Tory hopeful Tugendhat to attack ‘culture of denial’ over serious violence

Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat will call for a national conversation about the root causes of the recent riots, arguing that Britain’s social fabric has deteriorated.

In his first major speech since declaring his bid for the Conservative leadership, the former security minister is expected to attack a “culture of denial” that moves on too quickly from acts of serious violence without addressing their underlying causes and the “identity and motives of the perpetrators”.

He will say on Tuesday: “Too often, over the last two decades or more, we have avoided being brutally honest, preferring instead the warmth and false comfort of denial and complacency.”

Mr Tugendhat is expected to accuse the Prime Minister of a “failure of leadership” and urge the police to use “uncompromising force” in dealing with violent disorder.

He will say: “For officers on the streets, policing a violent crowd is a dangerous job.

“We sometimes hear of the need to go softly, softly, and to make arrests later. But visible lawlessness encourages others to join in and commit crime.”

He will also criticise Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, for “reckless political rhetoric” and the spread of misinformation that erodes social trust.

Ranging more widely, Mr Tugendhat will also argue that prison both provides effective punishment and keeps dangerous offenders off the streets, criticising the Government’s decision to reduce the amount of their sentence many offenders will have to serve before being released on parole.

Faced with the prospect of running out of prison spaces, the Government in its first weeks in charge announced plans to temporarily reduce the proportion of a sentence offenders must spend behind bars from 50% to 40%.

There are exceptions for terrorists, sex offenders, people convicted of crimes linked to domestic abuse, and violent criminals serving more than four years.

Mr Tugendhat will say: “Prison punishes offenders and takes dangerous and prolific criminals out of circulation, allowing the rest of us to live in peace.

“We should be updating and improving our prisons, not releasing criminals.”

A former soldier, Mr Tugendhat is one of six contenders for the Tory leadership, along with former home secretaries James Cleverly and Dame Priti Patel, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, former business secretary Kemi Badenoch and former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride.

This is Mr Tugendhat’s second bid for the role, having stood in the first leadership contest in 2022. He was eliminated in the third round of voting by MPs.