Cameron lists coalition 'achievements' in letter to sceptical Tory MPs

David Cameron wrote to all Tory MPs to defend his record since becoming Prime Minister and insist that the coalition Government is "delivering for the Conservative Party".

Amid signs of scepticism among some of his backbenchers, he sent an extensive list of his achievements so far and stressed that the coalition agreement contains many manifesto commitments.

He appealed for MPs to rally grassroots supporters over the summer as they head back to their constituencies for the parliamentary recess.

Mr Cameron has acknowledged that both he and Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg need to work to take their parties with them.

Backbench Tory David Davis was reportedly overheard in a bar recently referring to the Tory-Lib Dem alliance as the "Brokeback coalition" - alluding to the gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain.

The Prime Minister said yesterday that he preferred to compare the coalition to a different Western - True Grit - as that was what the parties needed to demonstrate.

This week's missive was disclosed as Mr Cameron refocused on domestic political concerns after a four-day tour of Turkey and India. He was flying back to Britain this morning.

In the letter, he acknowledged that some were "disappointed" by the compromises the Tories made with the Lib Dems, but warned that coalition was not "going to be easy".

"But we must remember the most important thing of all: Britain now has something that all Conservatives believe in profoundly - a strong and stable Government acting in the national interest to do the right thing for the long term," he wrote.

Mr Cameron said the table of about 70 achievements represented "some of the things we have done so far".

"This is not an exhaustive list. But it does show just what being the party of government means," he wrote.

"Rather than just talking about our Conservative principles and beliefs, we can put them into action and change our country for the better.

"I know you will be speaking to our volunteers and activists over the summer, and hope you will be able to share these achievements with our loyal supporters who worked so hard during the campaign to make this possible."

Mr Cameron also addressed the disappointment within the party that it failed to win May's general election outright.

Thanking MPs for their support and hard work, he admitted that "we all wanted to secure an overall majority" but pointed to what the party managed to achieve.

"I was determined to make the best of the circumstances we found ourselves in and take the initiative - and I believe that aiming for a strong, stable coalition Government that could act in the national interest was the right thing to do," he wrote.

"Ten weeks on, I believe the Government is delivering for the Conservative Party - and we have made a good start in tackling the problems faced by the country."

Among the Government's achievements he highlighted were "radical welfare reform, free schools, protecting the NHS, scrapping Labour's jobs tax, a cap on immigration, and a referendum guaranteed by law on any future European Treaty that shifts powers from Britain to the EU".

The Government was also "taking the tough decisions needed to deal with the record deficit" and "moving away from Labour's top-down, controlling Big Government to build a Big Society.

"In just 10 weeks I believe we have shown our intent to be a great reforming Government," he wrote.

Mr Cameron's visit to India culminated last night in a state dinner hosted by his counterpart Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.

The trip was dominated by off-the-cuff remarks the Prime Minister made on his first morning in the country, accusing Pakistan of promoting "the export of terror".

They were comments that went down well in India, with which Mr Cameron was seeking to deepen relations, but angered Pakistan, whose High Commissioner to Britain urged him to "make amends".

The Prime Minister insisted he had a duty to speak candidly and frankly in the British national interest, although he tempered his analysis in later interviews.

The focus of the visit was to improve trade relations in a bid to create jobs back home.

Pakistani cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan said there was deep anger over Mr Cameron's comments in his country.

"There is obviously a lot of anger in Pakistan at David Cameron's statement because here people feel this country is the biggest sufferer of terrorism," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"We are being blamed for the complete failure of the Afghanistan campaign, this doomed campaign. Pakistan has become the scapegoat. Pakistan has become what Cambodia was in the Vietnam War.

"The failure in Vietnam was blamed on Cambodia and Cambodia was destroyed by the bombing. Today Pakistan is being bombed by its ally, the US... killing mostly innocent people."