Tom Tugendhat, a former soldier, today used military imagery while outlining his campaign for Tory leader.
The senior Conservative MP said in a speech this morning in Westminster that he would lead with “leadership with a reinvigorated sense of mission” and that he “cannot accept defeat.”
The British people requested the Tory government to not just “hold the line,” but also “advance,” according to Mr. Tugendhat, who fought in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
He promised a “new start” and lamented how “when the occasion demanded service, we delivered scandal” in a dig at outgoing PM Boris Johnson.
The 49-year-old made a number of policy commitments, including a reduction in fuel price of 10p per litre and quick action to address the backlogs in the NHS.
But because he has never held a cabinet position before, he was also obliged to refute accusations that he would be “learning on the job” as the Tory leader and prime minister.
Additionally, he maintained that his leadership effort was just a front to get a senior Cabinet position from the victor.
When he was serving in Iraq, Mr. Tugendhat, the chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, suffered two wounds during a ten-hour firefight behind enemy lines.
In order to demonstrate how he had “a record of service and a record of delivery in some of the most challenging and arduous environments around the world,” he made reference to his military career.
It is “no time to learn on the job” for a new PM, according to deputy prime minister Dominic Raab, who is supporting ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak for the Tory leadership.
In response, Mr. Tugendhat said he would “put all that experience” from his service in the army “to work” in Downing Street.
The position of prime minister is actually unique compared to all other positions in government, he continued.
It’s not a managerial or departmental position, you understand. It’s a position that calls for leadership and vision as well as a willingness to put everything on the line to serve the British people.
Mr. Tugendhat stated there was a “creeping sense of hopelessness about our collective destiny” with Britain facing a “defining moment” due to the cost-of-living problem and the war in Ukraine.
He criticized Mr. Johnson and the larger Conservative Party for their response to the growing difficulties.
“We have retreated at a time when our service is most required and at a time when many people are in such a critical situation,” he continued.
We have relapsed into petty politics that are more concerned with personalities than with principles.
When we most need to be united, we have retreated into separation. We withdrew into faction when our country required the operation of our party.
“We supplied controversy when the time called for it.” A crisis of leadership, purpose, and trust exists right now.
Prior to the EU referendum, Mr. Tugendhat supported Remain, but he made a commitment to “seize one of the largest economic benefits of Brexit that we haven’t yet recognized.”
According to him, “EU regulations that compelled British insurers to sit on dead money that they are not allowed to invest” should be scrapped.
The removal of the EU’s Solvency II restrictions, according to Mr. Tugendhat, will “mean that roughly £100 billion of British depositors’ money may be put to work revitalizing our communities and building houses.”
Mr. Tugendhat reaffirmed his intention to reverse the most recent 1.25 percentage point increase in National Insurance contributions in other policy commitments.
Additionally, he pledged to cut fuel duty by 10p per litre in order to help suffering Britons deal with the rising cost of living.
Mr. Tugendhat has pledged to “bring together professionals from the NHS, the wider public sector, the military, the corporate sector, and the voluntary sector to smash through the NHS backlog” on his first day in Downing Street.
He declared that in order to address the enormous waiting lines for hospitals brought on by the Coronavirus crisis, he would try to replicate the success of the Covid vaccinations taskforce.
It looks that Mr. Tugendhat has garnered enough support from his fellow Tory MPs to go to tomorrow’s first round of voting in the leadership race.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and former Cabinet ministers Damian Green and Karen Bradley are among those who back him.
Due to his lack of prior experience serving in government, Mr. Tugendhat is yet still perceived as an outsider.
He denied today that the purpose of his leadership campaign was to secure the position of foreign secretary in a future administration.
Mr. Tugendhat declared, “I entered this contest for no other reason than to champion the values I stand on and to lead the country I love.
The reason I’m here is because this is a plan that we’re going to execute; it’s not a compromise stance or a bargaining tactic.