Cameron moves fast on reforms
Prime Minister David Cameron will launch a 100-day policy offensive to kick-start his second term, accelerating his plans for a new deal with Brussels, cementing his party’s control of the House of Commons and pushing through abolition of the Human Rights Act.
He will take advantage of the honeymoon after his unexpected victory in the general election to drive through radical changes before the summer recess.
With a working majority of 15, Cameron has decided to move fast to redraw constituency boundaries to make the electoral system fairer to the Conservatives (also known as the Tories) – a move likely to boost the number of Conservative MPs at the next election by 20 but which was blocked by the Liberal Democrats during the coalition government.
In a crucial concession to his backbenchers, he has dropped plans to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600, meaning the change can be pushed through without angering MPs who would be out of a job when the boundaries are redrawn.
‘‘The aim would be to move as quickly as possible,’’ a senior minister said. ‘‘While we’ve got a majority, let’s crack on.’’
The prime minister is also planning to dispatch George Osborne, the chancellor, and Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, to Berlin and Brussels to thrash out a skeleton deal to redraw Britain’s relationship with Brussels before the summer.
And he will today appoint Michael Gove, one of his closest allies, as the new lord chancellor and justice secretary to drive through the abolition of the Human Rights Act. He will promote a slate of female ministers who have performed well and hand a key economic portfolio to Sajid Javid, the party’s leading minister from an ethnic minority.
Cameron is also expected to appoint a new culture secretary who is prepared to consider the abolition of the BBC licence fee.
Senior Tories believe other EU countries are now ready to do business with Britain in reconsidering UK’s relationship with Brussels. A senior government source said: ‘‘The idea would be to get George and Phil on a plane to Berlin and get them to have a very frank conversation with [Angela] Merkel’s people about exactly what deal is possible.’’
A senior minister added: ‘‘It’s a job for George. George is officer commanding Europe negotiations. Everyone knows Philip is generally a safe pair of hands but on this it’s George in the driving seat.’’
Details of the OsborneHammond mission emerged as a source close to Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, revealed he will address British concerns about benefits abuse by EU migrants. Juncker will make a ‘‘clear gesture’’ to Cameron by proposing changes to the existing rules by the end of this year.
The source said Juncker would meet Cameron ‘‘at the earliest convenience’’. The Commission will propose a ‘‘labour mobility package’’ to tighten employment rules for EU migrants and tackle benefit fraud.
‘‘The proposals will be tailored to address long-standing British concerns, but also the concerns of other countries such as Germany and The Netherlands, where abuse of benefits resulting from the EU freedom of movement has become a political issue,’’ said the source.
‘‘This is a clear gesture. There are great amounts of goodwill to work together with the new British government.’’
The source said that the ball was now in ‘‘Cameron’s court’’ as the Commission awaited the ‘‘shopping list’’ of reforms that the new government is hoping to achieve.
The sentiment was echoed in Germany. ‘‘The chancellor does not envisage an EU without the UK,’’ said a German source. ‘‘She has repeatedly said . . . that she would do anything in her power to keep Britain on board. What we are now expecting to hear are specific and constructive ideas from London.’’
Despite the signs of progress, one of the most influential figures on the right of the Tory party warned that the prime minister should go further, embracing the single market but distancing Britain much further politically from the EU.
Writing in The Sunday Times, the former environment secretary Owen Paterson said: ‘‘The prime minister has promised a radical renegotiation and he must be given time and space to deliver. I believe we have a spectacular future outside the EU.’’
Paterson called on Cameron not to bask in the victory but to embrace a tougher line.
‘‘There is confusion in the public mind between the European Union as an entity and the benefits delivered by the single market. There is clearly very wide support for the UK participating fully in the European market and much less enthusiasm for participation in the political and judicial arrangements of the current European Union.’’
He added: ‘‘The lesson I take from the 2015 triumph against the odds is that Conservatism works. This is not a fashionable view. Not even within the Conservative party. If I have a criticism of David Cameron it is that he trusts his instincts – and those of his party – far too little.’’