Top Tories support call for party to take back seat in euro vote

Senior members of the Shadow Cabinet rallied round the Tory party's strategy chief yesterday over his warning that Iain Duncan Smith should take a back seat in a euro referendum campaign.

In a clear indication of tension over the party's direction, frontbenchers backed Dominic Cummings, the director of strategy, despite a Central Office statement contradicting him. Most members of the Shadow Cabinet made clear they agreed with his remarks to The Independent this week that "the biggest threat to the pound's survival is the Conservative Party".

Their views contrast with those of David Davis, the party chairman, who predicted on Wednesday that the Tory leader would be at the "forefront" of the anti-euro effort. Mr Duncan Smith himself issued a statement that read: "Iain Duncan Smith's opposition to the euro is well known. He intends that if and when Tony Blair calls a referendum, he and his party will play a prominent role in the fight to keep the pound. Mr Duncan Smith will be at the forefront of that campaign but the Conservative Party will not be the only members of the coalition."

Shadow cabinet members defended Mr Cummings. "We are in a new era where we have to cut the flummery and say it as it is. His basic point is absolutely valid," one said. "We represent about 30 per cent of the electorate at best, while even modest assessments put anti-euro votes at 50 or even 66 per cent. So there are lots of Labour and Liberal Democrat voters out there who would perhaps feel very uneasy about their argument being made by the Thatchers, Tebbits and, dare I say it, Iain Duncan Smiths."

Another frontbencher said any reprimand for Mr Cummings would "send out a very bad signal.

"The 'no' campaign have got it spot on. They are running a campaign with Harry Enfield, Jools Holland and Vic Reeves. That's precisely because they know the public will be turned off by politicians," the MP said.

"We will get a tremendous political reward if we get a 'no' vote, so why put that at risk by getting too closely involved? Everyone knows where we stand, for God's sake."