Trouble ahead for Tories says Chris Moncrieff

But that is what they are doing – and, it seems, with some relish. But even with the Government’s cobbled-together majority – with the aid of the Democratic Unionist Party – that majority is still by no means secure.

So it is asking for trouble for Cabinet members to vent their differences, to the increasing glee of Jeremy Corbyn and his party.

For a start, relations between the Prime Minister and Chancellor Philip Hammond, are not of the best. Hammond is still smarting over his role (which was virtually non-existent) in the disastrous general election campaign. He thought that far more attention should have been paid to the state of the economy.

Meanwhile, Brexit Secretary David Davis has accused Hammond of inconsistent thinking over how long Britain would be tied to the European Union.

There are also differences apparent about the cap on pay for public service workers, and that there should be a loosening of the Government’s tight hold on austerity.

On top of all this, the Education Secretary, Justine Greening, is demanding a cool £1 billion for schools. Talk about a money tree!

A basic rule of government is that the Cabinet should at least give the appearance of being united. The present Cabinet would score about two out of 10 on this premise.

And differences between a Prime Minister and the Chancellor can lead to hugely serious consequences. They should all remember that it was Nigel Lawson’s resignation as Chancellor that was one of the key factors leading to Margaret Thatcher’s downfall.

Unless skipper Theresa May starts to import some discipline into her unruly crew, the good ship Tory could be heading for the rocks. She has been warned.

n Those of us who have known Jeremy Corbyn over the years never dreamed he would one day be receiving the kind of wild acclamation usually reserved for pop stars.

He has enjoyed cheering and chanting at Glastonbury and elsewhere - and is clearly relishing it all. Who can blame him?

This has largely come about because Labour, during the election campaign, successfully tapped into the youth vote – something no party had seriously attempted before.

Now the Conservatives have started to think along the same lines. But they may have left it too late. Corbyn now seems to be firmly established as the teenage idol – and I cannot for the life of me think of any leading Tory who could drum up this level of latter-day Beatlemania.

n Is the proposed State Visit of President Trump on or off? The whole issue is now clouded in doubt. At the moment, there is scarcely a 'welcome' on the mat for him in this country. There is already hostility in the Commons about the visit.

Speaker John Bercow - wrongly in my view - has barred the President from addressing both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall, without even bothering to consult the House of Lords first.

And the success of the vicious song, Liar, Liar, Liar... directed at May, demonstrates the intensity of the hatred in the British protest industry.

Trump has himself said he is not interested in coming if he is going to be the target of hostility all the time. Who can blame him?

But, love him or hate him, Trump is the elected leader of the Western World - and should be treated with courtesy as such. Now there is talk about Trump sneaking unnoticed into the UK. A fat chance of that happening.

n When Commons Speaker John Bercow granted MPs the concession that they need not wear ties in the Commons chamber, he insisted, however, that they should wear businesslike clothes. Some may have found this a bit rich from a man who has refused to wear the traditional garb of the Speaker down the centuries.

However, I recall an incident when the attire of one Labour Member, the late William Price (Rugby) was far from businesslike. He rushed into the chamber clad in a grossly oversized raincoat, buttoned up from his neck to his feet, which it almost reached. He was in a desperate hurry so as not to miss his slot to speak.

No mention was made of his bizarre attire and he got through his speech without incident.

It transpired that on his way to the chamber, he called in at the gents. As he prepared to leave, to his horror, his zip broke on his trousers. But Price was a man of great resourcefulness. On his way in, he grabbed the first raincoat he saw from its hook and thus covered his embarrassment.

He admitted he looked a chump, but that, he said, was better than having the TV cameras being trained on his gaping flies.

He was certainly a man to have around in an emergency. He returned the coat to its hook, where he found its puzzled owner wondering what had happened to it.