When he is not laying claim to the mantle of Blair’s heir, David Cameron likes to claim he is a "liberal conservative". Unfortunately, most Conservative MPs are far from liberal, according to a Populus poll in today’s Times.
Only 46% of Tory MPs agree that gay couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples (compared with 83% of Labour MPs and 92% of Lib Dems).
Just 52% of Conservative MPs believe “the diverse mix of races, cultures and religions now found in our society has improved Britain”, while 92% of Labour MPs think so, as do all Lib Dems surveyed.
And while 94% of Labour MPs agree that “one of the things that would most improve life in Britain today is people being more tolerant of different ethnic groups and cultures”, that is the view of only 67 per cent of Tory MPs.