Davis ‘incandescent’ over Cameron book
THE bitter feud between David Cameron and David Davis has reignited over the ex-Prime Minister’s memoirs, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
An ‘incandescent’ Mr Davis is demanding that his one-time rival for the Tory crown retract claims made in his book and on television about their testy political relationship.
In his book For The Record, Mr Cameron claims his opponent in the 2005 Tory leadership election tried to block the Conservatives going into coalition with the Liberal Democrats after the 2010 General Election.
But former Brexit Secretary Mr Davis is so angry with the claim, which he says is demonstrably false, that he is set to contact publisher William Collins to demand it is stripped from future editions. In the book, Mr Cameron recalls the lead-up to his coalition agreement with Nick Clegg after the hung Parliament result in 2010.
He writes: ‘I called the big beasts of the Conservative Party to inform them of my approach. The feedback was overwhelmingly that it would be right to reach out to the Lib Dems, although there was the odd exception. “Davis thinks it’s a bad idea,” I reported to my team after I had hung up the phone. “Which means I am probably on the right track.” ’
He repeated the claim in the BBC documentary The Cameron Years, which was screened last month.
However, allies of Mr Davis last night provided The Mail on Sunday with evidence that he had, in fact, been a vocal and public supporter of a deal with the Lib Dems before it was signed.
A friend of Mr Davis said: ‘Dave seems to be trying to settle scores, which isn’t very statesmanlike or in this case very competent. Maybe his memory is failing. He did after all famously forget which football team he supports.’