Shropshire Star

North Shropshire MP Paterson in talks with Cameron critic Lord Ashcroft

Ousted Environment Secretary and North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson has been spending time in Croatia with one of the leading critics of the Prime Minister.

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Mr Paterson was one of the most high profile casualties of the cabinet reshuffle earlier this month which saw the introduction of more women into David Cameron's inner circle.

This week Mr Paterson and his wife Rose, who allegedly reprimanded Tory election guru Lynton Crosby over his sacking at a drinks party last week, have been in Croatia holidaying with millionaire former Tory party donor Lord Ashcroft, now a pollster and a leading critic of Mr Cameron.

Lord Ashcroft is believed to be gathering material for a hard-hitting biography of the Prime Minister.

Earlier this week, Paterson tweeted a picture of the two, captioned: 'Spent the day discussing the future with Lord Ashcroft.'

When asked by the Shropshire Star what the conversations entailed Mr Paterson said they were private and that he was still in Croatia, and was not due home until this morning.

Publicly Mr Paterson and Mr Cameron appeared to end on good terms with an exchange of thanks and gratitude in letters.

After his relegation to the back benches Mr Paterson told Mr Cameron it had been a privilege to serve in both opposition and Government for the last 14 years and that he fully intended to continue to serve his country and constituents from the backbenches.

In a letter to Mr Paterson the Prime Minister said he was "enormously grateful" for his work as a minister.

Last week Mr Paterson was pictured with Ukip leader Nigel Farage at a game fair at Blenheim Palace.

Mr Paterson who took to Twitter after he resigned was writing on the social network after the Government's fracking announcement. He wrote: "Europe risks condemning itself to oblivion as global manufacturer if it does not embrace fracking."

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