Cameron plans to bring back hypocrite ex-immigration minister

Today, The Sun (£) has reported that David Cameron will make Mark Harper, Conservative MP for Forest of Dean, a ‘mid-ranking minister’ in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle (which is most likely due to take place before the end of July), despite the fact that Harper quit as immigration minister earlier in the year.

Harper resigned from his post in February of this year when he revealed that his self-employed cleaner did not have permission to work in the UK. This revelation came after Harper approved and launched the highly controversial Go Home campaign – condemned by Labour as brrowing language used by the National Front in the 1970s. The campaign saw vans with messages targeted at ‘illegal immigrants’, telling them to “go home or face arrest”, driven around areas of London that were described as ‘ethnically diverse’.  Despite the less-than-favourable atmosphere in which Harper left his ministerial office, a source has told the paper David Cameron wants him back in as a ‘mid-ranking minister’ because:

 “the PM was hugely impressed with the honour and dignity that Mark went with. It was the textbook resignation, and he wants to recognise that. Mark is also a huge talent so he’s coming back at the first opportunity.”

It’s alleged that bringing Harper – who was educated at a comprehensive school in Swindon – back into the fold is part of a wider effort by Cameron to include Conservatives from ‘humble backgrounds’ (along with more women MPs) into government ministries. We can assume that this move, if true, is an attempt to stave off the image of the Tories as the party of privilege (bearing in mind that over half of Conservative MPs were privately educated). 

Meanwhile, former Culture Secretary Maria Miller who left her ministerial position after an expenses scandal that saw the public call for her to resign, will not be returning to the cabinet.

And there are rumours swirling around Westminster that Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) is worried he might be next to go. It’s said IDS isn’t getting on so well with Cameron or Chancellor George Osborne, who thinks he’s getting in the way of further welfare cuts.

For the moment, forecasts for the reshuffle are speculative. But considering Cameron’s recent ill-judgement over the Juncker affair, it’s not implausible that these reports could turn out to be true.