's Question Time: "There was no huge demand for this and we didn't need to spend a lot of parliamentary time and upset vast numbers of people in order to do this.

" I have just never felt that this is what we should be focusing on. This change does redefine marriage. For millions and millions of people who are married, the meaning of marriage changes.

"There is a real sense of anger among many people who are married that any government thinks it has the ability to change the definition of an institution like marriage."

However, a spokesman for David Cameron rejected the claim that too much time had been spent on the issue.

He said: "The Prime Minister thinks that the right process is being followed. The government has set out the legislative programme and it is the right one.

"The Prime Minister's position is that he is a big believer in marriage, that's why he thinks gay people should be able to get married too."

On Thursday, David Cameron appeared ready to appease some of the 134 Conservative MPs who voted against his proposals last time by promising to look at extending civil partnerships to all couples in future.

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