Tom Tugendhat and Penny Mordaunt both took to the BBC Sunday Show this morning. Tugendhat’s appearance came straight after the chief of the defence staff Tony Radakin and Tugendhat immediately went on foreign policy his strongest suit. His answers in this area are crisper than his ones on domestic issues.
Tugendhat made much, as he always does, of the ‘clean start’ he would offer. He did, though, credit Boris Johnson with breaking the Brexit deadlock and levelling up, though said he would take it further. He reiterated his call for a further cut in fuel duty, he wants 10p off. But on energy more broadly he talked about the need for actions to lower the price of energy. This is right but considering how long these decisions take to have an impact, very much a long-term aim.
Tugendhat also said he would send the Royal Navy to the North African coast to deter people smugglers as he backed the Rwanda policy as a necessary totem.
Mordaunt is clearly frustrated with the attacks on her. She warned that ‘this contest is in danger of slipping into something else’ and warned about ‘toxic politics’ and ‘smears’. She said those who wanted big tax cuts now were ‘not responsible’. She emphasised that she thinks the Tories should be aiming to deliver their 2019 manifesto rather than offering something radically different to that. She refused to be drawn on public sector pay, saying that the campaign was not the right time to set out specific proposals. She did, though, say that she would be prepared to borrow to fund day-to-day spending.
All eyes now turn to the ITV debate tonight. Mordaunt’s tone suggests she is becoming exasperated by some of the attacks on her which. Tonight’s debate could be more confrontational than Friday’s.
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