Tory MP calls for George Osborne to be barred from party conference over Theresa May attacks
2 min read
A prominent backbench Tory MP has called for George Osborne to be banned from party conference after he reportedly told friends he wanted the Prime Minister "chopped up in bags in [his] freezer".
The Evening Standard editor is said to have made the comments to “more than one person”, according to a profile in Esquire magazine.
Nadine Dorries, who previously described Mr Osborne as an “arrogant posh boy”, said she had contacted the Conservative Chief Whip to ask for the former Chancellor’s pass to be cancelled.
In a series of tweets, Ms Dorries also said he should quit as editor of the Evening Standard, should “seek help” and called for him to be stripped of a prestigious honour he received after leaving politics.
However Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom said last night she "very much doubted" Mr Osborne had made the comments.
"I have known him for several years. It may have been a flippant aside. I just very much doubt he said, that’s my view."
Mr Osborne has been a prominent critic of the Prime Minister since taking up his role at the Standard in May after she sacked him when she entered Downing Street last summer.
An editorial in the paper described the Tory commitment to reduce migration to the tens of thousands as “economically illiterate”, insisting no-one else in the Cabinet agrees with it.
Appearing on ITV on the night of the general election, he described Mrs May as a “dead woman walking” after the exit poll showed she would lose her Commons majority.
Just last week, he accused the Prime Minister of using "false information" to justify her crackdown on foreign students who overstay their visas.
And last month, another Standard editorial likened Mr May’s premiership to a “second rate horror film” after she insisted she will lead the Conservatives into the next election.
When asked about the freezer comments, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “The contents of the former chancellor’s freezer are not a matter for me.”
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