Liz Truss has told the Conservative Party conference that it is “pathetic” to claim she is to blame for the economic meltdown follwoing her mini-budget.
During a fringe event, the unrepentant former prime minister dismissed Theresa May’s claim that she destroyed the party’s reputation after her economic policies.
She also lashed out at the four Tory MPs vying to replace Rishi Sunak as the party’s leader, claiming she will not endorse any of the candidates.
But she agreed with Kemi Badenoch’s controversial comments about maternity pay being “excessive”, and revealed she would be “really happy” with Robert Jenrick‘s suggestion to have the Star of David at UK borders.
It comes after Mr Jenrick described illegal migrants as “terrorists on our streets terrorising our citizens” during a rally at the conference.
During his speech, the former minister said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is a “leave or die” issue for the Tories and urged to exit the convention.
Mr Jenrick also called for the Star of David to be displayed at every point of entry to the UK to show “we stand with Israel” while wearing a “Hamas Are Terrorists” hoodie at a Conservative Friends of Israel fringe event.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
Key Points
- Civil service chief Simon Case to stand down at end of year on health grounds
- Badenoch compares herself to Thatcher over misrepresented maternity claim
- Liz Truss repeats ‘it wasn’t me’ defence for mini-budget
- Truss describes Tory leadership contenders as useless
- Jenrick: UK facing ‘leave or die choice’ on ECHR
Fake tan, friendship beads and Bobby J hats handed out to win over Tories
18:50
Holly Evans
Attendees of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham have seen the four leadership hopefuls wanting to replace Rishi Sunak handing out all manner of merchandise - from lollipops to beauty products.
Although freebies and gifts have left Sir Keir Starmer and his government under increased scrutiny recently, the potential future leaders of the opposition have not been able to give merch away quickly enough to draw in Tory support.
While the usual fare of pens, badges and stickers are all available, each one - Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly - has tried to beat the competition with eye-catching gimmicks.
Read the full analysis from our political editor David Maddox here:
National Education Union members vote to accept government’s 5.5% pay rise for teachers
18:35
Holly Evans
Members of the largest education union in the UK have voted to accept the Government’s 5.5% pay rise for teachers in England.
In a National Education Union (NEU) snap poll, 95% of members who responded voted to accept the 2024/25 pay offer.
Schools will receive £1.2 billion of additional funding in the 2024/25 financial year to help cover the costs of the increased teacher pay award, according to the NEU.
General secretary Daniel Kebede said: “Our members should be proud of what they have achieved through a hard-fought campaign.
“They have accepted this year’s pay deal, but the Government should be in no doubt that we see it as just a first step in the major pay correction needed.”
Badenoch says people are ‘scared to have families’ amid maternity row
18:30
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has said people are “scared to have families” due to the cost amid an ongoing row about her comments on maternity pay.
On Sunday, the Tory leadership contender had said the government was doing “too much” on statutory maternity pay, before backtracking on the remarks.
Speaking at a Conservative Women’s Organisation event on the fringes of the Tory conference in Birmingham on Monday, Ms Badenoch said “there are things that we have to do to make sure that we make life comfortable for those people who are… starting families”.
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full story below:
Are Conservatives weird? Reactions from Tory party conference attendees
18:23
Holly Evans
Tory leadership candidates have not acknowledged ‘how bad things are’ – Truss
18:00
Salma Ouaguira
The candidates for the Conservative leadership have not acknowledged “how bad things are in the country” and the Tory party, according to former prime minister Liz Truss.
Ms Truss said the four MPs vying to be Rishi Sunak’s successor have to “explain what went wrong”.
Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly are trying to drum up support from their colleagues and party members at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
Speaking at an event at the conference on Monday, Ms Truss also said she thought the party would have fared better in July’s general election if she had still been leader rather than Mr Sunak.
She told the in-conversation event: “So far, I haven’t seen any of the candidates really acknowledge how bad things are in the country as a whole, and frankly, for the Conservative Party.”
“They think ‘all we need to do is show competence and we will be ushered back into office’,” Ms Truss said, adding: “They have to explain what went wrong, why things are so bad for the Conservatives and what they’re actually going to do.”
Tories got the Covid lockdowns ‘badly, badly wrong’, says Cleverly
17:55
Holly Evans
James Cleverly said the worst thing from 14 years of Tory government was how they responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, but would not commit to never supporting a lockdown again.
“I think the worst thing is how we responded to the Covid-19. The lockdowns were wrong. We got it badly, badly, badly wrong,” he said.
He added: “We cancelled Christmas. We became fearful and as a society, introspective, and it brought out all the worst. And it was a real indicator that freedom is delicate and be very, very, very, very careful if you break it.”
Asked if that meant he would never support another lockdown if he became opposition leader or prime minister one day, he said: “Well look, you can’t say that, because if something like the bubonic plague was coming out … what we know now, which we didn’t know at the time, was the risk profile of Covid-19.”
Liz Truss demands attention on second day of Conservative Conference
17:44
Holly Evans
James Cleverly denies having ‘leftish vibes’
17:38
Holly Evans
James Cleverly said he does not think he has “leftish vibes”.
Mr Cleverly was asked at a Tory conference fringe event about reports that of the four candidates to replace Rishi Sunak as party leader, he would be the one Labour would most worry about.
Asked where the “leftish vibes” have developed from, the former home secretary said: “I don’t think those vibes exist. I think people are trying to paint me into that particular corner.”
He said that he supported gay marriage publicly “way before it was cool” and then added that he was also “out for Brexit before it was cool”.
“I’m not trying to overcompensate for anything. I’m totally comfortable with where I am.
“If you want to describe my low tax, less regulation, more freedom, common sense, not messing about, ‘get with the programme’ attitude as left wing, give it your best shot.”
Swinney has ‘no intention’ of launching probe into Yousaf’s conduct over in-laws
17:30
Salma Ouaguira
First Minister John Swinney will not order an investigation into his predecessor’s conduct when his parents-in-law were trapped in Gaza.
Senior Tory MSP Stephen Kerr called for the probe on Monday after reports emerged claiming Humza Yousaf lobbied the UK Government to help Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla – his wife’s parents – escape from the territory.
The couple had been visiting family in the region when Hamas launched their attack on Israel on October 7, prompting long-running Israeli reprisals, with concerns a wider war in the Middle East could be sparked.
But speaking to the PA news agency in Perth on Monday, the First Minister said he would not order an investigation into Mr Yousaf, describing the former first minister’s actions as the “normal routine business of government”.
“I think what’s important is to focus on the central point in this whole story, which is about the fact that we had citizens from this country who were trapped in Gaza, in an awful conflict and they had to be supported to be brought home,” he said.
Asked specifically if he would order a probe under the ministerial code, Mr Swinney said: “I have no intention of doing so.”
Badenoch praises Israel’s use of pagers as ‘amazing’
17:24
Holly Evans
Kemi Badenoch has praised Israel’s defence stating “they did that amazing thing with the pagers”, before adding that she “sympathises” with Palestinians.
She told the party’s conference: “The UK is an ally of Israel, I stand with Israel, we cannot stand with Hezbollah, we cannot stand with Hamas – we know who the bad guys are. Islamist terrorism is something that should never ever be appeased, it is extremely dangerous.
“Israel is standing on the front line, it is surrounded by a lot of enemies, I think that what they are doing is extraordinary. People said that getting the leader of Hezbollah couldn’t be done.
“People ask Israel to do things like be more targeted so you don’t harm civilians, they did that amazing thing with the pagers, and when they did that they were criticised for it. They’re always criticised, so I’m very sympathetic to the Israeli argument.
“But we mustn’t forget the Palestinian people who are not Hamas, they are unfortunately caught in the middle of this terrible war, I think that we should do all that we can to help them, I sympathise with them.
“But I think if Israel can get rid of Hamas that’s also going to be fantastic for the Palestinian people.”
Badenoch rules out electoral pact with Nigel Farage’s Reform party
17:08
Holly Evans
Kemi Badenoch has ruled out an electoral pact with Reform UK if she wins the Conservative Party leadership contest.
Ms Badenoch said that she would work with Nigel Farage’s party on bills in Parliament, but would not strike a deal to alleviate the danger it might pose the Conservatives at the next election.
She said: “Anyone who’s not a Conservative has got to be defeated. For what it’s worth I don’t believe that Reform are real Conservatives. They, like the Liberal Democrats, are not serious people. And by that I mean the Reform politicians.
“The Reform voters are our people. I know this because when I was knocking on… my former Tory voters, they were the ones who were going to Reform. Because they looked at this manifesto and they thought ‘this (is) great’. But actually the Reform manifesto did not add up.”
Children should not ‘dictate’ gender ID to their parents, Cleverly says
17:00
Salma Ouaguira
Children should not be allowed to “dictate” their gender identity to adults, James Cleverly has said.
The Conservative leadership contender said adults were instead meant to teach children about the world, as their brains are not yet fully developed.
The former minister compared the slow biological development of humans brains with deer, which he said are “pretty much ready to rock and roll” within hours of birth.
Mr Cleverly was asked for his opinion on teenagers socially transitioning without their parents’ knowledge, at a Conservative party conference fringe event.
He said “childhood, adolescence and puberty is really confusing, hard and difficult” for most people.
Tugendhat: Living conditions in armed forces ‘gave feeling of intimacy'
16:30
Salma Ouaguira
On living in conditions “that gave a certain feeling of intimacy” in the Armed Forces, Tom Tugendhat said: “When you’re with Royal Marines, that’s kind-of what happens.”
He made the joke in response to a question about his private schooling at St Paul’s School and being “pretty well off, pretty posh”, and whether he understands what others are “going through”.
Mr Tugendhat said: “Of course I do, and the reason I do is because I learnt about my country not from school but from serving in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I lived with men and women, quite literally lived with them, in conditions that gave a certain feeling of intimacy.
“When you’re with Royal Marines, that’s kind-of what happens. Sorry, that’s an in-Forces joke.
“The reality is you learn about your country by listening, and as a leader, I will always listen, because you can only serve people you understand.”
Simon Case says resignation ‘solely to do with my health’
16:09
Salma Ouaguira
Simon Case said he felt he had to make clear that his decision to step down was “solely to do with my health and nothing to do with anything else”.
The Cabinet Secretary said he had been undergoing treatment for a neurological condition and told Sir Keir Starmer on Monday morning of his decision to leave his post at the end of the year.
He said: “This morning, I informed the Prime Minister of my intention to step down as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service at the end of the year.
“As many of you know, I have been undergoing medical treatment for a neurological condition over the last 18 months and, whilst the spirit remains willing, the body is not. It is a shame that I feel I have to spell this out, but my decision is solely to do with my health and nothing to do with anything else.”
He said the Prime Minister would appoint his successor following a “full, open and transparent process which will be run by the First Civil Service Commissioner,” adding: “It has been an honour to serve two sovereigns, four Prime Ministers and over 120 Cabinet Ministers in this role.
“There have been far more ups than downs along the way and by far the greatest highlight has been the privilege of working with so many remarkable public servants, across the length and breadth of our country, in our overseas posts and with counterparts from our close allies and partners around the world.”
Badenoch to bring cap on migration but with reformed system
16:00
Salma Ouaguira
Asked whether she would cap immigration, Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch said: “I think there will need to be a cap, but we also need to design a system that means the cap cannot be manipulated.
“So you won’t hear me say, I promise to have a cap and it’s going to be this number. It’s very easy to create a cap, we saw this with the point migration system.”
She added: “If you have a cap and you have lots of the wrong people coming in or worse good people leaving our country – good people leaving our country is great for net migration stats – migration stats shouldn’t just be about the numbers, it should be about who is coming in, who is leaving, why that is happening, otherwise we are talking to the letter not the spirit of lowering immigration.”
Lib Dems urge Tories to strip Liz Truss of £115,000 allowance
15:55
Salma Ouaguira
The Liberal Democrats have urged the Tories to strip Liz Truss of her £115,000 allowance as former prime minister for failing to “recognise economic vandalism”.
Responding to her appearance at Conservative Party Conference, deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “Liz Truss’s failure to recognise the economic vandalism that she oversaw is a kick in the teeth to all those who endured their mortgage rates spiralling and were worried about losing their homes as a result of her disastrous policies.
“It’s outrageous that instead of calling out the damage that she did, the Conservative Party actually allowed her to stand as one of their candidates at the General Election.
“Every Conservative Party Leadership candidate must condemn Truss’s terrible record and pledge that they would strip her of her ex-PM allowance of up to £115,000 a year.”
Breaking: Civil service chief Simon Case to stand down at end of year
15:52
Salma Ouaguira
The UK’s top civil servant Simon Case has announced he will step down at the end of the year on health grounds.
Cabinet Secretary Mr Case, who has been undergoing treatment for a neurological condition, told colleagues “whilst the spirit remains willing, the body is not”.
There have been reports of tensions at the heart of No 10 between Mr Case and Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray, but the Cabinet Secretary said: “It is a shame that I feel I have to spell this out, but my decision is solely to do with my health and nothing to do with anything else.”
Mr Case returned to work in January after two months off sick and he said he had been “undergoing medical treatment for a neurological condition over the last 18 months”.
A recruitment process for the next cabinet secretary has begun.
Badenoch: Reform and Lib Dems are not serious people
15:47
Salma Ouaguira
Asked whether the Liberal Democrats or Reform UK represent an ememy for the party, she said: “Anyone who is not a Conservative has got to be defeated.”
But she branded Reform as “not real conservatives” and “like the Liberal Democrats” not serious people.
She added: “And by that I mean the Reform politicians. The Reform voters are our voters. But actually the Reform manifesto did not add up. They want a big state, actually, when you look at some of the things they are talking about, the state would balloon.
“Reform are not serious, but it is now our job to make sure that we squeeze them out and push them away from the bit of the political spectrum they are on. They are parking our tanks on our lawn and we need to get them off.”
No pact with Reform UK under Badenoch
15:43
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has confirmed she is not in favour of an electoral pact with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
As part of her pitch to party members, the Tory candidate said she wants the Conservatives to be the centre-right option for voters at the next general election.
Tory candidate says party should apologise over migration
15:37
Salma Ouaguira
On whether it was time for the Conservatives to apologise over migration, Kemi Badenoch said: “I think so.”
She added: “We need to look at the numbers, look at the culture, and look at the leadership. We just sort of made an announcement and assumed someone else was going to be looking after it. Just to hope it happens, that’s witchcraft.”
At a previous fringe event, Ms Badenoch blamed pro-migration border control staff for problems tacking illegal migration, saying they would be better off working at Amnesty International.
I was working class when I came to the UK, Badenoch says
15:32
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has said that she became working class after moving from Nigeria to the UK.
The Tory hopeful told party members how she worked full-time at McDonald’s while studying part-time at an FE college.
She added: “I had left Nigeria, where I’d had a middle class life, driven to school every day, and the first time I ever went on a bus was in this country. But I couldn’t even afford bus money most of the time. I had to walk everywhere.
“Sometimes I was hungry. I was on my own. I had a place to live, but I had to do everything myself at a very young age. If that is not working class, I didn’t know what working classes is.
“The working classes are the people who have to work for a living, otherwise they will be in trouble. They are people who don’t necessarily have big savings or a family that can look after them.”
Kemi Badenoch says maternity pay claims used to attack her
15:29
Salma Ouaguira
Now, on the controversial maternity pay row. Kemi Badenoch has said comments that the benefit is “excessive” were taken out of context to attack her.
In an attempt to clarify her position, she said: “I think maternity pay is quite important and this was actually a long discussion we were having about the role of the state in deciding what businesses should do.”
The shadow minister claimed that, just like her idol Margaret Thatcher, the remarks have been used to undermine her as Tory leadership contender.
She told the conference: “But let’s take a step back. Who remembers the phrase ‘there is no such thing as society?’ Thatcher gave an interview to Woman’s Own magazine where she was asked the question, and said there is no such thing as a society, that there are only individual people and families.
“And that very good explanation got cut down into a soundbite that was used to attack her. When you are a leader, when you are a Conservative, when you are making the opposite for conservative principles, your opponents are going to turn it into something else. We need to decide who is going to be the leader of the Conservative Party. Not the Left, not the Guardian, not the BBC, just Conservatives.”
Badenoch: My skin colour should not matter
15:25
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has said that the colour of her skin should matter as little as hair colour.
Asked how it would feel to be the first black leader, Ms Badenoch said: “I don’t know, I’ve never done it before.”
She added: “I’m sure it’ll be interesting but I am somebody who wants the colour of skin to be no more significant than the colour of our hair or the colour of our eyes.”
Electoral Commission ‘considering carefully’ Labour’s call to investigate Jenrick
15:22
Salma Ouaguira
The UK elections watchdog is “considering carefully” a letter from Labour calling for an investigation into the ultimate source of a £75,000 donation to Tory leadership frontrunner Robert Jenrick.
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said in a statement on Monday: “We have received a letter from the Labour Party requesting we investigate three donations accepted by Robert Jenrick MP.
“We will be considering the contents carefully in accordance with our usual procedures, and will respond in due course.
“The commission’s role is to regulate the political finance laws that political parties and campaigners must comply with.
“The laws we enforce are there to ensure transparency in finances and to increase public confidence in our system.”
Labour are the bad guys, we’re the good guys, says Badenoch
15:20
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has said the political narrative around the two main parties needs to change.
The shadow minister told the Tory conference: “Being a politician often means people writing your story for you, people writing a narrative for you. But it’s very important that we make sure we tell our own stories.
“As Conservatives we’ve allowed too many people to tell us who we are, we’ve allowed too many people to portray us as the bad guys. Labour are in, everyone can see we’re the bad guys and they’re the good guys.”
Kemi Badenoch takes the stage
15:17
Salma Ouaguira
The next Tory leadership contender to take the stage is Kemi Badenoch.
Asked the reason she wants to become the new leader, she tells Christopher Hope: “I want to be leader of our party because it means something very special to me and I don’t want to see it die.
“And I think the result we had at the last election shows we are at an existential point. There is a party to the Right that is challenging us, people across the political spectrum don’t know what we stand for. I think I can help sell conservatism again, confident conservatism, I get cut through, I start from third principles.”
Tom Tugendhat re-commits his support to Israel
15:13
Salma Ouaguira
On Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, the Tory leadership hopeful said he would not go into the “ins and outs” of Israel’s military response.
But he told the conference: “If somebody ever, ever took 200 Brits hostage, or fired missiles at the United Kingdom, I would not rest until that organisation was destroyed.”
Tugendhat ‘uncomfortable’ with assisted dying
15:11
Salma Ouaguira
Tom Tugendhat has said he is “deeply, deeply uncomfortable with assisted dying” because he is a Roman Catholic.
Mr Tugendhat said: “It defines how I live my life, not how you must live yours.
“We need to make sure we’re enabling our country to champion freedom. It is quite literally a building block of our society. But my job is also to make sure that we support the most vulnerable, and that’s why I’m deeply, deeply uncomfortable with this assisted dying.
“I have seen too many reports including through military friends about somebody PTSD, where instead of getting the treatment they need, that care was never going to be available, and actually they should choose an easier and I quote ‘cheaper’ alternative... That is wrong.”
Tugendhat does not support all-women shortlists
15:08
Salma Ouaguira
Tory hopeful Tom Tugendhat has said he does not support all-women shortlists because they would “belittle” MPs like Kemi Badenoch.
During the Q&A at the Conservative Party conference, he added: “I tell you why I won’t do shortlists, because someone like Kemi is a fantastic, important and respected colleague of mine, and I will not diminish her by making it look like she got there for any other reason other than on her own merits.”
Labour’s GB Energy is ‘rubbish’ and ‘insane’ - Tugendhat
15:05
Salma Ouaguira
Tom Tugendhat has criticised Ed Miliband’s GB Energy project claiming it is “rubbish” and “insane”.
He told the conference: “When people hear the word net zero too many people forget the word net and just hear the word zero.
“Every single project Ed Miliband’s got is designed to make energy and power more expensive, harder to get, to make us more vulnerable to foreign dictator.
“His project on GB Energy is utterly rubbish... It’s completely insane. But then again it is Ed Miliband, so...”
Jenrick criticises Tory leadership timeline ahead of Budget
15:01
Salma Ouaguira
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has said “I do not know for the life of me why” the new leader will not be in place by the Budget.
The Budget is due at the end of October, while the new Conservative leader is due to be announced on November 2, so Rishi Sunak is due to be the party leader responding.
Speaking at an event at Conservative Party conference on Monday, Mr Jenrick said that he told CCHQ “100 per cent whether it’s me or somebody else the next leader of this party needs to be stood at the despatch box making the argument to Rachel Reeves, holding her to account.”
He added: “I do not know for the life of me why this decision has been made.”
“It’s very kind of Rishi to agree to do this, but I think it should be the next leader of our party who’s making that argument”.
Ben Habib suggests he could rejoin Tories if Badenoch becomes leader
14:57
Salma Ouaguira
Reform UK’s former deputy leader has claimed he would defect to the Conservative Party if Kemi Badenoch became leader, The Telegraph reports.
Ben Habib, who was ousted by Richard Tice, said he would rather back Ms Badenoch than Robert Jenrick if he “had” to choose.
But he has now suggested he would rejoin the Conservatives under Ms Badenoch, adding: “It all depends on how [Kemi] and Reform evolve. Never say never.”
The former Tory donor previously caused outrage after claiming that Britain should “absolutely” let migrants drown in the Channel.
Tugendhat pressed on endorsing Truss at Tory 2022 leadership race
14:51
Salma Ouaguira
Questioned about his decision to back Liz Truss’s successful Conservative Party leadership campaign in 2022, Tom Tugendhat said: “I got the choice between two people and one of them was talking about growth.
“And many of us were inspired by that message. We were disappointed by the failure to deliver.”
Mr Tugendhat later said: “I have been absolutely clear that when I’m in a government I serve that government.”
British political system is fundamentally broken, says Jenrick
14:47
Salma Ouaguira
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has said that the “British political system” is “fundamentally broken”.
Asked about the change in his views in recent years, he told the PopConversation event at Conservative Party conference that “it’s fair to say that my views have evolved over time. I don’t think my values have changed incidentally.”
He said that for “much” of his time in politics “I broadly thought our political system worked and I tried to work within it, and I prided myself on doing a good job”.
However he added that, “over time, particularly in the last few years, I did come to the view – a very firm view – that the British political system is not working, in fact it’s fundamentally broken.”
Reflecting on his time as communities secretary, housing minister, immigration minister, he said that he “came to the view that not only is the state that I had been part of that I had tried to uphold broken, but it’s actually contributing to our national decline.”
Unemployed ex-Tory MP blames ‘woke agenda’ for being unable to find a teaching job
14:45
Salma Ouaguira
A former Tory MP has complained he has not been able to get a teaching job because of the “woke agenda entrenching the education sector”.
Jonathan Gullis said he has been unemployed since losing his Stoke-on-Trent North and claimed his political views have stopped him from getting interviews.
The outspoken ex-deputy chairman of the Tories said being a conservative is “treated with disdain” among teachers.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story below:
Watch live: Tory leadership hopefuls Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat address party conference
14:45
Salma Ouaguira
Tugendhat reveals he and son have sword fights
14:44
Salma Ouaguira
Conservative Party leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat revealed he and his son have sword fights, but his family are “extremely supportive” of his work life.
He said: “They mind the fact that I’m not at home.
“And my boy loves sword fighting and he minds the fact that I’m not currently having a sword fight with him with his swords.
“My daughter minds the fact that I’m not always at her ballet recitals.”
Mr Tugendhat added: “Of course they mind, but I’m very proud of them and they’re extremely supportive of me and my wife is unbelievably generous in letting me come away for days like this.”
Tugendhat jokes he will be sanctioned by North Korea and Venezuela
14:43
Salma Ouaguira
Tom Tugendhat is “working on” being sanctioned by North Korea and Venezuela, he joked.
On his time as security minister, the Conservative Party leadership hopeful said: “I promised to keep the King’s secrets and I will and during that job I was responsible for a huge number of elements that I’m sorry that I can’t talk about, but I can give you some proof points and that’s when I was security minister, in those two years, we arrested and charged more Russian and Chinese agents than in the previous decades. Conservative leadership matters.”
Mr Tugendhat had earlier said: “I’ve been in Parliament, standing up against the dictators and tyrants that at the time some people thought were friends but we now know to be exactly who they are – (Vladimir) Putin and Xi (Jinping) and the Ayatollah – call them all out.
“Got me sanctioned, as you know, for the privilege, but I think it’s important. Well I’m sanctioned by Russia, I’m sanctioned by China, I’m sanctioned by Iran.
“I’m working on North Korea, I’m working on Venezuela.”
Asked whether he was a spy, Mr Tugendhat replied: “I was a uniformed intelligence officer.”
Would you give Boris Johnson a job in the shadow cabinet?
14:38
Salma Ouaguira
Next, Tom Tugnedhat praises Boris Johnson for “standing up for Ukraine” and for appointing a vaccine taskforce during the Covid pandemic.
He is then asked whether he would like to see the former prime minister back in cabinet if we was to win the keys of Downing Street.
The former security minister claimed only if he was to stand in a byelection and members want to have him as a candidate, “that is fine,” he said.
Tory leadership hopeful commits to capping net migration at 100,000
14:35
Salma Ouaguira
Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has been asked about the topic of migration and what would his policy be if he was elected leader of the party.
The former minister said he would cap legal net migration at 100,000 and would focus on “not just businesses, who are going to need to change the way that they hire and train, but also to focus the mind of government”.
Mr Tugendhat added: “Let’s be absolutely clear, the government itself has been employing many, many, many people who should have been trained at home.”
Tugendhat apologises for Westminster infighting
14:30
Salma Ouaguira
Tom Tugendhat has apologised to members of the Conservative party for how Westminster infighting let them down at the general election.
During a Q&A on the main conference stage, he said: “It wasn’t this party that failed, it wasn’t the ideas that failed. It was the centre that failed, and we need to own that.
“And so from my perspective, let me just say to all of you, I’m sorry, the infighting in Westminster, the chaos in Westminster, and then the campaign, they will let you down.”
Tom Tugendhat says he has ‘always been on the side of British people’
14:21
Holly Evans
Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has told an audience that his entire life had been dedicated to public service, and that he stands with British people.
Reflecting on his previous military service, he told the conference: “My entire life has been about public service. You’ve been somebody who asks questions, I’ve been somebody who tries to answer them.
“I’ve spent 25 years serving the country in different ways. I’ve served on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as you know, I’ve been sanctioned personally for standing up to tyrants.”
He continued: “Many people learn a lot of things in Westminster. I learnt what I know about leadership, about combat, in Afghanistan. That sense of duty, that sense of protecting Britain from all threats is at the core of who I am.”
He added: “I’ve always been on the side of the British people.”
Tories need recovery in the North after ‘ejection election’, says Gove
14:18
Holly Evans
Michael Gove has said a “critical part” of his party’s electoral recovery must be made in the North, as he warned against “Treasury brain” ahead of October’s Budget.
At a Conservative Party conference fringe event in Birmingham, the former levelling up secretary described the 2024 poll as an “ejection election”.
He also ruled himself out of a future bid to become mayor of London, and declined to endorse one of the four Conservative Party leadership hopefuls – Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat.
“The overwhelming feeling at the general election was ‘this is an ejection election’,” Mr Gove told delegates and activists.
He urged them not to focus on other parties’ performances, pointing to Conservative losses to Reform UK in Great Yarmouth, the Green Party in Waveney Valley, the Liberal Democrats in his former Surrey Heath seat, and Labour in Aldershot.
Mr Gove added: “We shouldn’t be trying to second-guess what other parties will do.”
Who should be the next leader of the Tory party?
14:08
Holly Evans
James Cleverly is emerging as the favourite in the Tory leadership race, but a large portion of the public remains unsure about who they want to see leading the party.
Now we’re asking you: Who do you want to see as the next leader of the Conservatives? What direction should the Tories take to regain the support of voters? Do you think they can win them back?
Tory members urge party to support housebuilding
14:05
Holly Evans
Conservative members have urged the party to commit to building more housing and not give into ‘nimbyism’ if it returns to government.
In a debate during the party’s conference in Birmingham on Monday, several members urged shadow housing minister David Simmonds to support measures to build more homes.
One member said the Tories had shown “weakness” in abandoning local housing targets in 2022. Meanwhile, a local association chairwoman said the public must be open to having more houses in rural areas.
Chris Bowman from Tunbridge Wells, said he thought the previous Conservative government had shown a lack of strength when it abandoned Michael Gove’s housing targets.
Mr Bowman said: “We had (Gove) who put in local housing targets. We Conservatives wimped out and took away those targets. This was a sign of weak government listening to local MPs rather than doing what the nation wanted. I do hope this is going to change.”
Children should not ‘dictate’ gender ID to their parents, Cleverly says
13:50
Holly Evans
Children should not be allowed to “dictate” their gender identity to adults, James Cleverly has said.
The Conservative leadership contender said adults were instead meant to teach children about the world, as their brains are not yet fully developed.
Mr Cleverly was asked for his opinion on teenagers socially transitioning without their parents’ knowledge, at a Conservative party conference fringe event.
He said “childhood, adolescence and puberty is really confusing, hard and difficult” for most people.
The Braintree MP added: “I clearly missed the memo when we collectively decided that children dictate to adults and adults don’t teach children, because that strikes me as a bit of a recipe for disaster.
“We know, and this is not a criticism, it is just a statement of biological fact, human children are born with not fully developed brains.
People are ‘scared’ to have families, says Kemi Badenoch
13:40
Holly Evans
Conservative leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch has said that people are “scared to have families”.
Ms Badenoch told an event with the Conservative Women’s Organisation that “we should find a way to make life easier for those who are starting families”.
She was asked about birth rates when she spoke at the event at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
She said: “I think that there are things that we have to do to make sure that we make life comfortable for those people who are… starting families,” listing examples such as maternity pay, childcare provision and housing.
“A lot of people have fewer children because they start having children later,” she said.
“And so they just can’t have as many as perhaps they might have liked. Some people feel that they can’t afford children, I often think that too many people are worried about the money more than they need to be.
“But we need to give people confidence. People are scared to have families, they’re worried about whether they can afford them, they’re worried about whether they will have birth trauma.”
She said that people “need to talk about families like… the amazing thing that they are, that having a family is probably the most meaningful thing that any of us are ever going to do”.
Ms Badenoch added: “We should find a way to make life easier for those who are starting families and not act like families are an inconvenience.”
Jonathan Gullis complains he can’t get a job as a teacher because he’s a Tory
13:32
Holly Evans
James Cleverly says he ‘gobbed-off less and delivered more’ on immigration
13:26
Holly Evans
Those offering a simple solution to tackling migration “don’t know what they are talking about”, James Cleverly said in an apparent criticism of his Tory leadership rivals.
Asked about controlling unauthorise
