So that Obama endorsement Dave was smiling about last night went well then. The PM is getting savaged this morning after jumping on his backbenchers’ bandwagon, only to be told by his new masters that his draft bill is not enough. For all the talk of parliamentary graffiti and time wasting, there is one small silver lining for the Tories; despite the short term pain there is a dividing line here. The LibDems look likely to vote against their 2010 manifesto, yet again, and Miliband is going to have to actually make a decision for once.

It’s not going to wash for Labour abstain or refuse to make a decision either way. They can let off steam today and are right to point out the ridiculous predicament Cameron is in, but it’s make your mind up time for Ed…

Everyone got something out of that Obama presser. Labour are pushing the President’s line that “I think the UK’s participation in the EU is an expression of its influence”, while No.10 will be cock-a-hoop with the endorsement of the renegotiation strategy: “You probably want to see if you can fix what’s broken in a very important relationship before you break it off.” Those Tory Eurosceptic backbenchers are such big Obama fans, a gentle chiding from the him will definitely get them to pipe down and fall into line. Needless to say Dave dodged most of James Landale’s four parter question.

UPDATE:

Dave trashing Chukapedia was the highlight of last week’s Queen’s Speech debate. In yesterday’s Sun column Guido revealed how Number 10 came up with the killer line during their pre-debate prep. John Hayes, Dave’s new senior parliamentary adviser, was in favour of a subtle, understated approach. Perhaps gently chastising Chuka as simply a typical Labour MP.  The Prime Minister was having none of it, Guido hears, banging the table and exclaiming: “No! Let’s get him.” Dave himself then came up with the body blow: “Can we change our Wikipedia entry? Yes we can!” Chuka’s face showed he made the right call…

Well it could be 1992 all over again. Dave’s attack on Tory “pessimists” this morning is worth nothing, given what has happened since. On Lawson and Portillo’s Brexit conversions, he insisted earlier:

“I think they’re wrong. There are some pro-European pessimists who say, you have to, in Europe, simply sign up to every single thing that anyone in the EU suggests. You sign every treaty, you sign everything – there is no alternative. I think they are completely wrong. The second group of pessimists say there is no prospect of reforming the EU, you simply have to leave. I think they are wrong too.”

Since then another former Chancellor, Norman Lamont, has joined in the fight and a Queen’s Speech pro-referendum amendment has emerged. No surprises to see Boris pop up either. Surely just coincidence that the Mayor of London, speaking at the very same global investment summit as the PM, offers some ankle to the Tory Eurosceptics.

Boris Johnson says PM is right to want to renegotiate UK's deal with EU, and if we don't get what we want we must be willing to walk away.—
Stephanie Flanders (@BBCStephanie) May 09, 2013

Boris says leaving EU would not be fatal for UK but "a shot in the arm" for democracy, though he's still "narrowly" in favour of staying in.—
Tim Ross (@TimRossDT) May 09, 2013

Boris Johnson says if PM cannot get better deal on EU.."We have to be prepared to go our own way."—
norman smith (@BBCNormanS) May 09, 2013

Helpful timing, as ever.

Graphic via @TJ22HATTER

Things have got so bad for one disgruntled Tory voter, going only by the name ‘Martin’, that he has taken out a full page advert in today’s Times laying into Cameron and Osborne as a “desperate and expensive cry for help”:

Click to enlarge.

“I am a natural Conservative voter who has become very disillusioned with my party over the last 3 years. I realise you are both terribly important and you really cannot afford the time to actually think about us mere taxpayers and citizens, which is why you have correspondence units and a phalanx of staff to shield you from the unpleasant realities of the real world. I am rather hoping however, that you read the newspapers. That is why I chose this rather unusual mechanism for trying to remind you that there are real people out here. Call it a desperate and expensive cry for help.

… Finally, no Mr Miliband. This does not mean that you, or indeed Mr Balls, would be likely to do a better job. Your party, in the form of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, got us into this mess by exploding government spending for little positive benefit. There is no reason to suppose that you would do any better.”

Ouch.

Last week they were clowns, fruitcakes and racists, now here’s Dave’s new position:

“It’s no good insulting a political party that people have chosen to vote for. It’s right that we show respect for people who supported them. We are going to work hard to win them back.”

What a difference an election makes…

Tory strategists could be forgiven for worrying that after three years of little or no growth and a £120 billion spending black hole this year alone, Dave and George’s reliance on blaming Britain’s economic slump on the last Labour government might be wearing thin with voters. Apparently not.

A study by media agency OMD of over 2,000 adults from across the UK has found that 53% still blame the previous Labour government for Britain’s ongoing economic problems, compared with just 39% blaming the coalition. 39% say Gordon is the main culprit, with just 27% fingering Cameron and 23% Osborne. Numbers Downing Street will be clinging onto…

Craig Oliver, the Alan Partridge of strategic government communications, has had another brainwave for how to deal with the press. His latest wheeze for getting hacks onside is to hand them so-called Twitter exclusives. The plan is to spoon feed patsy journalists stories to be broken online before they are officially announced. Presumably in return for favours.

Dave will be hoping it goes down better than Number 10′s last big brainwave. Guido understands that private focus groups have tested the effectiveness of the phrase “aspiration nation”, only to find the public hates it. It’s not like Cameron used the leaden phrase in his last party conference speech or Osborne used the term as the theme of his recent budget.  A-ha…

It’s Jo rather than Boris, as Dave appoints the Orpington MP as his new head of policy. Presumably this is only a part-time job given he is a serving MP. There is also a new policy advisory board which includes Peter Lilley, Jesse Norman and, less encouragingly, George Eustice. A busy first day in Downing Street…

UPDATE:

I’ve been meeting with my new policy board, made up of MPs. I told them I want more ideas to help hardworking people http://t.co/yCXiSRMmdl—
David Cameron (@David_Cameron) April 25, 2013

Last night Guido joined the gaggle of Tory MPs celebrating the 90th anniversary party of the 1922 Committee. What better way to mark the occasion than having a 1923 Austin 20 parked in the middle of the room, paying homage to the year of the first meeting. Guido was driven from the party in the back seat. Even the awkward squad could raise a smile at Dave’s line of the night: “I told Samantha I was going to see the ’22. She said, it could be worse, they could be coming to see you”. He subtly called for unity around the “cause of conservatism”.