Cameron and Osborne arrogant posh boys, says Tory backbencher

A TORY backbencher has described Prime Minister David Cameron and his Chancellor George Osborne as “arrogant posh boys” who have no understanding of ordinary voters.

The attack from Nadine Dorries came as Mr Cameron was trying to relaunch his party for the local elections. It comes after a month in which the coalition has come under fire for being out of touch over the fuel crisis and the budget.

The controversial MP for Mid Bedfordshire has been an outspoken critic of the Conservatives’ coalition with the Lib Dems and was the first to attack Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

However, her views have been seen as increasingly in tune with ordinary members of the Tories in a month where Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne have been criticised for the granny tax, pastie tax, taxing caravans and hitting charity donations, all moves which have angered core party voters.

The problems have come to a head over the blundered attempts to deport the radical muslim preacher Abu Qatada where, in an apparent rush to get good headlines, the government moved 24 hours too early, allowing him to appeal and extend his stay in the UK.

Ms Dorries hit out at a “very tight narrow clique” at the top of government. “What they do is act as a barrier and prevent Cameron and Osborne and others from actually really understanding or knowing what is happening in the rest of the country,” she said.

“I think that not only are Cameron and Osborne two posh boys who don’t know the price of milk, but they are two arrogant posh boys who show no remorse, no contrition, and no passion to want to understand the lives of others – and that is their real crime.”

Mr Cameron yesterday blamed the Government’s recent difficulties on communication problems. The Prime Minister insisted it was taking the right actions but was “sometimes” failing to get its message across.

He insisted that he understood the challenges facing people struggling to pay their bills and suggested that the coalition’s troubles were down to poor communication.

Mr Cameron added: “If you don’t communicate what you are doing properly, then yes you have got a problem. Sometimes we have got the action right but the message hasn’t been right.”

He also said that the Home Office had “checked repeatedly” with Europe’s human rights court about when the deadline for any appeal over terror suspect Qatada’s deportation could be made.

Challenged to apologise for panic buying at the pumps amid threats of a fuel strike, the Prime Minister said: “The Government took the right action in terms of the resilience of the country but we need to do better in terms of communication.”