THE BRITISH government's majority in the House of Commons will disappear if the Conservative MP Mr George Walden carries out his threat to resign from the party because of the "silly and cynical" anti European position it has adopted over the beef crisis.
The problem for the Conservatives, who have a majority of one, is that although Mr Walden is standing down as an MP at the next general election, his views may once again force the split in the Tory party over Europe into a public debate at a time when the Prime Minister, Mr Major, is being seen as a "tough patriot" by the right wing of the party which has not supported him so publicly since the leadership contest less than a year ago.
Mr Walden, speaking on GMTV's Sunday Programme, said he would consider resigning the party whip if the anti European trend escalated. "If this was to happen I would have to think: should I detach myself from the party?" But, he stressed, he did not have any plans to cross the floor of the House to join the Liberal Democrat or Labour Party.
"Mr Major has turned against Europe because of weakness. It will be seen as weakness abroad. If this goes on there may be some people who will ask themselves what they are doing in a petty nationalist party, if that is what it comes to be. I cannot really, personally, be associated with the party if that is what the Conservative Party turns itself into. The Prime Minister is not the Duke of York who has led his men up the hill, he has been pushed up the hill by the Eurosceptics.
The Labour Party, which has guardedly criticised the government's handling of the beef crisis - because, Mr Walden claims, "they are frightened of being branded unpatriotic" - has no clear policy on the issue. But he did not believe it was credible for Mr Major to "stand on a soap box" and accuse the Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair, of not being "tough enough" in opposing the ban on beef derivatives such as tallow and semen. "It seems to me a little far fetched," he said.
A signal from centre ground Conservatives that they are fearful of a right wing party agenda was sent to Mr Major yesterday as the Conservative Mainstream group launched itself on the political stage.
That the group is unhappy at what it sees as an increasingly right orientated conservative party, is the basis of its attempt to ensure Mr Major fights the next general election on a mainstream manifesto.
Those MPs who have put their names to the group include the former education secretary Mr Kenneth Baker and Mr David Hunt, MP for Wirral West. Both believe that as many as 200 of 327 Conservative MPs may sign up to Conservative Mainstream. The group would provide an umbrella for other centre and centre left thinkers in the party including the Tory Reform Group, the Macleod Group, the Action Centre for Europe and significantly, One Nation conservatives.
Mr Hunt said: "We strongly believe the election will be fought on the centre ground. We will solidly support John Major and the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine, and provide the authentic voice of Conservatism in the House of Commons and the country."