The chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, who secured enough support to get through the knockout round on Thursday, said he was determined to compete in the televised debates starting on Friday. “I’m still in this fight,” he said. “What members of parliament and members of the Conservative Party need to know is that whoever they choose as leader in this process is someone who can stand up for those ideas and values in the next election in 2024. And then, I hope , maybe even in 2029”. He said the race was “one hell of a job interview”, but in an hour-long Q&A session with reporters, the MP laid out plans for green growth, a pledge to look at the universally reduced rate of credit to reduce the cost of living crisis and a defense boost expenditure and the number of the army. Tugendhat said he hoped to get votes from other candidates – even those who had not yet dropped out of the race. “Where will this go? I do not know. I can not tell you. But I can tell you that a lot of people are looking at the options before them today and are thinking differently about the votes they cast yesterday – and that’s no surprise.” Tugendhat, who is the most Brexit-skeptic of the candidates in the race, insisted he would not take the UK back into the EU but said he did not regret voting to remain. “Six years ago, it was a different question,” he said. “What you are asking me now is, would I ever return to the European Union? No, I wouldn’t. And the reason I wouldn’t, is because it would be bad for Britain. I always put Britain first, I will always put Britain first.” He said he voted firmly to leave the EU after the referendum. “Once you get your orders, you move on. I work for the people in the UK… this is literally the job. And I received my orders in June 2016 and I intend to deliver.” Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Tugendhat was criticized overnight after Conservative MP Chris Skidmore suggested he had said in a confrontation that he did not believe the 2050 net zero target could be met. Tugendhat said he had expressed the view that the current plans would not achieve the target. But he added: “I find it very, very difficult to justify the argument that it is green to buy solar panels made by slaves in Xinjiang, or that it is green to buy batteries mined by children in Africa. [creating the] technology in appallingly dirty energy conditions, often built with coal-fired power plants and then converted into batteries in China by often, again, people whose human rights abuses are legendary.” Tugendhat refused to say whether Boris Johnson was a good prime minister, citing moments when the pair clashed fiercely at select committee hearings. “You know we had our differences. I never made it a secret. Honestly, I couldn’t be more open about my position.”
