Opposition urges Tories to cut ties with rightwing group over ‘culture war’ comments

Marco Longhi, the MP for Dudley North. A TPUK spokesperson said Longhi’s role had ‘no day-to-day involvement with the running’ of the group. Photograph: UK parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA

Opposition parties have called on the Conservatives to cut ties with a rightwing student group that has described drag artists as “groomers”, called UK schools “Maoist indoctrination camps” and held protests alongside an anti-Islam pastor.

While Turning Point UK (TPUK) says it has no formal links to the party, a Conservative MP, Marco Longhi, is the group’s honorary president, and it has previously been praised by former ministers Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg, as well as the deputy party chair, Lee Anderson.