Robert Jenrick would resurrect Rwanda scheme

Robert Jenrick has said he would “hope” to bring back the Rwanda scheme if he becomes Tory leader and wins the next election.

The first Conservative leadership candidate to officially launch his campaign said he was “open” to reducing net migration to even less than David Cameron’s target of “the tens of thousands”.

He also launched an attack on poor NHS managers for wasting billions of pounds a year, saying the Tories had thrown too much into the “black hole” while in power.

In an article for The Telegraph, Mr Jenrick said the Tories must become “obsessed” with improving NHS productivity if they are to win the next election.

He said the failure to improve the health service since 2019 was as damaging as the Conservative failures on migration.

The former immigration minister launched his bid to lead the Tories in a YMCA building in Newark, his constituency, in front of around 300 activists.

He was introduced by Dame Esther McVey, former common sense minister, who said: “Robert Jenrick is the man.”

A number of other MPs turned up to support him, including Sir John Hayes and Danny Kruger.

After showing a slick video put together by his campaign team, Mr Jenrick spoke for 25 minutes without notes, before taking questions from journalists.

He was asked whether he would resurrect the Rwanda flights plan, which was dropped by Labour on day one of taking office.

He said: “On Rwanda, I would hope to bring it back.

“But look, it is going to be four or five years away.

“What is absolutely at the heart of my policy is that if you arrive in this country illegally... you will be detained... and you will be removed within days.”

He added: “I came up with the idea of having a legal cap on migration, set by Parliament... but I said that it would be in the tens of thousands, I am open to it being less.

“The key thing though is that Parliament decides the cap. And every member of Parliament votes for it. So you can hold them to account.”

Mr Jenrick repeated his commitment to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights.

“I think I have said that many times,” he said. “Absolutely.”

And he said the Conservative Party needed to “confront some hard truths” about why it had lost the last general election.

In his speech, he argued that the primary reason was that “we broke our promise to the British public to deliver controlled and reduced migration and the secure border that the public rightly demand”.

Moving to the health service, Mr Jenrick said the Tories in government had “poured cash into the black hole of waste and inefficiency” and had failed to adequately address some of the NHS’s problems.

“We forgot that the NHS is a public service, not a religion,” he said.

“We must invest in the NHS, but must ensure it works for the British people.”

In his Telegraph article, he wrote: “The promise of a stronger NHS was central to our win in 2019. And I would go so far as to say our failure to deliver this was as costly as our failure on migration.

“Our failure was not one of resources. The NHS has a fifth more money, doctors and nurses than it did in 2019. The trouble is hospitals are treating barely any more patients. Our failure was productivity.

“The story of the NHS is too often one of lions led by donkeys. Heroic front-line staff, working in tough environments, being let down by poor management. But we were responsible for those managers. We allowed poor performance to persist. And did too little to spread success.”

Concluding, Mr Jenrick said: “Enough of defeatism, we can win.”

He said the Conservative Party needed to cut away the “drag anchor of defeatism” but argued the Tory renewal needed to be grounded in realism.

He said the Tories have a “mountain to climb” if they are to win the next general election but he believed it is possible.

“We can and will win again... we can win the next general election,” he said.


NHS failure was as costly to Tories as migration

Less than a month into Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, it is already painfully obvious the new Labour Government is incapable of tackling the challenges facing our country, writes Robert Jenrick.

The Rwanda removals policy has been scrapped. Reforms I secured to reduce migration such as raising the salary threshold have been undone. Thousands of dangerous criminals have been released. Taxes are up. The North Sea gas and oil industry has been cast aside. This is only the start.

The Conservative Party clearly remains our country’s best hope. But we must be under no illusions: we have a mountain to climb. To recover, we must pull off a difficult balancing act. We must fiercely defend what we got right while humbly confronting the hard truths presented to us by the electorate.

There are many achievements we must defend. We reformed schools and our children are now among the best in the world for reading and writing. We created, through universal credit, a fairer welfare system. We legalised gay marriage. We got Brexit done, kept Corbyn out of Downing Street and led Europe in standing by Ukraine. And that is not to mention the economy. Gordon Brown gave David Cameron a flatlining economy, a state that was borrowing one pound for every four it spent, and mass unemployment. Rishi Sunak has just given Keir Starmer the fastest-growing economy in the G7, debt set to fall, and close to record employment. There was more fantasy in Rachel Reeves’ recent remarks than in the Lord of the Rings.

Nevertheless, we lost catastrophically and we must confront why. The obvious answer is we were hit by two huge shocks: the pandemic and energy crisis. Incumbent parties across the West have been falling like dominoes. But we have to admit we were responsible for much of our defeat. The in-fighting. Lapses in conduct. And, above all, our inability to take the tough decisions required to deliver our promises.

I have spoken much about our failures on migration. The legal migration liberalisations were economically damaging, corrosive to community cohesion and a democratic betrayal. Our failure to stop the boats was just as bad. But there are other shortcomings that we need to confront. The promise of a stronger NHS was central to our win in 2019. And I would go so far as to say our failure to deliver this was as costly as our failure on migration.

Polls show the NHS was a top issue for those who deserted us. But we did not need the polls to know this. At the time of the election, just under 10 per cent of people in the UK were waiting for an NHS operation. Thirty per cent of people in A&E were waiting over four hours. One in six GP appointments were taking more than two weeks to happen. No government could have won re-election with the NHS in the state it was in.

The pandemic was central to the service’s deterioration and anyone who says otherwise is lying. Waiting lists grew because during Covid much of what the NHS does simply stopped. We should have done more to explain just how debilitating the pandemic was for our public services. But we must confront our own performance too. Our failure was not one of resources. The NHS has a fifth more money, doctors and nurses than it did in 2019. The trouble is hospitals are treating barely any more patients. Our failure was productivity.

The story of the NHS is too often one of lions led by donkeys. Heroic front-line staff, working in tough environments, being let down by poor management. But we were responsible for those managers. We allowed poor performance to persist. And did too little to spread success. Our health ministers have done much good over the last decade. Jeremy Hunt’s work on patient safety. Steve Barclay’s surgical hubs. Victoria Atkins’ improvements to working conditions and banning of puberty blockers being given to children. Neil O’Brien’s dentistry reforms. And Rishi Sunak’s liberalisation of our pharmacies. But during that time we ultimately lacked a comprehensive diagnosis of how to deliver the NHS the country needs and the sustained execution required. Out of fear of our efforts being mischaracterised, we ducked difficult decisions.

When it came to the NHS we too often came across as a student uninterested in a subject. How many people are working from home and how many hours are being wasted on diversity training are important issues. But, in the eyes of the public, we got the balance wrong between our focus on issues like that and the NHS.

Far from looking disinterested in the NHS, we must become obsessed with improving it. To do this, we must reach out – with humility – to those in and around the NHS who best understand what’s required to improve it. We should aim to become the vehicle by which the best of the NHS can pressure the Government to do what’s required. If we do this, we might over time be able to regain their trust, and that of patients too.

I am standing for leader because I will build teams that develop the actual solutions to the challenges we face. And if I win, we will unite around these solutions, win a mandate for them, and deliver a great future for our country.


03:54 PM BST

Braverman will be comfortable in my Tory Party, says Jenrick

Robert Jenrick was asked if Suella Braverman, Lee Anderson and Nigel Farage would be comfortable in a Conservative Party he leads.

He said: “It will definitely be a party in which my good friend Suella Braverman is comfortable.”

He said he wanted the Tories to be a “big church” but it must have a “common creed”.


03:49 PM BST

Jenrick ‘would hope’ to resurrect Rwanda deportation plan

Robert Jenrick said he was “open” to reducing legal net migration to below the “tens of thousands”.

The former immigration minister said: “I came up with the idea of having a legal cap on migration, set by Parliament... but I said that it would be in the tens of thousands, I am open to it being less.

“The key thing though is that Parliament decides the cap. And every member of Parliament votes for it. So you can hold them to account.”

Mr Jenrick was also asked if he would resurrect the Rwanda scheme.

He said: “On Rwanda, I would hope to bring it back. But look, it is going to be four or five years away. But what is absolutely at the heart of my policy is that if you arrive in this country illegally... you will be detained... and you will be removed within days.”


03:43 PM BST

Jenrick responds to Olympic boxing row

Robert Jenrick was asked if he believed that people who failed gender tests should be able to compete against women, in reference to controversy at the Paris Olympics in the women’s boxing.

He replied: “No, I don’t. No, I don’t. There are politicians in our country today, there are politicians in our government who do not know basic biology.

“We Conservatives take a different view from that.”

Mr Jenrick said that “common sense” should prevail.

Robert Jenrick launches his Tory leadership campaign at an event in Newark
Robert Jenrick launches his Tory leadership campaign at an event in Newark - Jacob King/PA

03:39 PM BST

Jenrick commits to taking UK out of ECHR

Robert Jenrick said he would take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The former immigration minister said: “I think have said that many times. Absolutely.”


03:38 PM BST

Jenrick: ‘Too much disrespect for our police’

Robert Jenrick said there is “too much disrespect for our police” after he was asked about recent eruptions of violence across the country.

He said: “In this incident and in others across the country they are revealing that there is too much disrespect for our police and for law and order.

“And I want to back the police. I want to ensure that they can take the robust action they need against these individuals and against people like them in all of the incidents we have seen in recent months right across the country.”


03:34 PM BST

Tories must cut away ‘drag anchor of defeat’, says leadership challenger

Robert Jenrick told Tory activists at his speech in Newark: “Enough of defeatism, we can win.”

He said the Conservative Party needed to cut away the “drag anchor of defeatism” but argued the Tory renewal needed to be grounded in realism.

He said the Tories have a “mountain to climb” if they are to win the next general election but he believed it is possible.

“We can and will win again... we can win the next general election,” he said.

Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, launches his leadership campaign at an event in Newark this afternoon
Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, launches his leadership campaign at an event in Newark this afternoon - Jacob King/PA

03:28 PM BST

Jenrick: UK should spend ‘at least 3 per cent’ of GDP on defence

Robert Jenrick said that he believed that “if you come here illegally you should be detained and removed within days”.

He also said he believed in building more prisons, increasing the skills of the British people and getting more people into work.

He said that there are “too many people on welfare in our country and we need to give them the dignity that comes with work”.

He also said the UK needed to be spend “at least 3 per cent on defence”.


03:24 PM BST

Immigration system ‘completely broken’, warns Jenrick

Robert Jenrick said that his time as an immigration minister at the Home Office had demonstrated to him that the state was “either unwilling or unable to perform its most basic duty, to secure our borders and keep the British people safe”.

The Tory leadership candidate said that if mass migration was “rocket fuel” for the economy - as some claim - then the economy in recent years would have boomed, but it has not.

He said he had concluded that the system he had been part of “was completely broken and was contributing to our national decline”.


03:20 PM BST

Tories ‘shirked difficult decisions’ on NHS, says Jenrick

Turning to the NHS, Robert Jenrick said that the Tories in power had “poured cash into the black hole of waste and inefficiency” and had failed to adequately address some of the health service’s problems.

He said the Tories had “shirked the difficult decisions” relating to the NHS because of a fear that those decisions would be mischaracterised for political reasons by their opponents.

“We allowed the lions on the frontline of the NHS to be let down by the donkeys in the back offices,” he said.


03:17 PM BST

Jenrick blames Tory election defeat on ‘broken immigration promise’

Robert Jenrick said the Conservative Party needed to “confront some hard truths” about why it had lost the last general election.

He argued that the primary reason was that “we broke our promise to the British public to deliver controlled and reduced migration and the secure border that the public rightly demand”.


03:15 PM BST

Jenrick promises to tell ‘hard truths’ during leadership contest

Robert Jenrick said that “we have got to get this party back together” and “get going again”.

“I know we can do it,” he said.

The former immigration minister said he would be telling the Tories some “hard truths” during the leadership contest.


03:12 PM BST

I will get Tories ‘back into fighting shape’, says Jenrick

Robert Jenrick welcomed the fact that Tory members will have a vote in the leadership contest.

He told activists in Newark that he was determined to “breath new life into our party” and that if he becomes leader he would “respect the role of the membership of this party”.

He said the next leader will have to get the Tory campaign machine “back into fighting shape”.


03:09 PM BST

Jenrick begins first speech as Tory leadership candidate

Robert Jenrick is now on stage in Newark as he delivers his first speech as a Tory leadership candidate.

The former immigration minister is speaking without notes.

He started by thanking the local Tory activists who had helped him to win re-election last month.

He said they had “defied the national tide” and secured a Tory victory.


03:05 PM BST

McVey: ‘Jenrick is the man’

Esther McVey accused Labour of a “betrayal of the British public” over potential tax rises.

The Tory former Cabinet minister said: “If they have done that in four weeks, what will they do in four years?”

Ms McVey said Robert Jenrick will listen to the concerns of voters and will act on them.

She said: “Robert Jenrick is the man. I know he can do it.”

Esther McVey, the former Cabinet minister, introduces Robert Jenrick at his leadership event in Newark this afternoon
Esther McVey, the former Cabinet minister, introduces Robert Jenrick at his leadership event in Newark this afternoon - Jacob King/PA

03:02 PM BST

Esther McVey endorses Robert Jenrick in Tory leadership race

Esther McVey has endorsed Robert Jenrick in the Tory leadership race.

The former minister for common sense introduced Mr Jenrick as he formally launched his campaign at an event in his Newark constituency.

Ms McVey said choosing the leader of a political party is an “important decision” and we have “got to get it right”.

She said: “Robert Jenrick is that man. I truly believe so.”


02:53 PM BST

Pictured: Deputy PM Angela Rayner leaves No 10 today

Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, is pictured leaving No 10 this morning
Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, is pictured leaving No 10 this morning - Steve Back

02:49 PM BST

Senior MPs and Tory activists await arrival of Jenrick

Approximately 200 Tory activists are at Robert Jenrick’s packed campaign launch event in Newark this afternoon.

There is also a handful of Tory MPs in attendance, including campaign manager Danny Kruger, former minister Sir John Hayes and Caroline Johnson.


02:37 PM BST

Tory leadership candidates battle it out for most memorable three world slogan

Robert Jenrick will deliver his first speech of the Tory leadership campaign this afternoon in front of his chosen slogan: “Change. Win. Deliver.”

Three word slogans are popular with the contenders in 2024.

Tom Tugendhat has opted for: “Unite. Rebuild. Win.”

Dame Priti Patel has gone for: “Unity. Experience. Strength.”

Mel Stride chose: “Trust. Change. Win.”


02:26 PM BST

Journalists given ice lollies as they wait for Jenrick speech

We are about 30 minutes away from Robert Jenrick’s first speech as a Tory leadership candidate.

Journalists at the venue in Newark have been given ice lollies in an attempt to keep cool amid soaring temperatures.

The former immigration is expected to start his speech just after 3pm.


02:18 PM BST

Landlords face £11,000 hit under a Labour capital gains tax raid

The average landlord would be £11,000 worse off under a Labour capital gains tax raid, analysis has shown.

The Government is reportedly considering aligning capital gains tax and income tax rates in order to plug a £22bn black hole in the public finances.

However, experts warn that taxing profits at up to 45pc could trigger an exodus of landlords from the property market.

Official figures published this week show there was an uptick in buy-to-let investors selling up in 2022-23 amid soaring interest rates and tax rises.

You can read the full story here


02:04 PM BST

Tugendhat stresses need for Tory unity


01:42 PM BST

Small boat Channel crossings near 17,000 for 2024 so far

Nearly 17,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel.

Crossings resumed today, marking the first for August after no arrivals were recorded yesterday.

The provisional total for the year so far stands at 16,903, with more than 1,000 crossings recorded within the last week, Home Office figures show.


01:30 PM BST

Cleverly: Defence spending should rise to 3 per cent of GDP

James Cleverly said UK defence spending should increase to 3 per cent of GDP.

The Tory leadership contender went beyond the Conservative general election pledge to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 as he answered questions on Instagram today.

Asked what his priorities would be if he becomes prime minister in five years, Mr Cleverly said one of them would be “protecting ourselves on the international stage which means committing to 3 per cent of UK GDP on defence spending so we can protect our friends, our allies and ourselves”.


12:49 PM BST

Coming up: Robert Jenrick to launch Tory leadership bid in first speech

Robert Jenrick will accuse Labour of already preparing to break its election promise not to raise taxes when he delivers his first speech as a Conservative leadership candidate later this afternoon.

Addressing a rally in the East Midlands, Mr Jenrick will admit that the Tories have a “mountain to climb” if they are to regain power at the next general election.

But he will argue it is possible, despite Labour winning more than triple the number of seats as the Conservatives last month, because the Government is offering only “tired” solutions.

We are expecting the speech to start at 3pm and you will be able to watch it at the top of this page.


12:29 PM BST

All six Tory leadership candidates struggling for popularity among voters

All six of the Tory leadership candidates are viewed more unfavourably than favourably by voters, according to a new YouGov survey.

A poll conducted between July 30-31 found that Dame Priti Patel was the most popular with voters, with 16 per cent of people holding a favourable opinion of the former home secretary.

The other five candidates all scored worse than Dame Priti.


12:12 PM BST

Reeves significantly more unpopular after announcing spending cuts

Rachel Reeves suffered a fall in popularity after she unveiled a series of spending cuts on Monday this week.

A new YouGov poll, conducted between July 30-31, found the percentage of people who held an unfavourable opinion of the Chancellor had jumped by 12 points to 37 per cent when compared to the company’s previous poll conducted between July 17-18.

The percentage of people who said they had a favourable opinion of Ms Reeves fell by one point to 26 per cent.

Sir Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and David Lammy also saw their unfavourable scores increase.


12:10 PM BST

Lisa Nandy: Huw Edwards should return his BBC salary

Lisa Nandy said the disgraced broadcaster Huw Edwards should return his BBC salary after he admitted accessing indecent images of children.

The Culture Secretary told Sky News as she attended the Paris Olympics today: “I think he ought to return his salary.

“I think having been arrested on such serious charges all the way back in November, to continue to receive that salary all the way through until he resigned is wrong and it’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money.

“I think most people in the country will agree with that but whether he does that or not is up to him.”

The Culture Secretary had already told the BBC to examine whether it could recoup money from Edwards’ pension.

The BBC has admitted that it knew Edwards, 62, had been arrested in November, and was made aware of the reasons for the arrest, but continued to pay his salary until he resigned in April.

It emerged yesterday that Edwards had been paid £200,000 by the corporation after they knew of the allegations against him.


11:48 AM BST

Poll: Starmer suffers dip in popularity

Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity has fallen and his net favourability rating is now in negative territory, according to a new YouGov poll.

A survey conducted between July 30-31 found 40 per cent of people had a favourable opinion of the Labour leader which was down by four points when compared to the company’s previous poll conducted between July 17-18.

But 49 per cent said they had an unfavourable view of Sir Keir which was up by five points.

His net favourability rating in the middle of July was zero but by the end of the month it was minus nine.


11:33 AM BST

Brussels slaps down Starmer’s plan for quick security deal with the EU

Sir Keir Starmer’s plans for a speedy defence and security pact with the EU have suffered a blow from senior figures in Brussels.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister leading the drive for Sir Keir, briefed EU ambassadors last week that he wanted substantive talks lasting into spring 2025.

But The Telegraph has talked to figures both at the EU end and inside the UK Government who fear the proposed timeline is too optimistic if a significant deal is to be secured.

Senior positions in the European Commission and European Council will only be finalised later this year, potentially making it difficult to make progress before then.

You can read the full story here


11:23 AM BST

Stride savages Labour’s ‘inept and cruel’ raids on pensioners and private schools

Mel Stride criticised Labour’s VAT raid on private schools and decision to scrap winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners as “inept and cruel”.

The Tory leadership candidate said both policies would have “behavioural effects” which had not been considered and would undermine potential savings as he labelled the Government economically illiterate.

The shadow work and pensions secretary tweeted: “Restricting winter fuel payments to those on pension credit will see more pensioners going on to that benefit to qualify. Similar behavioural effects when free TV licences were restricted to those on benefits.

“800,000 qualifying pensioners are not claiming pension credit. If just a quarter now do then cost is £440m plus £50m in winter fuel payments, so half a billion of the supposed savings wiped out. Ignore behavioural effects at your peril.

“Similar story for VAT on school fees. Every private school that closes, every child that moves to a state school will cost the public finances dearly. Analysis by [the Institute for Fiscal Studies] suggests 40,000 could pour into the state sector. Both these policies inept and cruel.”


11:04 AM BST

Tories: Labour has ‘lower ambitions’ for UK tech sector than us

Andrew Griffith, the shadow science secretary, claimed Labour had “lower ambitions” for the UK’s tech sector than the Tories after the Government scrapped £1.3 billion of funding.

Mr Griffith also said that “no one should be fooled by Labour trying to blame” the Conservatives for the decision.

He tweeted: If Labour have lower ambitions for UK tech sector – or the new Secretary of State cannot get the same level of support for DSIT [Department for Science, Innovation and Technology] from the Chancellor – that’s up to them but no one should be fooled by Labour trying to blame their predecessors.

“We increased public spending on research to a record £20 billion a year for 2024/25 and unlike Labour, we committed to increase that by a further 10 per cent in our manifesto. AI and Exascale compute were both beneficiaries of this increased funding.”

Meanwhile, Oliver Dowden, the former deputy prime minister, said the funding decision was “very disappointing”.


10:42 AM BST

Labour scrap £1.3bn tech and AI funding promised by Tories

The Government has axed £1.3 billion of “unfunded” investment for UK tech and AI projects promised by the Conservatives.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said no new funding for the programmes had been allocated in the previous Tory government’s spending plans, and therefore will not be taken forward.

It included £800 million for the creation of an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and £500 million of additional funding for the AI Research Resource, a scheme which helps fund computing power for AI.

An additional £300 million committed to the AI Research Resource has been committed to, the Government said, as this funding was already in place, has been distributed and will continue as planned.


10:15 AM BST

Osborne: Labour hopes of ‘honeymoon’ period now ‘totally gone’

Any hopes Labour may have had of a 1997-style honeymoon period following its general election victory have “totally gone”, according to George Osborne.

The former chancellor said the big issues facing the country appeared to be “almost entirely unaffected” by the election result as he suggested Labour will now face the typical grind of being in power.

He told his Political Currency podcast: “Any thought that this Labour administration had a kind of ‘97 style honeymoon ahead of it when Tony Blair could walk on water for a couple of years I think has totally gone in this first month.

“It is not that there is an anti-honeymoon, it is not that people are hostile to the Government in any way that I can see.

“It is just that they are also not enthused by the Government, it is like ‘okay, we have changed the ministers but the world carries on and a lot of these issues in the way we run our country and in the public sector seem to be almost entirely unaffected by the general election result.”


09:56 AM BST

Scrapping two-child benefit cap ‘a lot harder’ after winter fuel raid, says Osborne

Scrapping the winter fuel allowance for 10 million pensioners will make it “a lot harder” for Rachel Reeves to get rid of the two-child benefit cap, George Osborne said.

The Government is looking at the possibility of axing the cap as part of a wider review of measures which could tackle child poverty.

There is mounting internal Labour pressure on ministers to take action on the issue. Seven Labour MPs were stripped of the party whip in July after they backed an amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the cap to be immediately abolished.

But Mr Osborne said it would be a hard sell for Labour to get rid of the cap at the same time as it has taken money away from pensioners by making winter fuel payments means-tested.

He told his Political Currency podcast: “That just becomes a lot harder. So you are going to be able to say to people, they are going to say ‘we are going to give you more benefits for having more children but if you are a pensioner on £12,000 who has worked all your life, tough luck, we are taking money away from you’.”


09:31 AM BST

Reeves’ winter fuel payment decision ‘baffling’, says Osborne

George Osborne said Rachel Reeves’ decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance for 10 million pensioners was “baffling”.

The Tory former chancellor said the move would have been towards the top of a Treasury list of things which could be cut to save money and he was “surprised” that Ms Reeves had agreed to it.

He told his Political Currency podcast: “I think it is baffling. I looked at every single Budget at cutting the winter fuel allowance but we had made very clear promises in the general election in 2010, under pressure from Gordon Brown, that we wouldn’t do it.”

He added: “This is absolutely from the heart of the Treasury orthodoxy and I am just surprised she bought it all and I am surprised that she didn’t want to define herself a little bit differently whilst landing the political point about ‘I have inherited a mess’.”

Ed Balls, the former shadow chancellor, questioned why Ms Reeves chose to make the announcement on means-testing winter fuel payments now instead of waiting until the Budget to announce it as part of a wider package of reform.

He said: “Why choose to define the very beginning of your chancellorship with a cut in support for lower income pensioners?”


09:22 AM BST

Reeves holds ‘reset’ talks with EU economy chief


08:56 AM BST

Osborne: Reeves made ‘classic mistake’ by committing to one fiscal event a year

Rachel Reeves has made a “classic mistake” by committing to holding only one major fiscal event every year, according to George Osborne.

The recent pattern for big economic set pieces has been a spring Budget and then an autumn statement.

But Labour pledged in its manifesto that there will only be “one major fiscal event a year” and Ms Reeves said her first Budget will be on Oct 30.

Mr Osborne, the Tory former chancellor, and Ed Balls, the Labour former shadow chancellor, told their Political Currency podcast they believed the commitment will not last.

Mr Osborne said: “That is a classic mistake, isn’t it. Philip Hammond announced that after me and I was like ’why are you doing that?’. The Treasury hates having two events a year but for chancellors it is great.”

Mr Balls said: “She will end up having two, I bet you.”


08:32 AM BST

Tory MSP declares candidacy in race to replace Douglas Ross

Meghan Gallacher has announced she is standing in the race to be the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

The MSP is currently deputy leader but is seeking to replace Douglas Ross following his decision to step down from the role.

The Scottish Tories have said the new leader will be in place by Sept 27.

Ms Gallacher said the leadership contest represented an opportunity to “reset” and “renew our offering to the people of Scotland”.


08:13 AM BST

Tories under Sunak ‘governed as socialists’, says Braverman

The Tories “governed as socialists” on key issues like tax and immigration during Rishi Sunak’s premiership, Suella Braverman said.

The former home secretary said that was one of the reasons why the Conservative Party had been given a “good drubbing” at the general election.

She said: “We weren’t even trying on illegal migration. My battles have been well chronicled inside government and then outside government I tried to campaign for cutting immigration.

“But we didn’t even at the time of the election commit to a number. The most we could muster is a cap on immigration but that felt half-hearted because by that point we had lost credibility.

“We tried to campaign as Right-wingers but we had governed as socialists really on taxation and immigration. People didn’t believe it and that is why they gave us a good drubbing.”


07:58 AM BST

Tories need ‘guiding philosophy’ not ‘platitudes on unity’, says Braverman

Suella Braverman said the Conservative Party needed a new “guiding philosophy” and not “platitudes on unity” as she fired a warning shot at the six Tory leadership contenders.

Mrs Braverman said she was unsure who she could back in the contest but whoever it is will need to set out “big answers on rejuvenating conservatism”.

The race to replace Rishi Sunak has so far been almost entirely devoid of policy pledges.

Asked who she will back in the contest, Mrs Braverman told GB News: “Oh gosh, I don’t know if I am honest. I am going to back a leader who can provide our voters with hope and an inspiring vision, can deal with immigration and the European Convention on Human Rights with credibility and legitimacy, who has some big answers on rejuvenating conservatism.

“This is not about platitudes on unity. We have seen quite a few of the candidates preach unity and we were united under Rishi Sunak and that didn’t work.”

She added: “We need, actually, a doctrine. We need a guiding philosophy which we have lost over recent years.”


07:43 AM BST

Pictured: Sir Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street this morning

Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, is pictured this morning leaving the rear of Downing Street
Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, is pictured this morning leaving the rear of Downing Street - Nigel Howard/Nigel Howard Media

07:33 AM BST

Right-wing of Conservative Party is ‘depleted’, says Braverman

Suella Braverman said the Right-wing of the Conservative Party has been left “depleted” after the 2024 general election.

The former home secretary said she would have more support among ex-MPs than among the current crop of Tory parliamentarians.

She told GB News: “The make-up of the party, I think, now is markedly different and the Right of the party is very much depleted and a lot of my support, I think I have probably got more support amongst former MPs than I have amongst current MPs.

“So it is about the make-up of the parliamentary party and we have got to really look at the parliamentary party that we are… we are a very different party to the one we were in 2019 following that general election victory.”


07:28 AM BST

Kwarteng: Braverman ‘wrong’ not to stand in Tory leadership race

Kwasi Kwarteng said Suella Braverman is “wrong” not to stand for the Tory leadership.

The former chancellor said the former home secretary should have tried to “make her case” to Tory MPs.

He said it was “disappointing” that Mrs Braverman had opted not to enter the race to replace Rishi Sunak.

Asked if the former home secretary was “wrong” not to stand, Mr Kwarteng told GB News: “I think she is. I think she should make her case, try and make it to the MPs first and get the nominations which she said she had… and then she could, if she got those nominations, which she claimed she had, then she could have made a wider case not only to more MPs but to the country.

“I think it is a shame that she isn’t standing. I think it narrows the debate somewhat. She has got support in the country at large.”

He added: “I think she has to make the case. There are some pretty good, strong Right-wing candidates actually in the field and I think it is disappointing that she hasn’t taken that step.”