"Downing Street was battling to avert a full-blown leadership crisis on Saturday as George Osborne suffered an unprecedented backlash from Conservative MPs.
The Chancellor was facing calls to be demoted from his colleagues inside government due to his botched handling of the row over cuts to benefits for the disabled.
Senior MPs warned that Mr Osborne’s hopes of succeeding David Cameron had been fatally undermined by the furore, which led Iain Duncan Smith to quit the Cabinet on Friday night.
But two leading Eurosceptics rallied to Mr Osborne’s defence. Writing in the Telegraph, Michael Gove puts aside his differences with Mr Osborne over Europe to express his heartfelt support for his “friend”, the Chancellor, and his Budget. "
...
“There’s going to be a reshuffle in July after the referendum. [The Prime Minister] should move George to the Foreign Office and replace him in the Treasury with Theresa May.”
Meanwhile, back-bench Tory MPs have launched an “anyone but George” campaign in an attempt to stop him becoming the next party leader.
One backbencher suggested that Mr Duncan Smith has “Geoffrey Howed” the Chancellor, a reference to the former deputy prime minister’s devastating resignation speech, which is credited with helping end Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.
Bernard Jenkin, the senior Tory MP, said Mr Osborne’s “high handed” and “short-termist” approach had tested the patience of a number of ministers.
Source: Knives out for George Osborne in Tory backlash - Telegraph
Get this commie barsteward back to Eton for re-edukation
Comment