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Cameron should humble the grandees

12:40 | Insider Research

There's some resistance from within his own ranks to David Cameron's attempt to crack down on parliamentary expenses.  It is suggested that the likes of Douglas Hogg and Michael Ancram, Cabinet Ministers in the Major years, are resistant to a scrutiny panel and other measures designed to assuage public disgust and anger.

Our experts and insiders on the PHI100 recommend to the Tory leader that he should take them head on.  A big battle on the issue would be good for the Conservatives even if it meant some Tory MPs had to be deprived of the whip.

A thumping four fifths (eighty per cent) of the panel think such a battle would be beneficial to the Tories.  Less than a fifth (nineteen per cent) disagree.

All the groups represented on the panel share this view with the party strategists most heavily of the opinion that David Cameron should seek to cut down his grandees.

The leader of a right-leaning think tank comments: 'He needs to show that he can rule his party - this is a good battle to fight and win in preparation for the real conflicts to come.'

A Conservative MP is more sceptical, arguing: 'The leader should not create too many enemies, or fuel too many caricatures of the party by giving them credence.'

A right-leaning strategist is for a battle, saying: 'These people are a complete disgrace. They should go. The Conservatives could do with some young blood, more rooted in the modern world than these old goats.'

A non-aligned media panellist reckons: 'He should big up the disciplinary process - make it as public as possible - hearings to be televised - that kind of thing.'

Another non-aligned media panellist sees upsides and downside: 'Good for their image in the country, bad for party unity in advance of an election.'

Left-leaning and Lib Dem panellists didn't have opinions to offer on this question.