Penny Mordaunt repeated her famously false claim that the UK was unable to stop Turkey joining the EU – insisting the veto had not been used.
The Tory leadership contender, who also faces allegations of dishonesty over her stance on transgender rights, was accused of ignoring the “actual facts” that the EU treaty provides for blocking new members.
Faced with an interview since the 2016 Brexit referendum – when the Leave campaign was trying to drum up alarm over migrants from Turkey – Ms Mordaunt replied: “The clip says it as I see it.”
On the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme, the favorite candidate of Tory MPs noted that Article 49 of the EU treaty gives any country joining the bloc a veto.
But she claimed the deciding factor was David Cameron’s signal to Turkey that he wanted the country to join, claiming: “The British people didn’t have a say.”
Ms Mordaunt said: “David Cameron has committed to Turkey that the UK will support its accession to the EU.
“Just because there’s a provision in a treaty doesn’t mean the UK could ever use it.
“And to go back to what the government’s policy was in those commitments that he made to Turkey – a key NATO ally – would be madness.”
However, Mr Cameron has said publicly that he believes Turkey’s EU membership is decades away rather than a possibility in the near future.
He is believed to have suggested not triggering the UK’s veto to avoid a backlash from the country with security implications – while knowing another EU country would use theirs.
In the interview, Ms Mordaunt also dismissed claims she had tried to push through a change to allow people to change their gender without a medical diagnosis as “smear”.
“This has been disproven many times. We all know what happens. This is the type of toxic politics that people want to escape from,” she said.
“We did a consultation. We asked health professionals what they thought about the situation. This is the section I took care of. I have dealt with this consultation. We actually, during my shift, did not develop a policy.
Ms Mordaunt also described her proposals to halve VAT on petrol and raise tax thresholds as “modest” changes – in contrast to the dramatic tax cut plans of some of her rivals.
“We need to demonstrate that there is some immediate targeted support to people. We will have to adjust our tax projections, but that is absolutely necessary,” she said.
She acknowledged that borrowing for day-to-day expenses would have to increase, saying: “We’re going to have to do this for a while. What is important is this debt [to GDP] the ratio will drop over time.”
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