David Cameron warned not to lose control of party amid Tory turmoil

Warned: Prime Minister David Cameron
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David Cameron was today warned by a senior Right-winger not to lose control of his party by speaking more to European Union leaders abroad than Tory MPs at home.

Amid reports that Mr Cameron will shortly head off to Lanzarote for an Easter holiday, former Welsh secretary John Redwood emphasised the “danger” to the Prime Minister of being out of the country.

“Since the election Mr Cameron has been spending much more time with other EU leaders than with Eurosceptic backbenchers,” he claimed.

Writing on the ConservativeHome website, he pointed to the fact that Mr Cameron was abroad, at a summit in Brussels on the migrant crisis, “when the IDS problem blew up” on Friday.

“Whilst this may all be an understandable use of prime ministerial time, the danger is he loses sufficient contact and understanding with his own party, the very force that keeps him in office.”

The Thatcherite ex-minister also defended Iain Duncan Smith over his decision to resign as work and pensions secretary, rejecting claims his move was motivated by the Brexit row rather than welfare cuts. Mr Redwood warned against “briefing against colleagues”, adding: “That’s never a good idea.”

The Wokingham MP also called for a purge of pro-EU ministers from crucial “EU-facing” government posts if Britain votes to leave the union.

He dismissed criticism by former PM Sir John Major who accused the Leave campaign of peddling a “fantasy”.

“John Major is the man who took us into the ERM (European Exchange Rate Mechanism) and gave us a huge recession on the back of it,” said Mr Redwood. “Why should we take his advice?”

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