Cameron's unity plea as he flies in to face Tory flak

The Tory leader confronted backbenchers at Westminster before travelling to his flood-hit Witney constituency to support residents.

The double rescue mission came after Gordon Brown ridiculed Mr Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions hours after the Tory leader stepped off a plane from his controversial 4,000-mile trip to Rwanda.

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Mr Cameron insisted he was right to visit East Africa while parts of his Oxfordshire constituency were under water.

However, Mr Brown told the Tory leader he had seen for himself the hard work being done by the emergency services before announcing he was going straight to Gloucester, one of the worst-hit areas.

Mr Cameron used Prime Minister's Questions to appease Right-Wing critics by demanding the Prime Minister hold a referendum on the new EU constitution.

But Mr Brown said he was retreating to the old Tory agenda on Europe, grammar schools, spending and tax cuts, adding: 'The wheels are going off the Tory bicycle.'

Mr Cameron then got tough with backbenchers after reports that up to six MPs had demanded a confidence vote in his leadership following a ratings slump and last week's third place in two by-elections.

He told members of the 1922 backbenchers' committee they needed the

'discipline, passion and hunger' of a Government in waiting, instead of being disgruntled and in revolt over policy.

Bob Spink, Tory MP for Castle Point, Essex, had warned him to stop relying on 'gimmicks and wet-behind-the-ears advisers' or risk losing the next election.

Dr Spink told a local newspaper: 'Recent weeks have been a disaster for the party.'

Mr Cameron also ordered MPs to talk to the Chief Whip if they had problems with his leadership - so that he did not have to 'read about it in the next day's newspaofficespers'. MPs banged their desks in a show of support during the 15-minute meeting.

He later went to Witney to talk to councillors and residents hit by floods. He will tour stricken homes later today.

Mr Cameron had originally planned to arrive in Witney - where parts of the town were left 5ft under water - today but moved the visit forward to last night.

Although he visited the area on Sunday before catching his flight, some questioned why he did not cancel the trip to Africa. Julian Bones, 43, owner of The Old Court Hotel in the town centre, said: 'His are right opposite us, but he still didn't come in. He was just walking round the street spouting off politics and it is bad that he has not been here since.'

Peter Crowther, 55, whose piano and cello shop in the centre of Witney was badly damaged in the floods, said: 'He came in to Sunday to see us, but I think it is just another event he can get publicity from.'

Local Conservative councillor Verena Hunt said: 'At the moment everyone is worrying about their own houses, but there might be an aftermath later when people are looking for someone to blame.'

A poll last night showed that more than half of voters believe Mr Cameron is not in control of his party.

The YouGov survey for Channel 4 News found that just 22 per cent think the Tory leader has a grip on his ranks, compared to 66 per cent who think Gordon Brown has command of the Labour Party.

But in good news for Mr Cameron, voters viewed both him and the Conservatives as more in the centre ground than Labour or the Liberal Democrats.

And figures published yesterday show the Tories received £20million in donations in the year from April 2006.

By the end of April this year, the Tories recorded a £4.2million surplus, compared to Labour's debts of £25million.