Tom Tugendhat has vowed not to withdraw from the Conservative leadership race but admitted he has been courted by other candidates, telling reporters: “I feel like a prom queen.”
The chairman of the foreign affairs committee, who secured enough support to get through Thursday’s elimination round, said he was determined to compete in the televised debates starting Friday.
“I’m still in this fight,” he said. “What MPs and Conservative Party members need to know is that whoever they choose as leader in this process is someone who can defend these ideas and values in the elections that are coming up in 2024. And then, I hope, maybe 2029 as well.”
He said the race had been a “devil’s job interview” but in an hour-long question-and-answer session with reporters, the MP set out plans for green growth, a commitment to look at universal credit to ease the cost of living crisis and increase of defense spending and the size of the army.
Tugendhat said he hopes to garner votes from other candidates — even those who haven’t yet dropped out of the race. “Where will this go? I do not know. I can’t tell you. But I can tell you that a lot of people are looking at the options in front of them today and thinking differently about the votes they made yesterday — and that’s not surprising.”
Tugendhat, who is the most Brexit-sceptic of the candidates in the race, insisted he would not bring the UK back into the EU but said he did not regret voting to remain.
“Six years ago it was a different matter,” he said. “What you are asking me now is, will I ever return to the European Union? No, I wouldn’t. And the reason I don’t is because it would be bad for Britain. I have always put Britain first, I will always put Britain first.
He said he had consistently voted to leave the EU since the referendum. “Once you have your orders, move forward. I work for the people of the UK… it’s literally the job. I received my orders in June 2016 and I intend to deliver them.’
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Tugendhat drew some criticism overnight after Conservative MP Chris Skidmore said he had told search engines he did not believe the 2050 net-zero target could be met. Tugendhat said he was expressing the view that the current plans would not achieve the goal.
But he added: “I find it very, very difficult to justify the argument that it’s green to buy solar panels made by slaves in Xinjiang, or it’s green to buy batteries mined by children in Africa, [creating the] technology in appallingly dirty energy conditions, often made with coal-fired power plants and then turned into batteries in China by often, again, people whose human rights abuses are legendary.
Tugendhat refused to say whether Boris Johnson had been a good prime minister, citing moments when the pair clashed bitterly during select committee hearings. “You know we’ve had our differences. I never made a secret about it. Honestly, I couldn’t be more blunt about my position.
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