Former chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost has just savaged Penny Mordaunt on TalkTV. Speaking to Julia Hartley-Brewer, Frost poured cold water on Mordaunt’s competence and leadership, claiming he has “grave concerns” about her after working alongside her on the Brexit negotiations last year:

“To be honest I’m quite surprised that she is where she is in this leadership race. She was my deputy, notionally more than really, in the Brexit talks last year… I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary in the negotiations last year. She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the European Union when that was necessary… she wasn’t always visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where she was. I’m afraid this became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the Prime Minister to move her on… from the basis of what I saw I would have grave reservations about [Mordaunt].”

This isn’t the first time Mordaunt’s former colleagues have questioned her competence this week. On Tuesday, CityAM published damning claims from Department for International Trade sources alleging Penny was “missing for months” as a trade minister and wasn’t reliable – something Guido’s ministerial sources later confirmed themselves…