TORY leadership contenders have taken private jabs at each other over using weight loss injection Ozempic.
Rumours of at least one candidate relying on the drug to aid their leadership makeovers surfaced in the Sunday papers – risking the first “yellow card” for blue on blue attacks.
The claim appeared in a Sunday Times interview with Security Minister Tom Tugendhat who denied he used the weight loss drug “unlike one rival”.
But Westminster is awash with claims from the leadership camps that at least two of the candidates have shed pounds at pace this summer thanks to the wonder jab.
Conservative bosses are determined to stamp out public fall outs between the teams as the party licks its wounds from July’s election thumping.
The returning office has the power to publicly name and shame any candidate they believe to be behind personal attacks on a rival.
It comes after pharmacy leaders are urging people not to buy fake weight-loss jabs, amid shortages of the prescription drugs.
A lack of diabetes medication Ozempic has been fuelled by high demand, plus medics prescribing it off-label for obese people — who should use Wegovy.
The National Pharmacy Association is urging patients to speak to their pharmacist or GP instead of buying medicines online from unregistered and unregulated sellers.
Chairman Nick Kaye said: “Wegovy stocks aren’t too bad, it’s Ozempic that’s problematic.
““Stocks of Ozempic are very depleted in community pharmacy in the UK and it is important that these remain prioritised for those in the most clinical need.
