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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dave Burke

Matt Hancock says Tories may be torn apart by Suella Braverman's 'extremist' fans

Matt Hancock has said Suella Braverman and her right-wing fanclub could be the Tory "Corbynistas" who tear the party apart.

He claimed the party will be "finished" if the National Conservatism movement - which held its first UK conference this week - prevails.

Mr Hancock - who was stripped of the Tory whip after jetting off to take part in I'm A Celeb last year - said he was alarmed by the "Trumpian takeover" that could poison British politics.

Speakers at the event spewed endless diatribes about "Marxism", while calling for conservatives to have more children, pull their kids out of "woke" schools and claiming anti-racism groups envy Holocaust victims.

Mr Hancock said: "I thought that if these voices, if these arguments, win a debate within the Conservative Party, then I think the Conservative Party is finished.

"And what I really dislike is this sort of sense of an attempt at a Trumpian takeover - looking at some of the things that have happened in American politics, especially on the right, and trying to bring them into British politics..."

Matt Hancock said he was concerned that the Home Secretary is "trying to split people apart" (Getty Images)

He said that in recent years the right wing has seen "much more extreme voices" come to the fore, leading to a "shrill" debate.

The former cabinet member claimed the conference - which was branded a "mad hatters' tea party" and a "Trump tribute act" by Labour - was an "attempt to claim the soul of the Conservative Party".

And he said views put forward at the event were "wrong and deeply unattractive".

He directed particular venom at MP Danny Kruger, who said marriages between men and women are "the only possible basis for a safe and successful society" - provoking anger among the LGBT community.

Mr Kruger also said parents should stick together for the sake of their children.

Mr Hancock said: "It is so offensive, and it's so wrong. I mean, tell that to The King. You know, he doesn't have a normative family and he is absolutely a strong basis for society.

He said remarks by Danny Kruger were 'so offensive' (National Conservatism/Youtube)

"I mean to make the argument that if you're in an abusive marriage, you must stick together for the sake of the kids, otherwise, you're somehow undermining society."

He lashed out at Ms Braverman's "tone", saying she was "trying to split people apart".

Mr Hancock added that while he didn't disagree with everything she said "we should talk about it in a very cautious and careful tone".

He went on to brand the right-wingers in the party "Conservative Corbynistas", saying: "I think it's an enormous irony that the tactics that are being deployed are the same sort of tactics that the Corbynistas deployed on the left, you know, Momentum and all that.

"And they will be just as destructive to the Conservatives as a force on the centre right, if they take hold, as they were to the Corbynistas on the left."

Listen to the full interview on The News Agents podcast this evening on Global Player.

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