Zac Goldsmith and Nadine Dorries urge voters to abandon Tories: 'PM doesn't care'

Sign up to receive the e -mail View from Westminster for expert analysis straight to your inboxReceive our free View from Westminster emailPlease enter a valid email addressPlease enter a valid email addressI would like to receive offers, events and updates by email updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Zac Goldsmith and Nadine Dorries have launched a new attack on Rishi Sunak, urging everyone who cares about animal welfare to vote against the Tories in the next election.

Lord Goldsmith, a Conservative peer and former environment minister, said anyone who "cares even one bit" about the issue should choose another party, saying the Prime Minister " doesn't care at all."

He was supported. by Ms Dorries, the former culture secretary and ally of Boris Johnson, who echoed her call for animal welfare supporters to abandon the Tories.

The latest attack from Lord Goldsmith against Mr Sunak comes months after he resigned as minister over the Prime Minister's "Apathy" on climate change.

The new outburst was sparked by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Ricky Gervais and Dame Joanna Lumley accusing Mr Sunak of "reneging" on Tory promises to ban the importation of lion's paws into Britain. and other hunting trophies.

Celebrities urged the Prime Minister to introduce a bill banning imports of hunting trophies, which was a commitment in the Conservative platform for the 2019 election The government has promised four times a bill to introduce the ban, but has yet to do so.

“We are sorry to say, you have not kept your words. You have gone back on your words," the celebrities said in a letter to Mr Sunak seen by The Times.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Lord Goldsmith, also Johnson ally, said the Conservative Party had continued to develop an "Animal Welfare Action Plan" under the former Prime Minister, but that it had been canceled under...