Sunday, July 12, 2009

Tory MPs to refer Andy Coulson to party's ethics committee

From the Sunday Times:

Rebel Conservative MPs plan to refer Andy Coulson, David Cameron’s chief spin doctor, to the party’s sleaze watchdog over his role in the illegal phone hacking row.

Some Tory backbenchers believe Cameron took an excessively tough stance on the expenses scandal. Now they hope to exploit the row over Coulson, the former News of the World editor who resigned when the paper was caught hacking into royal aides’ phones.

Yesterday, Lord Tebbit lent his voice to the Tory rebels. “Cameron has talked a lot about ‘detoxifying’ the Conservative brand,” he said. “Perhaps he should now think about a ‘detoxification’ of his own office.”

If this comes to anything - and it does feel like Sunday paper talk - it will be because the Tory old guard (the owners of moats and duck houses) think that Cameron has thrown them to the wolves while protecting his inner circle.

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