PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared that the Liberal Party must remain in the

sensible centre of politics, slapping down Tony Abbott and other right-wing rebels.

In a major speech in London as protesters raged outside, Mr Turnbull fired an

intercontinental missile at his predecessor by emphasising that the Liberal Party is centrist,
rather than conservative.

The speech comes as frustrated Liberal backbenchers said Mr Abbott should be appointed
High Commissioner to London so that he will be unable to continue criticising Government
policies.

Delivering the Disraeli lecture to the Policy Exchange think tank on Monday, after earlier -
visiting the scene of the Borough Market terrorist attacks in which two Australians were
killed last month, Mr Turnbull said the Liberal Party stands for freedom or it stands for
nothing.

That rhetoric comes after weeks in which the minority conservative faction has been more
and more vocal, causing tensions in the party.

We took the name Liberal because we were determined to be a progressive party, willing
to make experiments, in no sense reactionary but believing in the individual, his right and his
enterprise, and rejecting the socialist panacea, Mr Turnbull said. The sensible centre was
the place to be. It remains the place to be.