Ian “it undermined what it means to be British” Austin has, thus far, declined to comment…

When a drunk Tory MP attended a party with someone dressed as a Nazi, Brownite boot-boy Ian Austin went off on one:

“For me, what Britain did in the Second World War – defeating the Nazis, standing up to fascism alone when the rest of Europe was overrun – for me, that’s our finest hour. It shows why we can claim a particular attachment to values like democracy and freedom and fairness. It’s what makes us the country that we are. So, far from simply disgracing himself, I think he has actually undermined what it means to be British. That’s why I think that we should all be taking this much more seriously.”

So presumably his reaction to the news that Labour have managed to select a woman who was an actual Nazi in Milton Keynes is going to be cataclysmic? 

Laughs all round…

Oops! Labour Treasury Whip Lyn Brown sees sparse Labour benches & accidentally texts me "please please come to Chamber, Ed Balls opening"—
Greg Hands (@GregHands) May 17, 2012

After Guido revealed this week that Patrick Mercer, the Chairman of the All Party Group for Security, has been taking fees for introducing clients to security consultant who pays him a monthly fee, Labour MP Thomas Docherty has reported the Tory backbencher to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. Docherty says: “There are serious questions to answer. This appears to be another example of a cosy arrangement between shady businessmen and a senior Conservative.” Quite…

Guido has got hold of the letter:

Dear Mr Lyon,

You may be aware of media reports concerning the Chairman of the All Party Group on Specialist Security and Member for Newark Patrick Mercer.

http://order-order.com/2012/05/14/the-bodyguard-the-tory-mp-and-the-mystery-cash/

http://order-order.com/2012/05/14/mercer-security-cash-is-for-client-introductions-claims-grey-area-is-moot-point/

Mr Mercer sponsored a parliamentary pass for a security consultant named Kevin Horak until November 2011, when Mr Horak became the passholder for the Security APG. He still has this pass.

Whilst a passholder Mr Horack’s company Clearwater Security has paid Mr Mercer £9,500 in consultancy fees.

Mr Mercer in his own words told a journalist that these fees were introductions of potential clients to Clearwater.

When questioned on a potential conflict of interest Mr Mercer responded that this was “a moot point”, but was seemingly unable or unwilling to provide evidence to the contrary.

Though Mr Mercer claims that these introductions are done “exclusively of Parliament” it is my belief that there is scope for investigation to determine that this is indeed the case.

There is prima facie evidence that Mr Mercer’s private business interests are being benefited by his role as the Chairman of the group and given the access granted to Mr Horak, it would appear the parliamentary estate is also potentially open to abuse.

It certainly does not pass the “sniff test”…

The Prime Minister will do an impersonation of Margaret Thatcher and say shortly:

Dave and Sam stepped out to Oslo Court in St John’s Wood last night before he departs for the states. Lovely anorak…

From: 1922 Committee
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 07:30 PM
Subject: Election Results

Please find attached results for today’s elections. I am very grateful to all colleagues who participated as candidates or by voting. Turnout was approximately 95%. Graham Brady

1922 COMMITTEE
SECRETARY

The following candidates were elected:

KAREN BRADLEY
NICK DE BOIS

1922 COMMITTEE
EXECUTIVE MEMBERS

STEVE BAKER
GUTO BEBB
GEORGE EUSTICE
GRAHAM EVANS
ROBERT HALFON
GEORGE HOLLINGBERY
BERNARD JENKIN
SIMON KIRBY
PENNY MORDAUNT
SHERYLL MURRAY
PRITI PATEL
HEATHER WHEELER

1922 COMMITTEE
BACKBENCH BUSINESS COMMITTEE

The following were elected to be the Conservative members of the Committee:

DAVID AMESS
BOB BLACKMAN
JANE ELLISON
MARCUS JONES

Wow! 11 of 18 Tory MPs on 1922 committee voted for In / Out EU referendum. Big shift towards those wanting referendum—
Douglas Carswell MP (@DouglasCarswell) May 16, 2012

Call it a draw. Good turn out for the 301 but a dozen “Better Off Out” Members…

Without the Coalition, the Tory MP reckons the government would be very different:

From: “LEWIS, Julian”
Date: 16 May 2012 13:49:32 GMT+01:00
Subject: 1922 Committee … Just in case:

Dear Colleague,

In case you have not yet seen the hard-copy letter I sent to you via the internal mail, this is what it said:

The 1922 Committee needs to represent the full spectrum of opinion in the Conservative Party, not just that segment of it most compliant with the daily ‘line to take’.  We do the Prime Minister and his team no favours if we fail to communicate with them frankly, openly and honestly.

In 2001 I was briefly a member of the Executive of the 1922 Committee – stepping down on appointment to the Whips Office, then serving as a Shadow Minister until 2010 when the coalition was created.  In my view, coalitions in general distort democracy and coalitions with the Liberals empower our opponents.

Had we not entered one, we would now have a Conservative majority – as Nick Clegg admitted in his 1 May 2011 Observer interview: “If we hadn’t gone into coalition with the Conservatives, as night follows day there would have been another election within a few months.  You probably would have had an outright Conservative victory.”

A suspicion exists that some of our ‘strategists’ prefer the present arrangement to a return to a majority Conservative government.  Occasionally, such people suggest that we should retain the coalition, even if we win a majority in 2015.  I utterly reject this view.

U-turns and rebellions are characteristic of parties which make up policy on the hoof and fail to consult their own rank-and-file.  When mistakes are being made – on EU referenda, on House of Lords reform, on hoarding petrol or on selling off our forests – the leadership needs to know, and needs to know quickly.

If elected to the Executive, I shall work to ensure that the Committee ‘tells it like it is’ whether or not that is what the leadership wants to hear.

I should be most grateful for your support in today’s ballot.

Yours ever,

Julian

Guido isn’t too confident of Julian’s chances. Results imminent…

With the sudden, and possibly unwilling, departure of Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary Ian Watmore, the job has been given temporarily to Melanie Dawes. AKA “her in doors” to one Ben Brogan…

The switch-over makes today’s column by the Telegraph’s Deputy Editor about Steve Hilton versus the civil service all the more interesting:

 ”Without Mr Hilton, how much will survive? His [Dave's] proposed public sector reforms, let alone his ideas for slashing the Civil Service, are likely to stall..”

Slashing the civil service doesn’t look to be stalling this afternoon…