Tugendhat’s ‘disgusting and yellow’ Lib Dem jibe

The first of the big Tory leadership interviews kicked off today with Tom Tugendhat in the hotseat. The former security minister put forward his case to a packed out arena in Birmingham — calling for CCHQ reform, apologising for recent years of Tory ‘infighting and chaos’ and insisting he has what it takes to rebuild the ‘Conservative family’. 

Receiving a warm welcome from the crowd, Tugendhat was quick to crack the jokes too.  On just how many countries had sanctioned him, he quipped: ‘I’m still working on North Korea…’. He blasted Nigel Farage for saying he wants to ‘destroy’ the Conservatives, reiterating he would not entertain the idea of a merger with Reform. And joking that Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves sees ‘more black holes than Mr Spock’, the Tory contender then slammed Labour’s GB Energy venture as ‘insane’ — before on second thought adding: ‘Then again, it is Miliband.’ Ouch.

But it was the Liberal Democrats who came off worst from Tugendhat’s tirade.