Sir Keir Starmer is "already starting to destroy Britain" and is a "clear socialist" keen to "take control", Tom Tugendhat has claimed.
Speaking to GB News from the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, the Tory leadership hopeful took aim at the Prime Minister and claimed he will "be standing to be Prime Minister in four years' time".
Starmer and his cabinet are currently embroiled in a donations scandal, as the British premier and his ministers have accepted several gifts from Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli, including the PM's use of his multi-million pound penthouse in Soho.
In the latest admission from Starmer, new declarations have shown that he was given double the amount that was originally declared to pay for clothing, now amounting to £32,000.
Tom Tugendhat hit out at 'socialist' Keir Starmer at the Conservative Party Conference
GB News / Reuters
Hitting out at the Labour Government, Tugendhat told GB News that the Prime Minister's "socialism" and "control" is "very clear", and they plan to "take control away from the British people".
Tugendhat claimed: "I have seen so many Labour plans over so many years and the devil is always in the detail. There is always an element of state control that comes in. Keir’s being clear about it, socialists are clear about it.
"Socialism means taking control from you and giving it to them."
Making his plea to be the next Conservative Party leader, the candidate stressed that the party "needs reform", but wants to focus on "trust and delivery for the British people" ahead of the next election.
The Prime Minister is embroiled in the developing scandal involving donor Lord Waheed Alli
Reuters
Tugendhat told GB News: "What we're now talking about is reforming the Conservative Party, making sure we clean-up CCHQ, that we change the way that this party works so that we can change the way that this country works.
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"That's what we've got to do. That's what I'm going to do, so that in four years’ time, the British people will have the chance to vote for either a socialist who's already started destroying Britain, or a Conservative who's ready to rebuild it.
"I’m standing to be Prime Minister in four years’ time."
When grilled by host Tom Harwood on his "lack of government experience" compared to the other remaining candidates, Tugendhat hit back and claimed that he is "not going to hold against them their lack of experience on the front line in combat".
Tugendhat declared: "I'm not going to hold against them their lack of experience in serious operational theatres like Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm not going to hold against them their record of the past few years.
Tugendhat declared that he is 'standing for Prime Minister in four years' time'
GB News
"My job is to set forward my record and and demonstrate what I can offer this country. And what I'm championing is the leadership that we need to make sure that this country goes in a different direction."
He continued: "We need to invest in our country. We need to build more houses, we need to build more infrastructure, and we need to generate cheaper energy.
"We need to make sure we are leading a Conservative revolution in this country that delivers for the British people. That's why I'm focusing on leadership and I'm focusing on trust, because we need to deliver.
"What I champion is freedom. I champion opportunity, I champion families, because those are Conservative values. Those are the building blocks of freedom."