Tory Tom Tugendhat takes brutal swipe at Cabinet colleague David Cameron
A senior Tory took a brutal swipe at former boss David Cameron over his stance on China today.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat aimed a pointed jibe at the ex-Prime Minister who once hailed a “golden era” of relations with Beijing and took Chinese Premier Xi Jinping for a pint down his local pub. Mr Tugendhat, who has been a fierce critic of the Chinese Communist Party, reposted a Foreign Office tweet showing former Tory leader Mr Cameron shaking hands with Sebastien Lai. Mr Lai’s father Jimmy Lai - a Hong Kong politician - has been held by the Chinese authorities following their brutal human rights crackdown.
The Foreign Office posted: “Foreign Secretary @David_Cameron met with Sebastien Lai in London today to listen to his concerns for his father, Jimmy Lai, detained in Hong Kong. The UK opposes the National Security Law and will continue to stand by Jimmy Lai and the people of HK.”
Mr Tugendhat said: “I guess the golden era is over.” The comment was a taunt at Mr Cameron, who made a shock return to frontline politics last month when he was drafted in as Foreign Secretary. He now sits round the Cabinet table with Mr Tugendhat who, while not a Cabinet Minister, attends the weekly meetings because of his role focused on security.
In October 2015, Mr Cameron hosted the Chinese President at The Plough at Cadsden, near Princes Risborough, Bucks, as part of a five-day State Visit. The pair had been on a trip to the then PM’s 16th Century country retreat, Chequers. “It’s going to be a very important moment for British-Chinese relations, which are in a very good state, something of a golden era in our relationship,” predicted Mr Cameron.
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Since then, relations have been anything but golden. A parliamentary researcher was arrested amid allegations he was a Chinese spy, which he denied. MI5 issued a separate warning about Chinese infiltration of Westminster as it named an “agent of influence”. Meanwhile, Chinese firm Huawei was banned from having a role in Britain’s 5G network.
Mr Tugendhat was first elected to Parliament in 2015 when Mr Cameron led the Conservatives to a shock election victory, winning the party’s first majority for 23 years. He has been a longstanding critic of the Chinese regime.
In March 2021, he was among five MPs sanctioned by China for spreading what it claimed were "lies and disinformation" about the country. Beijing took the action in retaliation for measures imposed by the British Government over human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims. China has held Uighurs at camps in Xinjiang, where allegations of torture, forced labour and sexual abuse have emerged.
At the time, Mr Tugendhat was chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee and also the Conservatives’ China Research Group. He said then: "I view this as a direct assault on British democracy and an attempt to silence the British people who have chosen me to speak for them." Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, insisted Beijing China was forced to act "in self-defence" in response to UK sanctions "based on lies".
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