Bat out of hell
- 18 Jan 09, 10:00 PM
He's back. The man the public backed to be Tory leader in 1997, 2001 and 2005 but his party rejected.
Ken Clarke is to take on the Cabinet's re-tread Peter Mandelson as Shadow Business Secretary.
The deal was done over a lunch of meatloaf at George Osborne's house yesterday. Four people were present - Clarke, Osborne, Cameron and his Chief ofStaff, Ed LLewelyn. I am assured that hard cheese and sour grapes were not on the menu.
Conservative sources say that "no-one wants Ken to undergo a false conversion on Europe". The source said "the party has a settled view on Europe and he won't try to change it". In other words Cameron and Clarke have agreed to disagree on Europe.
Before tonight's news the idea of bringing Ken Clarke back has been attacked by euro-sceptics Norman Tebbit, John Redwood and Tory donor, Stuart Wheeler.
Mr Clarke's pro European views - in particular, his support for Britain scrapping the pound and joining the Euro - have alienated him from the mainstream of his party.
The issue of Europe is still a live one since some now argue that the current economic crisis demonstrates the case for the Euro.
Also, the Tories are opposed to the Lisbon EU Treaty which Clarke has backed and they are committed to holding a referendum on it which could lead to a Cameron-led government Britain re-negotiating Britain's relationship with the EU.
