AS THE ongoing carnival of self-implosion that is the Tory leadership contest approaches its bewildering conclusion, no-one should be surprised that the final two contenders are ramping up the rhetoric, presumably to appeal to the most extreme wings of the party membership, if such a thing dare be imagined at this point.

Similarly, it should probably come as no surprise that of the two, it is Kemi Badenoch who has taken the more extreme position. While her rival, Robert Jenrick, is no slouch in the currently vogueish culture wars, he’s a mere armchair general compared to Badenoch’s battle-scarred veteran and this was yet again made apparent last week.

This time, Badenoch took a break from her usual victims — migrants, pro-Palestine protesters and so on — to punch down on another minority, that of the autistic community.