Sir Ed Davey this afternoon issued an impassioned plea to Tory wets disillusioned with Kemi Badenoch: come home to the Lib Dems. The party leader gleefully encouraged the likes of Gavin Barwell to ‘come and talk’, as Badenoch delivered an ultimatum to her own ranks – back my policies or leave.
At a Westminster press conference convened to announce an official Lib Dem call for a ‘new Magna Carta’ to save Britain from ‘populists and tech tyrants’, Sir Ed found time to have a pop at Badenoch, whom he accused of ‘turning away lifelong conservatives’. He went on:
We of course would welcome people who subscribe to our views – whether they’re secret Lib Dems or open Lib Dems. Should (Gavin) want to come and talk, of course! I find it quite extraordinary what’s happening in the Conservative party. What it looks like to me is that Kemi is having a battle for who is going to be the party of the right. She’s more focused on Reform and Restore than she is about coming a government in waiting. To all those people who feel the Conservative Party has left them, please look at us. You may have ignored us in the past but we’re the strongest we’ve been for over 100 years and we’re going to get stronger. We are a real holder of true British values in a way the Conservatives no longer are.
Sir Ed also repeated his call for proportional representation. And he insisted that the country needs a written constitution – a ‘new Magna Carta’ – to ensure membership of the ECHR is enshrined.
For the Tory wets, could the tide be turning yellow?
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