fierce Tory Twitter spat broke out over Brexit on Thursday after the two frontrunners around the Conservative leadership contest were accused of endangering the UK’s future beyond the European Union†
After Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt came out on Wednesday as the top two came out of the first ballot by Tory MPs, Lord Moylan, an arch Eurosceptic and ally of Boris Johnson, tweeted his concerns about their Brexit credentials.
Lord Moylan, an outspoken critic of Northern Ireland’s protocol, tweeted: “We are on track to have two final candidates who will jeopardize Brexit: one because he doesn’t care, one because she doesn’t” I understand it doesn’t.”
But that led to a backlash from some Tories with Simon Hoare, chairman of the Commons Northern Ireland selection committee, who bluntly tweeted: “You really are a GradeA idiot.”
That was followed by former Brexit minister Lord Frost, who launched a scathing attack on Ms Mordaunt, saying she was no match for the task when she was his deputy in talks with the EU.
Lord Frost said on TalkTV that she had no eye for detail, was unwilling to bring harsh messages to Brussels and that he should have asked Boris Johnson to replace her.
“I’m quite surprised at where she stands in this leadership race. She was my deputy – fictional, more than real – in the Brexit talks last year,” he said.
“I felt that she had not mastered the details needed in last year’s negotiations. She would not always bring hard messages to the European Union when needed.
“She wasn’t fully responsible, she wasn’t always visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where she was. This became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the Prime Minister to move her and someone else to support me.”
A social media link to a clip of his interview was retweeted by Treasury Secretary Simon Clarke, who supports Liz Truss as leader.
Mr Clarke said: “Lord Frost’s warning is very serious. Conservatives – and more importantly, our country – need a leader who is tested and ready.”
Meanwhile, Lord Barwell, who worked as Theresa May’s chief of staff when she was Prime Minister, said: “I love it. We have now gone beyond accusing Remainers of betraying Brexit by saying that some Brexiteers cannot be trusted to deliver it. It Will End With Bill Cash Accusing Steve Baker Of Belief In BRINO [Brexit in name only]†
With the Tory leadership campaign thus far largely focused on tax cuts, Brexit has largely remained in the background, despite mounting tensions with the EU over plans to tear up parts of the Northern Ireland protocol.
Independent analyzes have suggested stopping the EU has blown a billion-pound hole in the UK trade†
Of the six candidates entering the second round of voting at lunchtime on Thursday, only Tom Tugendhat and Liz Truss will be left behind in the 2016 EU referendum. But Ms Truss has since become a Brexit advocate, while Mr Tugendhat has sworn the ” opportunities created by Brexit”.
Mr Sunak, the former Chancellor, and Ms Mordaunt, the Trade Minister, both supported Brexit, with Mr Sunak being seen as a passionate advocate for leaving the EU.
But Lord Moylan told the Standard that if either were elected as Tory leader and prime minister, there would be a danger that Brexit would not be completed.
The colleague, who was Vice-Chairman of Transport for London when Johnson was Mayor of London, supports Suella Braverman, a member of the Brexit spartans, the hard-line Tories campaigning for a hard break with the EU.
Lord Moylan said: “The problem is we have a partially full Brexit because Northern Ireland is partially under EU control.
“There are some really talented, capable candidates with fresh faces and fresh ideas to drive constructive conservatism. They include Suella and Kemi, but the tragedy is that these people are not getting through.”