David Cameron clearly rated Adam Afriyie’s ‘stalking horse’ plot as a sufficiently ridiculous threat to make a joke out of it at Prime Minister’s Questions this week. After their premature outing in the papers last weekend, the plotters might sensibly have gone to ground for some time while Afriyie fended off lunch invitations from journalists trying to get the measure of him.
But according to the Mail and the Guardian, they’re still at it, now with George Osborne in their crosshairs.
They’re clearly a determined bunch, plotting to deliver an ultimatum to the Prime Minister in May to replace his Chancellor if the Budget fails to revive the economy. That’s quite some ask. Replacing Osborne would cause panic in the markets: not exactly the best consequence for a coup triggered by economic woes. It would also only be possible if Cameron were suffering from some fatal weakness, given his relationship with Osborne.
What the Afriyie plotters seem perfectly happy to ignore is that Cameron might not be their best mate, but neither is he suffering from some fatal weakness at the moment.
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