Everyone likes Tom Tugendhat but it’s really not necessary for him to like everyone back. How many times did he “absolutely agree” and render “enormous thanks”? He is the new Security minister and this was his first appearance at the despatch box but there was no need for such winsomeness. He was forgiven the use of the term “front-footing” as some kind of verb – he is young and uses fashionable language (LOL). But did he really refer to “our excellent police forces”? With a straight face? A rising mist surrounded him: it was political capital evaporating.
He had two consecutive outings today, neither of them strictly necessary. The first was to answer an Urgent Question posed by the new chair of the Foreign Affairs committee, a stately galleon at sea under the name of Alicia Kearns.
