Sources tell Coffee House Cameron will mark an end to ‘fruitcakes’ name-calling

We could see a further tightening of the reconciliatory line that the Tories seem to be adopting on UKIP when the PM gives his response to the local elections later today. I hear from very well-placed sources in the Tory party that David Cameron plans to mark an end to the name-calling, acknowledging that it is time to take seriously the concerns of those who decided to vote UKIP yesterday.

The Tory lines to take – reported by Guido – include this quote:

‘Of course we understand why some people didn’t vote for us – we need to focus even more on the things that matter to hardworking people: turning the economy around, fixing welfare, helping with the cost of living and controlling immigration.’

Even if the PM does echo Grant Shapps’ ‘we understand’ line from earlier, the post-mortem of these local elections won’t just focus on his results response. The big question for the Tories is why on earth didn’t they come up with a coherent line on the party that panics them most in the run-up to polling day?