Top Tory slams ‘timid and unambitious’ Theresa May’s ‘pathetic’ decision not to order John Worboys’ judicial review in fierce blue-on-blue attack
Nick Boles said the Government 'constantly disappoints' over the NHS, housing crisis and release of John Worboys
A FORMER Tory Minister slammed Theresa May for being “timid and unambitious” tonight in the most public attack on the PM since the election.
Nick Boles, a widely respected senior Tory MP, said the Government “constantly disappoints”.
And in a blast that reopened speculation about a leadership contest, he tweeted: “Time to raise your game Prime Minister.”
Speaking to The Sun, Mr Boles said the Justice Secretary’s decision to drop a legal challenge to the release of black cap rapist John Worboys was the final straw.
But he also said the Government had to be bolder on issues ranging from the NHS to the housing crisis.
The MP – a cancer survivor who led Michael Gove’s doomed leadership campaign in 2016 - insisted he didn’t want Theresa May to quit but wanted her to be “bold” and to let her ministers be bold.
“They need to pull their finger out,” he said. “I want her to lead, be bold and definite. And I want her to let her Ministers be bold. It has to change.”
He said: “When I came back, I said we needed a new story, a new set of ambitions. I put it friendly terms, and I just feel we’re moving backwards.
“Everything gets watered down, everything gets diluted, everything is mealy mouthed.”
Speaking about the Worboys case, he stormed: “I don’t care what the legal advice is, doing a judicial review would be a way of showing the Government feels it’s the wrong decision, even if there’s a 10 per cent chance, you get a good QC you never know. It’s just too flipping wet.”
Mr Boles moved Tories to tears when he turned up in the Commons in a wheelchair during his cancer treatment a year ago to vote through the Article 50 legislation triggering Brexit.
He returned to constituency work last September and has published a set of policy papers since – including plans to rebrand National Insurance to fund the NHS. Writing in the Sun last November, he urged the PM to give councils the power to buy green field land as part of a Budget blitzkrieg to solve the housing crisis.
Theresa May has suffered attacks over the winter crisis in the NHS and the demise of Carillion since the New Year.
And she enraged some backbench MPs with a Cabinet reshuffle where few senior positions were changed – and men were overlooked for jobs in the Whips office.
Mr Boles – Minister of State for Skills between 2014 and 2016 – was one of those overlooked.
Tonight, senior Tories spoke out in support of his outburst.
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A former Cabinet Minister said: “We were told things would change after the Election. But to coin a phrase, ‘Nothing has Changed’.”
But one furious minister accused Michael Gove of being behind the outburst.
They told The Sun: “If the Environment Secretary has something to say about the Prime Minister he should say so himself, rather than hiding behind his former campaign manager.”