Howard Ditches Turbulent Flight

This whole fracas began when Arundel & South Downs MP Howard Flight told 80 people at a private dinner that the Tories’ £35bn James report “efficiency saving” had been “sieved for what is politically acceptable” and hinted that in government, Tory cuts would go much further.

Howard Flight, until his Good Friday crucifixion, was the Tories’ “Special Envoy to the City” and his efforts have helped raise millions of pounds for the Tory campaign war chest. This begs a question. Flight has raised all this money having told the City tycoons that there will be enormous cuts, so if, as Michael Howard suggests, Flight was lying, will the City want its millions back?

The only alternative position is that Flight was speaking honestly about the Tory position and Michael Howard is the one who is lying about the Tory plans for our public services. Howard flight has effectively been sacked for letting the cat out of the bag.

The next stage of the pantomime is even more entertaining. Michael Howard has insisted the Flight will not be a Tory candidate at the next election. Flights local Conservative Association has reluctantly complied – but Flight himself is up for a fight and it seems he may contest the seat as an independent candidate.

If Flight does choose to contest the seat as an independent, and as a multi-millionaire, he has the resources to do so effectively, then the ultra-safe Tory seat of Arundel & South Downs would become a 4-way marginal between Flight, The Tories, LibDems and Labour.

We do live in interesting times.


Idiotic of Howard to sack Flight for Thatcherite thought crimes, particularly as a lot of Tories think official party policy is wet. None of this really matters, since the Tories are not going to be in a position to influence public spending after the election.


Mr Flight looks remarkably like Dirty Den in this picture. The scriptwriters killed his character off as well.