Heckler disrupts Rory Stewart’s leadership bid shouting ‘Revoke Article 50’
He launched his campaign today from a circus tent on London's Southbank.
Tory leadership hopeful Rory Stewart launched his bid to become prime minister from a circus tent this evening.
Speaking from the Southbank, he said the best way to ensure we avoided a no-deal Brexit was to vote for him.
But the finale was interrupted by a hecker yelling: ‘Never forget Rory, revoke Article 50! This mess started with the Conservatives – it has to end with the Conservatives. Stop Brexit!’
It was the last thing the audience heard as they finished applauding the speech, in which Stewart set out his stall for why he should become our next prime minister.
He said he can give the country the leadership it needs, saying we should feel a sense of shame about the state of some of Britain’s prisons and the availability of social care.
And he positioned himself as the candidate who had the most realistic views on Brexit, saying he was going to be ‘honest to the way the world is’ rather than insisting he could find a better deal by October 31.
‘I don’t believe in pretending there’s something called No Deal you can drive through Parliament,’ he said. ‘I don’t believe in the £84 billion of tax cuts the other candidates have already offered. I do not believe in pledging £42 billion to a single department. I believe in living within our means.’
He called the idea that No Deal could be driven through by ‘proroguing’ Parliament (shutting down Parliament early to drive through no deal) was ‘undemocratic, unconstitutional and profoundly offensive’.
In what seemed an attack on the other contenders in the race, he said: ‘If there were a magic answer [to Brexit], we would have left.’
Speaking from the Southbank in London, he accused advocates of a no-deal exit of telling ‘fairy stories’.
Asked about Mr Johnson, Mr Stewart said he had spoken to Conservative Party associations across the UK.
He added: ‘When you ask them, do you really – and I don’t want to make this too personal – do you really feel that this is the person that you want engaging with the detail and the future of your health and education system?
‘Is this the person that you want writing the instructions to the nuclear submarines?
‘Is this the person that you want embodying the nation on the world stage and guiding you through the most difficult choice that Britain has faced for 50 years?
‘I trust the Conservative members to arrive at the correct answers.’
