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Cameron critic 'wanted peerage' Cameron dismisses party critics
(40 minutes later)
David Cameron has said that Tory critic Ali Miraj asked for a peerage only hours before attacking his record. Tory leader David Cameron has dismissed a series of critics from his own party and told the BBC he is addressing the "big issues" which matter to voters.
He told the BBC people could draw their own conclusion as to why Mr Miraj, who launched Mr Cameron's Tory leadership campaign, had spoken out against him. He said Ali Miraj, who helped launch his leadership bid, asked for a peerage hours before saying "substance has been replaced by PR" by Mr Cameron.
Mr Miraj had earlier told the BBC he was "disillusioned because I think substance has been replaced by PR". Mr Cameron also dismissed criticism of his policies by former chairman Lord Saatchi and donor Lord Kalms.
Mr Cameron also said he believed that Labour's current improved opinion poll ratings were temporary. He said Labour's recent "Brown bounce" in the polls would prove temporary.
The comments, in an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today, came as he launched policies to improve discipline in schools. Lords request
He wants to see contracts between schools and parents that could be enforceable and to change the system under which families can appeal against their children being excluded. Asked about Mr Miraj's comments, Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think we have to, I'm afraid, put this in a context.
In his earlier BBC interview Mr Miraj, who was among David Cameron's strongest supporters, also questioned his selection of Tony Lit as Tory candidate in the recent Ealing Southall by-election. "Yesterday, Ali Miraj was in my office asking for me to make him a peer and put him in the House of Lords, which is obviously something, not a promise I would make to anybody.
In the week before his defeat, it emerged Mr Lit's company had donated money to Labour and he had been photographed with Tony Blair just days before his selection. "And I think we should probably look at his comments in the light of that."
Mr Miraj told the BBC: "I'm disillusioned because I think substance has been replaced by PR. People have had enough of Tony Blair for 10 years. They don't want another Tony Blair Ali Miraj
"What I'm asking for is some substance and some credibility and not box-ticking and gimmickry. Mr Cameron was defending his leadership, after the Tories came third in two by-elections and his decision to visit Rwanda, while parts of England were badly flooded.
Mr Miraj had told the BBC: "What I'm asking for is some substance and some credibility and not box-ticking and gimmickry.
"People have had enough of Tony Blair for 10 years. They don't want another Tony Blair.""People have had enough of Tony Blair for 10 years. They don't want another Tony Blair."
When the Conservative Party moves along the dimension from nasty to nice, nothing happens Lord Saatchi Tory donor Lord Kalms has also called for "some rethinking" of Mr Cameron's policies and former Tory frontbencher Graham Brady, who stepped down over the recent row about grammar schools, said Mr Cameron was failing to reach out to voters in the north and Midlands.
Mr Miraj also questioned Mr Cameron's judgement over his decision to visit Rwanda to learn about development issues while parts of his Oxfordshire constituency suffered flooding. But Mr Cameron told the BBC Lord Kalms - who backed David Davis for the Tory leadership in 2005 - had never agreed with his policies, while Mr Brady was wrong as the Tories had made gains in the local elections.
Mr Miraj is hoping to be selected as a parliamentary candidate himself, but has not been yet. 'Big issues'
'Limited appeal' He also responded to former party chairman Lord Saatchi's comments that he should focus more on the economy, saying he was addressing the "big issue" facing Britain today - "the breakdown of our society".
Also on Monday, former party chairman Lord Saatchi warned "nicey-nicey" politics would not win the next election. The latest opinion polls seem to suggest the "Brown bounce", following Gordon Brown's succession as prime minister in June, is continuing.
Lord Saatchi criticised David Cameron's focus on branding and urged him to appeal to voters on the economy. But Mr Cameron said new prime ministers always got "honeymoon" but he did not believe the "fundamentals" had changed.
Writing in London's Evening Standard newspaper, Lord Saatchi said the Tories needed to find "an expression of true Conservative ideology". It puts power where it should be, which is parents having the choice of schools and head teachers being able to enforce discipline in those schools David Cameron
This follows the internal Tory row over the future of grammar schools. He said the Conservatives were coming up with "serious, comprehensive answers" to society's problems - including anti-social behaviour and discipline in schools.
The latest opinion polls suggest that the "Brown bounce" is continuing. Later he will launch policies to improve classroom discipline, among them a pledge to scrap local authority appeals panels, which can overrule head teachers' decisions to exclude badly-behaved pupils.
A survey for the Times put the Labour party six points clear of the Conservatives with 39% of the vote compared to 33%. Populus questioned 1,511 adults by telephone between July 27 and 29. Instead the system used by independent schools should be adopted, where schools have their own appeals system - such as one run by governors - but ultimately the decision rests with the school.
A further poll for the Independent put Labour on 37% - up five points on a similar poll last month - and the Conservatives on 34%, down three. CommunicateResearch questioned 1,006 adults by phone between July 27 and 29. "It puts power where it should be, which is parents having the choice of schools and head teachers being able to enforce discipline in those schools," he told the BBC.
He will also propose that children should be barred from joining schools unless their parents sign up to a contract on good behaviour.
And he will say excluded children should no longer be sent to pupil referral units, but be dealt with by voluntary sector groups which he says are far more effective.
And he will repeat Conservative calls to stop the closure of special schools, which he says has meant many children "who simply shouldn't be there" have ended up in pupil referral units.