Boris Johnson dresses up like Top Gun for RAF base visit while Tory pals launch dogfight to be leader
BORIS Johnson dressed up like a Top Gun pilot as he visited an RAF base amid the Tory leadership dogfight.
The Prime Minister put on his flight gear for a demonstration of a Typhoon fighter jet the day before the five Tory MPs battling to replace him took aim at each other in their first TV debate.
Yesterday the Government announced a £1.35billion upgrade to the Typhoon fleet, which will sustain 1,300 jobs.
On Thursday Pilots and air crew gave Mr Johnson a tour around RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, where he inspected two Quick Reaction Alert Stations which protect UK airspace.
Pictures show him channelling his inner Tom Cruise, 60, who has starred in the Top Gun films since 1986.
It comes as Tory colleagues Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat battle to become the party’s next leader and Prime Minister.
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Last night the five MPs tore into each other in their first telly clash.
They savaged each other on tax, spending and honesty and all five bashed Mr Johnson.
Foreign Secretary Ms Truss made £20billion in spending pledges if she becomes PM.
She wants to temporarily cut green levies and dump the planned hike in corporation taxes if she wins the contest.
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Ms Penny Mordaunt told rival camps to stop “black ops” briefings amid a row over her use of a private helicopter.
And former Army officer Mr Tugendhat made a virtue of having never served in Cabinet, insisting he is the “clean start” the country needs.
Meanwhile, rising star Mrs Badenoch insisted: “I don’t promise things without a plan to deliver.”
And former Chancellor Mr Sunak, who resigned from Boris’ government last week, wrote in The Sun that he will “make Brexit sing” by stripping Britain of remaining Brussels red tape to supercharge the economy.
Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt stormed the leadership battle in the first Conservative ballot this week, when Jeremy Hunt and Nahim Zahawi crashed out.
Attorney general Suella Braverman was also eliminated in a following round on Thursday.
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The parliamentary party must whittle the candidates down to a final two for members to vote on.
Bookies have said Brexiteer Penny, 49, was the favourite after she thumped rivals in a poll of Conservative Party members.