The national average price for a home rose to $380,588 in April 2013, an increase of 1.3 per cent from the previous year. But what can a house hunter expect to find for that price?

US president declares major disaster with 91 people feared dead and scores more injured and missing.

Conservatives gathered Monday night to mourn the passing of a key architect in their rise to power — and to brace for the toughest test Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has faced since taking office on a promise to clean up politics in the national capital.

Officers die in Herat province roadside bomb blast as police and troops engage in deadly battle with Taliban in Helmand.

A major disaster has been declared in Oklahoma after a tornado struck, killing scores of people

Haroon Siddique

    

A major disaster has been declared in Oklahoma after a tornado struck, killing scores of people

Haroon Siddique

    

Chief executive of world's largest security company steps down ahead of company's AGM, to be replaced by chief financial officer

Nick Buckles has unexpectedly quit as chief executive of G4S, the company responsible for the botched handling of security at last year's Olympics.

Buckles is being replaced by the company's chief financial officer, Ashley Almanza, who only joined G4S three weeks ago.

The world's largest security company told the City this morning that Buckles, who was paid a basic salary of £830,000 a year, will leave on 31 May.

His abrupt departure comes just two weeks before G4S's annual meeting, at which investors had been expected to lambast him over the company's performance over the last year. Buckles was facing re-election to the board at the meeting.

Almanza took up his responsibilities at G4S at the start of this month. But G4S said that they had deliberately looked for candidates "with the experience and capabilities" to take on the CEO's mantle, as part of their "succession planning processes".

Buckles has been under pressure for the last 10 months, since G4S failed to provide enough trained security guards for the London Olympics. He admitted to MPs that the contract had turned into "a humiliating shambles", but had rejected calls to resign. The debacle cost the firm £88m, wiping a third off annual profits.

Buckles had been in line for a pay packet of up to £4.5m for the next year, had he stayed at the company and hit all his performance targets.

John Connolly, chairman of G4S, thanked Buckles for the "massive contribution" he made to the company over a 28-year career.

• G4S

Graeme Wearden
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

    

Chief executive of world's largest security company steps down ahead of company's AGM, to be replaced by chief financial officer

Nick Buckles has unexpectedly quit as chief executive of G4S, the company responsible for the botched handling of security at last year's Olympics.

Buckles is being replaced by the company's chief financial officer, Ashley Almanza, who only joined G4S three weeks ago.

The world's largest security company told the City this morning that Buckles, who was paid a basic salary of £830,000 a year, will leave on 31 May.

His abrupt departure comes just two weeks before G4S's annual meeting, at which investors had been expected to lambast him over the company's performance over the last year. Buckles was facing re-election to the board at the meeting.

Almanza took up his responsibilities at G4S at the start of this month. But G4S said that they had deliberately looked for candidates "with the experience and capabilities" to take on the CEO's mantle, as part of their "succession planning processes".

Buckles has been under pressure for the last 10 months, since G4S failed to provide enough trained security guards for the London Olympics. He admitted to MPs that the contract had turned into "a humiliating shambles", but had rejected calls to resign. The debacle cost the firm £88m, wiping a third off annual profits.

Buckles had been in line for a pay packet of up to £4.5m for the next year, had he stayed at the company and hit all his performance targets.

John Connolly, chairman of G4S, thanked Buckles for the "massive contribution" he made to the company over a 28-year career.

• G4S

Graeme Wearden
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

    

Spain hosts talks seeking to unify diverse opposition against Assad and forge a common position on Syria's conflict.

A debate about a proposed downtown casino is supposed to take centre stage at Toronto City Hall on Tuesday, but it seems a safe bet that a still-unseen video of Mayor Rob Ford will continue to be a topic of conversation.

Senators claim Apple has avoided paying billions in US tax by creating offshore entities that are not tax resident anywhere

Apple uses a "highly questionable" web of offshore entities to avoid paying billions in US income taxes, a Senate committee alleged on Monday.

The complex arrangement includes three subsidiaries, based ostensibly in Ireland, which appear not to be designated as tax resident anywhere, the committee said. A source on the committee called them "iCompanies – I for imaginary, invisible".

The commitee said that the arrangement, described by one senator as "the epitome" of tax-avoidance schemes, allowed Apple to pay only very small amounts of tax on much of its overseas profits, thanks to the Irish companies that exist "nowhere" for tax purposes.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, will answer the accusations at a hearing convened by the bipartisan permanent subcommittee on investigation in Washington on Tuesday. Apple vehemently denied the charges ahead of the meeting.

During its investigations, the subcommittee found that Apple considers three key subsidiaries, all based in Ireland, to have no tax jurisdiction at all. One of those Irish affiliates, Apple Sales International (ASI), reported sales income of $74bn over four years but paid hardly any tax. In 2011 ASI had pre-tax earnings of $22bn but paid just $10m in tax, a rate of 0.05%.

"Apple wasn't satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven," said senator Carl Levin, the subcommittee's Democratic chairman.

"Apple sought the Holy Grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere. We intend to highlight that gimmick and other Apple offshore tax avoidance tactics so that American working families who pay their share of taxes understand how offshore tax loopholes raise their tax burden, add to the federal deficit and ought to be closed."

Senator John McCain, the subcommittee's ranking Republican member, said Apple's "creation of companies that don't exist anywhere for tax purposes" was "the epitome of tax creativity".

McCain said his constituents were "mad as hell" to learn that Apple was paying tax rates that were sometimes lower than 1%. "I've never seen anything like this."

Levin said the repuercussons would be significant: "There are going to be some shockwaves, I believe, going through Europe when countries in Europe see Ireland not even implementing their own tax rate but working out a deal with Apple for a 2% rate instead of a 12% tax rate which Ireland is supposed to have."

Apple released Tim Cook's statement to the committee before the meeting. In it, he robustly defended the company, denying charges that the company uses tax gimmicks and pointing out that the company has created 600,000 jobs in the US and paid $6bn in taxes to the US Treasury in 2012. Cook also defends the Irish subsidiaries, which he says now employ more than 4,000 people.

"Apple complies fully with both the laws and spirit of the laws. And Apple pays all its required taxes, both in this country and abroad," the statement read.

"Apple welcomes an objective examination of the US corporate tax system, which has not kept pace with the advent of the digital age and the rapidly changing global economy. The company supports comprehensive tax reform as a necessary step to promote growth and enable American multinational companies to remain competitive with their foreign counterparts in both domestic and international markets," Cook said.

He characterised Apple's relationship with the Irish subsidiaries as "cost-sharing agreements" and said the subsidiaries shared risks as well as rewards. He said the arrangement was regularly audited by the Internal Revenue Service in the US.

The senators dismissed his argument, calling the practice a loophole that needed to be closed. "This is not an agreement between independent parties. These tax agreements they talk about are people all working for Apple sitting down and signing a piece of paper which shifts profits to a tax haven, that's what it is all about," said Levin.

Cook called for an overhaul of US corporate tax laws that should be "revenue neutral" for corporations. But critics charge his solutions are likely to exacerbate the issue.

"This is one of the most profitable companies in the world, and it has been acting like a back-alley thief trying to pick the pocket of American taxpayers," said Frank Clemente, campaign manager of pressure group Americans for Tax Fairness. He said a free repatriation would be "another mugging of the American people".

The committee will report more details of its findings at Tuesday's hearing. The news comes as Apple, Google, Starbucks and others face mounting criticism of their tax avoidance schemes in the UK.

Last week Margaret Hodge, the chair of the public accounts committee in the UK parliament, rounded the head of Google in northern Europe, Mark Brittin, during a hearing on the search firm's tax arranegments. "You are a company that says you 'do no evil'. And I think that you do do evil." She said the group's approach to tax in the UK was "devious, calculated and, in my view, unethical".

Eric Schmidt, the Google chairman, told the Observer at the weekend:"Given the intensity of the debate, not just in the UK but also in America and elsewhere, international tax law could almost certainly benefit from reform."

• Apple
• United States
• Tax avoidance
• US politics
• Ireland
• Tim Cook

Dominic Rushe
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

    

Senators claim Apple has avoided paying billions in US tax by creating offshore entities that are not tax resident anywhere

Apple uses a "highly questionable" web of offshore entities to avoid paying billions in US income taxes, a Senate committee alleged on Monday.

The complex arrangement includes three subsidiaries, based ostensibly in Ireland, which appear not to be designated as tax resident anywhere, the committee said. A source on the committee called them "iCompanies – I for imaginary, invisible".

The commitee said that the arrangement, described by one senator as "the epitome" of tax-avoidance schemes, allowed Apple to pay only very small amounts of tax on much of its overseas profits, thanks to the Irish companies that exist "nowhere" for tax purposes.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, will answer the accusations at a hearing convened by the bipartisan permanent subcommittee on investigation in Washington on Tuesday. Apple vehemently denied the charges ahead of the meeting.

During its investigations, the subcommittee found that Apple considers three key subsidiaries, all based in Ireland, to have no tax jurisdiction at all. One of those Irish affiliates, Apple Sales International (ASI), reported sales income of $74bn over four years but paid hardly any tax. In 2011 ASI had pre-tax earnings of $22bn but paid just $10m in tax, a rate of 0.05%.

"Apple wasn't satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven," said senator Carl Levin, the subcommittee's Democratic chairman.

"Apple sought the Holy Grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere. We intend to highlight that gimmick and other Apple offshore tax avoidance tactics so that American working families who pay their share of taxes understand how offshore tax loopholes raise their tax burden, add to the federal deficit and ought to be closed."

Senator John McCain, the subcommittee's ranking Republican member, said Apple's "creation of companies that don't exist anywhere for tax purposes" was "the epitome of tax creativity".

McCain said his constituents were "mad as hell" to learn that Apple was paying tax rates that were sometimes lower than 1%. "I've never seen anything like this."

Levin said the repuercussons would be significant: "There are going to be some shockwaves, I believe, going through Europe when countries in Europe see Ireland not even implementing their own tax rate but working out a deal with Apple for a 2% rate instead of a 12% tax rate which Ireland is supposed to have."

Apple released Tim Cook's statement to the committee before the meeting. In it, he robustly defended the company, denying charges that the company uses tax gimmicks and pointing out that the company has created 600,000 jobs in the US and paid $6bn in taxes to the US Treasury in 2012. Cook also defends the Irish subsidiaries, which he says now employ more than 4,000 people.

"Apple complies fully with both the laws and spirit of the laws. And Apple pays all its required taxes, both in this country and abroad," the statement read.

"Apple welcomes an objective examination of the US corporate tax system, which has not kept pace with the advent of the digital age and the rapidly changing global economy. The company supports comprehensive tax reform as a necessary step to promote growth and enable American multinational companies to remain competitive with their foreign counterparts in both domestic and international markets," Cook said.

He characterised Apple's relationship with the Irish subsidiaries as "cost-sharing agreements" and said the subsidiaries shared risks as well as rewards. He said the arrangement was regularly audited by the Internal Revenue Service in the US.

The senators dismissed his argument, calling the practice a loophole that needed to be closed. "This is not an agreement between independent parties. These tax agreements they talk about are people all working for Apple sitting down and signing a piece of paper which shifts profits to a tax haven, that's what it is all about," said Levin.

Cook called for an overhaul of US corporate tax laws that should be "revenue neutral" for corporations. But critics charge his solutions are likely to exacerbate the issue.

"This is one of the most profitable companies in the world, and it has been acting like a back-alley thief trying to pick the pocket of American taxpayers," said Frank Clemente, campaign manager of pressure group Americans for Tax Fairness. He said a free repatriation would be "another mugging of the American people".

The committee will report more details of its findings at Tuesday's hearing. The news comes as Apple, Google, Starbucks and others face mounting criticism of their tax avoidance schemes in the UK.

Last week Margaret Hodge, the chair of the public accounts committee in the UK parliament, rounded the head of Google in northern Europe, Mark Brittin, during a hearing on the search firm's tax arranegments. "You are a company that says you 'do no evil'. And I think that you do do evil." She said the group's approach to tax in the UK was "devious, calculated and, in my view, unethical".

Eric Schmidt, the Google chairman, told the Observer at the weekend:"Given the intensity of the debate, not just in the UK but also in America and elsewhere, international tax law could almost certainly benefit from reform."

• Apple
• United States
• Tax avoidance
• US politics
• Ireland
• Tim Cook

Dominic Rushe
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

    

Presumptive prime minister says "terrorism" a serious problem and any offer to talk should be taken seriously.

Israeli troops have shot at targets in Syria in response to gunfire at its forces in the Golan Heights as the violence in Syria also spills over into Lebanon and Iraq

Matthew WeaverGuardian readers

    

Israeli troops have shot at targets in Syria in response to gunfire at its forces in the Golan Heights as the violence in Syria also spills over into Lebanon and Iraq

Matthew WeaverGuardian readers

    

Sales in womenswear division and general merchandise disappoint

Profits at Marks & Spencer have fallen for the second year in a row as its much maligned womenswear divison continued to disappoint.

UK sales fell 1% overall, dragged down by a poor performance in general merchandise, which dropped 4.1% on a like-for-like basis.

The results could have been worse had it not been for a 4.5% rise in international sales and a 16.6% boost in multichannel business. Food was also up 1.7% in the UK.

Total group sales were up 1% to £10bn; however, pretax profit for the year to end of March fell 5.8% to £665.2m.

The M&S chief executive, Marc Bolland, said: "In a challenging market, M&S sales grew by 1.3%. Three of the four parts of the business made strong progress.

"We are working hard to get the general merchandise performance back on track. We have already made progress in our operational execution, and our new autumn/winter ranges have received a positive reaction."

The autumn-winter fashion range was launched last week and is being seen as "make or break" for Bolland.

The group's poor performance has led to speculation that Bolland, who joined M&S three years ago, could be under threat and there have also been rumours of a possible takeover by private equity groups.

Analysts were unimpressed with the figures. Bryan Roberts, Kantar director of Retail Insights, said he was concerned that "the feted autumn/winter clothing range will not be the silver bullet that some hope it might be".

These concerns were echoed by Freddie George at Cantor Research. He said it would take time before the new womenswear ranges resonate with customers – and possibly up to three seasons before it has any real impact on sales. It will also take time for M&S to attract the younger, freer spending consumers that it needs as its core customer base ages.

• Marks & Spencer
• Retail industry

Simon Neville
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

    

Sales in womenswear division and general merchandise disappoint

Profits at Marks & Spencer have fallen for the second year in a row as its much maligned womenswear divison continued to disappoint.

UK sales fell 1% overall, dragged down by a poor performance in general merchandise, which dropped 4.1% on a like-for-like basis.

The results could have been worse had it not been for a 4.5% rise in international sales and a 16.6% boost in multichannel business. Food was also up 1.7% in the UK.

Total group sales were up 1% to £10bn; however, pretax profit for the year to end of March fell 5.8% to £665.2m.

The M&S chief executive, Marc Bolland, said: "In a challenging market, M&S sales grew by 1.3%. Three of the four parts of the business made strong progress.

"We are working hard to get the general merchandise performance back on track. We have already made progress in our operational execution, and our new autumn/winter ranges have received a positive reaction."

The autumn-winter fashion range was launched last week and is being seen as "make or break" for Bolland.

The group's poor performance has led to speculation that Bolland, who joined M&S three years ago, could be under threat and there have also been rumours of a possible takeover by private equity groups.

Analysts were unimpressed with the figures. Bryan Roberts, Kantar director of Retail Insights, said he was concerned that "the feted autumn/winter clothing range will not be the silver bullet that some hope it might be".

These concerns were echoed by Freddie George at Cantor Research. He said it would take time before the new womenswear ranges resonate with customers – and possibly up to three seasons before it has any real impact on sales. It will also take time for M&S to attract the younger, freer spending consumers that it needs as its core customer base ages.

• Marks & Spencer
• Retail industry

Simon Neville
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

    

Thousand march in New York's Greenwich Village to honour the memory of "gay angel Mark Carson".

Prime minister sends personal note to party members as senior figure claims he is 'worse than John Major'

David Cameron moved to repair relations with a bruised Conservative party by emailing a "personal note" to all members in which he said he would never work with anyone who "sneered" at activists.

Amid anger in the party at the allegations that a senior member of his inner circle had referred to activists as "mad swivel-eyed loons", the prime minister said the party was held together by "a deep and lasting friendship".

Cameron reached out after senior Tories, who were enraged by allegations that the Tory co-chairman Lord Feldman had made disparaging remarks about Tory activists, warned of a sea change in the parliamentary party as growing numbers of MPs decide that the prime minister is becoming a liability. Feldman strenuously denied the allegations which he described as "completely untrue".

But senior figures indicated that the chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, Graham Brady, was expected to receive further letters calling for a confidence vote. Brady, who is understood to have been sent a limited number in recent months, will have to call a vote if he receives at least 46.

One senior figure said: "This is worse than John Major. There was quite a lot of sympathy for him because of the Maastricht rebels. He also listened, though he probably listened too much. With Cameron it feels like this could be terminal – and will be so before the election."

The prime minister moved to stabilise his position by sending an impassioned email to party members in which he wrote fondly of his 25 years as a party member.

The prime minister wrote: "We have been together through good times and bad. This is more than a working relationship; it is a deep and lasting friendship. Ours is a companionship underpinned by what we believe...Time and again, Conservative activists like you stand for duty, decency and civic pride."

Cameron addressed criticism of his inner circle. "I am proud to lead this party. I am proud of what you do. And I would never have around me those who sneered or thought otherwise. We are a team, from the parish council to the local association to parliament, and I never forget it … To those reading this, here is my message: there will always be criticism from the sidelines. But we must remember what this party has always been about: acting in the national interest."

Feldman fought off an attempt to hold an inquiry into his alleged comments after he won overwhelming backing at a meeting of the Conservative party board. Brian Binley, the Tory MP for Northampton South, agreed to withdraw his call for an inquiry after the leadership agreed to "close the gap between the leadership and grassroots". Feldman categorically denies making the remarks which were reported, though not attributed to him, in the Times and the Daily Telegraph on Saturday.

Binley said he accepted the view of the board but said he was pleased that it had agreed to work hard to close the gap between the leadership and the grassroots. "The issue was fully discussed by the board and complete confidence was voiced in the chairman Andrew Feldman. I did propose an investigation into the insulting words, reported to have been used, was undertaken. But that was overwhelmingly rejected.

"However, it was agreed that there was a need to narrow the gap between the party and the country and the leadership. It was said that a programme was already in hand to set that into being."

One member of the board said Feldman had won the day because of concerns that the Times and the Daily Telegraph had refused to name the person who allegedly made the disparaging remarks. The Tory said: "I think people don't understand how popular Andrew Feldman is. He works really hard with the party. He is very assiduous and is greatly admired."

Tories said the allegation that a senior Conservative had described activists as "swivel-eyed" marked a significant moment even though Feldman said it was "completely untrue" to suggest he made the remarks. The MP said: "It doesn't matter whether he said it or not. The fact is it reinforces the view of the party leadership."

One MP said it was difficult to see how Cameron could turn around his fortunes after a series of setbacks, not helped when he appointed two more Etonians to his inner circle. "What is Cameron going to do? Rescind the Etonian hirings, say I am not a snob? Of course not. This feels terminal. I can't predict how it will happen but it feels like we are nearing the end."

Tories say the atmosphere in the parliamentary party has changed over the past week after a consensus had been formed around Easter that the prime minister was secure at least until next year's European parliamentary elections, which Ukip is expected to win. The successful budget and the prime minister's widely praised handling of the death of Lady Thatcher prompted opponents to back down.

But senior figures are saying Cameron's handling of the EU referendum vote, in which he conceded that a bill should be passed in this parliament after initially saying this was unnecessary, had weakened him even in the eyes of Eurosceptics. The vote on gay marriage, in which Cameron was forced to negotiate with Labour to protect a bill which is widely despised in the party, did little to help matters.

One MP said: "People felt that things were moving in the right way and we had got the initiative. But we keep mucking up. It is all mucking it up from an elitist perspective.

"Trying to be all things to all men doesn't work. This culture of 'we know better than you' is unacceptable."

Others talk of how the "tectonic plates" – the famous phrase used by John Prescott to signal the end of the Blair era – are shifting. "Certainly the tremors are reverberating," one MP said.

• Conservatives
• David Cameron

Nicholas Watt
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

    

Prime minister sends personal note to party members as senior figure claims he is 'worse than John Major'

David Cameron moved to repair relations with a bruised Conservative party by emailing a "personal note" to all members in which he said he would never work with anyone who "sneered" at activists.

Amid anger in the party at the allegations that a senior member of his inner circle had referred to activists as "mad swivel-eyed loons", the prime minister said the party was held together by "a deep and lasting friendship".

Cameron reached out after senior Tories, who were enraged by allegations that the Tory co-chairman Lord Feldman had made disparaging remarks about Tory activists, warned of a sea change in the parliamentary party as growing numbers of MPs decide that the prime minister is becoming a liability. Feldman strenuously denied the allegations which he described as "completely untrue".

But senior figures indicated that the chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, Graham Brady, was expected to receive further letters calling for a confidence vote. Brady, who is understood to have been sent a limited number in recent months, will have to call a vote if he receives at least 46.

One senior figure said: "This is worse than John Major. There was quite a lot of sympathy for him because of the Maastricht rebels. He also listened, though he probably listened too much. With Cameron it feels like this could be terminal – and will be so before the election."

The prime minister moved to stabilise his position by sending an impassioned email to party members in which he wrote fondly of his 25 years as a party member.

The prime minister wrote: "We have been together through good times and bad. This is more than a working relationship; it is a deep and lasting friendship. Ours is a companionship underpinned by what we believe...Time and again, Conservative activists like you stand for duty, decency and civic pride."

Cameron addressed criticism of his inner circle. "I am proud to lead this party. I am proud of what you do. And I would never have around me those who sneered or thought otherwise. We are a team, from the parish council to the local association to parliament, and I never forget it … To those reading this, here is my message: there will always be criticism from the sidelines. But we must remember what this party has always been about: acting in the national interest."

Feldman fought off an attempt to hold an inquiry into his alleged comments after he won overwhelming backing at a meeting of the Conservative party board. Brian Binley, the Tory MP for Northampton South, agreed to withdraw his call for an inquiry after the leadership agreed to "close the gap between the leadership and grassroots". Feldman categorically denies making the remarks which were reported, though not attributed to him, in the Times and the Daily Telegraph on Saturday.

Binley said he accepted the view of the board but said he was pleased that it had agreed to work hard to close the gap between the leadership and the grassroots. "The issue was fully discussed by the board and complete confidence was voiced in the chairman Andrew Feldman. I did propose an investigation into the insulting words, reported to have been used, was undertaken. But that was overwhelmingly rejected.

"However, it was agreed that there was a need to narrow the gap between the party and the country and the leadership. It was said that a programme was already in hand to set that into being."

One member of the board said Feldman had won the day because of concerns that the Times and the Daily Telegraph had refused to name the person who allegedly made the disparaging remarks. The Tory said: "I think people don't understand how popular Andrew Feldman is. He works really hard with the party. He is very assiduous and is greatly admired."

Tories said the allegation that a senior Conservative had described activists as "swivel-eyed" marked a significant moment even though Feldman said it was "completely untrue" to suggest he made the remarks. The MP said: "It doesn't matter whether he said it or not. The fact is it reinforces the view of the party leadership."

One MP said it was difficult to see how Cameron could turn around his fortunes after a series of setbacks, not helped when he appointed two more Etonians to his inner circle. "What is Cameron going to do? Rescind the Etonian hirings, say I am not a snob? Of course not. This feels terminal. I can't predict how it will happen but it feels like we are nearing the end."

Tories say the atmosphere in the parliamentary party has changed over the past week after a consensus had been formed around Easter that the prime minister was secure at least until next year's European parliamentary elections, which Ukip is expected to win. The successful budget and the prime minister's widely praised handling of the death of Lady Thatcher prompted opponents to back down.

But senior figures are saying Cameron's handling of the EU referendum vote, in which he conceded that a bill should be passed in this parliament after initially saying this was unnecessary, had weakened him even in the eyes of Eurosceptics. The vote on gay marriage, in which Cameron was forced to negotiate with Labour to protect a bill which is widely despised in the party, did little to help matters.

One MP said: "People felt that things were moving in the right way and we had got the initiative. But we keep mucking up. It is all mucking it up from an elitist perspective.

"Trying to be all things to all men doesn't work. This culture of 'we know better than you' is unacceptable."

Others talk of how the "tectonic plates" – the famous phrase used by John Prescott to signal the end of the Blair era – are shifting. "Certainly the tremors are reverberating," one MP said.

• Conservatives
• David Cameron

Nicholas Watt
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds