Is there anything ‘Congo’ Chris won’t do to seek a promotion at Westminster? ‘No’ appears to be the answer after his return to the Newsnight studio, reports WALTER CRONXITE, political editor
Sniffing out a new job opportunity: Chris Philp is regarded as the Tories’ go-to chap when they need someone to take a beating on national television
The Croydon MP who was once described as “a nose in search of a bum” appears to have alighted on a new posterior for his attention.
And “Congo” Chris Philp has immediately propelled himself into controversy over Tory leadership contender Kemi Badenoch’s Islamophobic comments.
Philp, the Conservative MP for Croydon South who as a Treasury minister notoriously helped to crash the British economy during Liz Truss’s disastrous 49 days as Prime Minister, resurfaced on national broadcast media last night, shortly after announcing that he would be supporting Badenoch’s bid to become Tory Party leader.
With an endorsement like that, what could possibly go wrong?
Hampstead-based Philp was immediately confronted with accusations that his chosen contender had launched her campaign with “an outrageous slur” and “an attack on democracy”. Badenoch was also accused of being Islamophobic.
In her leadership campaign launch, Tory right-winger Badenoch had condemned “malign and destructive identity politics”.
Badenoch said the five MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, who had just formed the Independent Alliance parliamentary group held “alien ideas that have no place here”. Instead, Badenoch declared herself more comfortable with the stance taken by Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform UK Party.
“When everyone was talking about the five new MPs from Reform, I was far more worried about the five new MPs elected on the back of sectarian Islamist politics, alien ideas that have no place here.”
Badenoch’s choice of the word “Islamist” is particularly telling: it is generally regarded as being distinct from Islam as a religion, and applied to extremists and terrorists. Badenoch either chose her words deliberately, or she doesn’t know what she is talking about.
Flawed judgement: Philp knows how to pick a winner
In a statement issued on behalf of the five Independent Alliance MPs, they said: “Kemi Badenoch’s outrageous slur is an attack on democracy.
“As democratically elected MPs we are proud to speak up on the issues that matter to our constituents, including the two-child benefit cap, the rights of refugees and the ongoing massacre of Palestinians.
“By describing these demands as ‘sectarian Islamist politics’, Badenoch maligns thousand of voters and peace campaigners. Her smear should be called out for what it is: Islamophobia.”
The statement, signed by Corbyn, Adnan Hussain (MP for Blackburn), Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) and Shockat Adam (Leicester South), compared Badenoch’s speech to the racist rhetoric which had stirred divisions and caused riots across the country in August.
“Kemi Badenoch’s reckless comments add fuel to the fire,” the statement read, “and she should retract them immediately.”
Last night, Philp was back to his accustomed role from his time in the Tory Government, as a punchbag on the media circuit for his notional boss.
Thus, when Newsnight host Victoria Derbyshire had the hard questions about Badenoch’s pandering to racists, it was Philp who was wheeled out to look like a twerp and provide the non-apology.
Two former Conservative MPs in Croydon have both suggested that Badenoch, and Philp, are wrong.
Right-whinger: Philp even put his name to a love letter to Badenoch for the Torygraph
“Although Chris is supporting Badenoch’s leadership campaign, his concerns about sectarianism based on faith are actually a criticism of what Badenoch said,” Andrew Pelling, who stood for the LibDems at the General Election, said today.
“Politicians elected to Parliament who follow the Muslim faith are as much part of the democratic mainstream of British society as those of other faiths.”
And Gavin Barwell, now “Lord” Barwell, quickly found holes in Badenoch’s campaign premise. “Truss’s mini-budget wasn’t ‘governing from the left’. Nor was the Rwanda scheme. Nor was cutting taxes when many public services were struggling,” Barwell tweeted.
“If the Conservative Party keeps misleading itself about why it lost, it will spend a long time in opposition.”
Read more: Croydon South’s Tory MP called a ‘liar’ 16 times on national TV
Read more: MP Philp: ‘Brown-nosing is first, second and third nature’
Read more: Tory leadership bid? Victoria Derbyshire won’t believe her luck
Read more: Philp’s flop: Tory MP becomes national laughing stock (again)
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