The Tories are really wheeling out all the greatest hits for party rows at the moment. Not content with a fight over the weekend about Brexit, they’re now having an increasingly bitter scrap about planning reform. Last night, ministers delayed a crunch vote on top-down housing targets after it became obvious they were going to have a serious revolt on their hands. The second day of the report stage of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill has been put off from Monday to a date in the near future – government sources tell me they are still expecting a vote before Christmas – after Theresa Villiers gained the support of 46 Tory MPs for her amendment which would make housing targets advisory.
Villiers also has a good chunk of MPs supporting her other amendments watering down the legislation. Michael Gove, the minister responsible for the legislation, will now use the extra time to 'engage further' with colleagues in an attempt to talk some of them down. Labour has said that it won’t support what it calls a ‘wrecking’ amendment.
Though rebels do accept the government is being 'amenable' at the moment, it is going to be difficult for Gove or the Tory whips to talk MPs down from their position if it does come to a vote (which many think it won't). It’s not the kind of party management issue the whips have become used to: while there are undoubtedly backbenchers on the Villiers list who don't like Rishi Sunak, this isn't (yet) about resentment of No. 10. Indeed, leading lights in the rebel group have been at pains to underline that this isn't anything to do with their views on the Prime Minister in order to attract more supporters to their cause. For instance, Steve Brine, who has supported both Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak in the various leadership contests this year, has nevertheless signed the Villiers amendment.
The rebellion has, though, sparked an angry push-back from another side of the party. Former Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke has been the most vocal, and when he spoke to me earlier, he described his colleagues who are opposing targets as being 'the anti-growth coalition' – a phrase introduced by Liz Truss. He says: 'I genuinely do respect the fact that planning is a difficult issue for colleagues like Theresa Villiers. But we cannot just abolish all targets and expect there not to be a drop in the number of homes we build.' He warns that if his colleagues block more housebuilding, it will lead to a shrinking of the Conservative base in years to come.
The problem, of course, is that many of those on the Villiers list see this as the only way to save their seats in an election that's close enough for them to start panicking.
