SQUABBLING Tories exchanged insults today as the party stared down the barrel of electoral disaster.

The Conservative right continued to urge a full-fat Tory programme on dithering premier Rishi Sunak, believing that the road to salvation lies in adopting as much of the Reform party’s agenda as possible.

Champion of cultural conservatism Miriam Cates MP claimed that the party was too diverse to deliver true Tory policies.

Writing in the Telegraph she argued: “It is often said that we are a ‘broad church,’ but since 2016 this has at times proven to be a weakness rather than a strength.

“These divisions ensure that some of the key reforms demanded by our voters simply cannot happen — under Rishi Sunak or any other leader. 

“We cannot meaningfully reform our asylum system by leaving the ECHR, we cannot drastically reduce immigration, we cannot have an effective industrial policy, we cannot repeal the Equality Act, because these measures would not pass through Parliament.”

Counterattacking from the centrist flank, former minister Justine Greening warned that heading right would deepen the party’s electoral hole.

“The more Sunak has danced to the Reform-lite political tune, the worse the party has done in the polls,” Ms Greening opined in the Guardian.

“Thursday’s election results show that voters are rejecting the very Reform-inspired agenda it has pursued.”

She rejected the argument made by headbangers’ darling Suella Braverman that Mr Sunak should “own” the Tories’ problems. The results were as much the responsibility of the Tory right as the Prime Minister, she told them.

“It is as a result of their flawed political judgements that support for the party has plummeted the length and breadth of the country,” she wrote.

Former party leader William Hague weighed in, admitting that the Tories are “clearly” looking at electoral defeat. 

He urged support for Mr Sunak and a focus on the long term, since the short term was so dire.

The centrists point to Andy Street’s near-victory in the West Midlands mayoral race as proof of their case, although the narrowness of his defeat was as much to do with defections from Labour over Gaza as anything else.

Speaking for most of the country, Unison general secretary Christine McAnea demanded a general election. 

She said that if Mr Sunak “truly cared about the British people, he would call an immediate general election and a halt to all this suffering. He would admit that the game is up.”