David Cameron runs the country – but he doesn’t run his party

To lose one parliamentary vote in a year is careless. To lose twice is wreckless. Or should that be Reckless…?

Cameron’s inability to hold together his parliamentary majority (again) shows that whilst he may run the country, he certainly does not run his own party any longer. On Europe – as with boundary changes – the right of the Tory Party have unexpectedly become allies of the Labour Party in a classic example of my enemy’s enemy is my friend.

Of course Cameron (and Clegg – more loyal by far to Cameron than the Tory right) will accuse Labour of “opportunism”. As shown here yesterday, that’s nonsense. Labour has had the same stance on the EU budget since July. And regardless, it is barefaced hypocrisy from Cameron to accuse Labour of opportunism, when his party voted against tuition fee hikes in a bid to inflict defeat on Blair, only to treble fees as the opening gambit of their time in government. The same – needless to say – can be said of the Lib Dems.

It is entirely possible to be pro-European, and yet argue for a slimmed down EU budget at a time of financial restraint across the continent. How ridiculous it must seem in Greece, Ireland or Spain for the EU to be suggesting a budget boost at a time when their populations are creaking under the effect of austerity. How ridiculous in Britain too, for the same reasons.

The EU is a good thing. And if (when) the time comes for an in/out referendum, Labour must argue with every fibre of its being for a continued commitment to the European project. We are inextricably linked to Europe, and to step away from the EU now would be to cast ourselves off into the international wilderness, to sink, not swim, in the cold waters of he Atlantic against the insurgent BRIC nations.

But does that mean pouring endless piles of ever increasing cash into the EU when the is precious little to go around at home? No. Of course not. To argue otherwise is foolish.

And so it was that David Cameron, defending the indefensible, confirmed the loss of his party yesterday. He still runs the country, thanks to the unstinting kindness of the Lib Dems. But with a first defeat under Sir George Young’s belt as Chief Whip (how embarrassing), the party slips from his fingers by the day.

Unless he regains the initiative soon, it’s going to be a grim two and a half years in Downing Street for an increasingly embattled Prime Minister…