Skipper

Yes, that 2007 conference phrase about 'British jobs for British Workers' has come back to haunt poor old Gordon. I never liked it anyway as it smacked of a genuflection to the right. But at Davos today, his insistence on the avoidance of protectionism won't go down well when he gets to meet union leaders in the strikes concerned, who will want exactly that. I fear this is only the first of the series of industrial official and wildcat strikes which will plague any government in power until the recession recedes.

But I'm also interested in the EU aspect of the dispute. EU workers are here because EU law says they can be. They are competing for diminishing jobs as the recession bites ever deeper. Labour is officially in favour of being in the EU but the Tories are not; well not so much anyway. They are now offered a rare opportunity to exploit a weakened flank of the government by going in with a hard and critical Euroscpetic line. But if they do that, they will open up traditional lines of division and will they not risk unravelling one of Cameron's latest successes: bringing a big beast back in from the cold?

Ken Clarke has promised to accept the party's mildly critical line on the EU as the price he's paying for being back in the front line he loves and I daresay has desperately misssed. But Ken, which is why I can't dislike the man, is wonderfully honest for a politician. Should he be asked to opine on EU workers, I reckon he'd support and justify the situation which is making the strikers so angry. Then he might have to face resignation if Cameron has hoisted up a sceptical banner. Should Cameron not exploit the issue, then he in turn will open up a flank to UKIP and the BNP, already seen campaigining in the refinery disputes. Should be interesting to wait and see.