Monty Shills For Nadine

Today has brought another call for the Tories to restore the whip to (yes, it’s her again) Mid Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries, this time in the pages of the Times, no less. But a cursory examination of the article, and a look at who is backing the call, should put anyone considering taking this as fact on their guard. This, like the similar calls at the end of last week, is a non-starter.

The latest call has come from the serially clueless Tim Montgomerie, now elevated to a staff role at the Murdoch Times, but still the same person who wrote a Comment Is Free piece telling how Phonehackgate was talked up by those rotten lefties as some kind of payback for Damian McBride. So where has Monty got his information for his latest insight into the Dorries saga?

And the answer is that he has got the story from none other than the fragrant Nadine herself. So when Monty tells “There has been lots of speculation over recent days about the future of Nadine Dorries”, he means she has been using last week’s local elections to play “look at me”, with very little success. But it’s when Monty starts talking of his “sources” that you know who is behind today’s instalment.

“ConHome's sources say the whips are NOT the reason for her continuing exclusion from the parliamentary party. The block is coming from Downing Street - especially Number 11. Regular observers of Tory politics will know that the Chancellor and Nadine Dorries do not have the best of relationships”. That is pure Dorries: her Osborne paranoia is alive and well.

Let’s put this directly: the occupant of 11 Downing Street has better things to do than bother himself with attention-seeking backbenchers. He has the minor distraction of the UK’s economy to occupy his time. The idea that Osborne spends his waking hours plotting the downfall of the Member for Mid-Narnia is pure fantasy, and one that originates solely from Nadine Dorries.

As I pointed out at the weekend, the Tories have good reason not to restore the whip to her just yet: there is the matter of that IPSA investigation, for starters, as well as disquiet about her conduct, and an increasing number of her constituents who are unhappy about her. Moreover, there is no sign of any entry in the Register of Members’ Interests for her reality show fee. We’re waiting. So is the Tory Party.

Meanwhile, Monty lamely trails the idea that Ms Dorries could appeal to the 1922 Committee and get the whip back that way. But, as he has to admit, that could only be set in train six months before the next General Election – in November 2014. Have I got news for the two of them – all will have been resolved well before then. And it may not be the result that either of them expects.

Remember, the Tories can do without Nadine Dorries and her distractions. Period.