MP Rosie Duffield has launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer since resigning the Labour whip on Saturday, accusing the prime minister of “having a problem with women”.
She told the BBC that many women backbenchers she’s friends with refer to the “young men that surround him [Starmer] as ‘the lads’ and it’s clear that the lads are now in charge”.
In her resignation letter, the Canterbury MP said: “The sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice are off the scale. I am so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party.”
Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch has defended her claim that there has been a recent rise in the number of migrants coming to the UK who “hate Israel”.
The Tory leadership hopeful said in a newspaper op-ed on Sunday that migrants’ “feet may be in the UK, but their heads and hearts are still back in their country of origin.”
Asked on Sky News if she was referring to Muslim immigrants, Ms Badenoch disagreed, adding: “Because it is not all Muslim immigrants. And this is what I don’t do, I am very careful when I speak.”
Key Points
- Duffield accuses Starmer of having a problem with women
- Rosie Duffield quits Labour with damning attack on PM
- Tory contender: ‘it’s not all Muslim immigrants’ who hate Israel
- Badenoch: ‘I would be congratulating Netanyahu’
- Kemi Badenoch warns Tory members will be ‘very angry’ if stitch-up occurs
Sunak calls Tories to unite behind new leader
11:44
Salma Ouaguira
Rishi Sunak has urged Conservatives to rally behind whoever is elected as the new leader.
The former prime minister emphasised the importance of unity for the party’s future.
In an op-ed for the House magazine, his first significant statement since the general election, Mr Sunak described the upcoming annual conference as a “unique opportunity to debate and reflect” on the direction of the Conservative Party.
He added: “Just as importantly for many going, it will also be one to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
“We, the Conservative Party, are a family and, once this contest is over, we must come together to support our new leader.”
In a mesage to party members and MPs, past and present, he said: “This will be my last conference as leader, and I want to thank everyone in the party for their support. I will always be sorry that I could not deliver the results that everyone’s efforts deserved, but I will always be grateful for everyone’s hard work and commitment.”
Watch: Immigrants who see Israel as enemy ‘not welcome’ in UK says Badenoch
11:40
Salma Ouaguira
Badenoch praises Duffield but says she’s ‘not a Conservative'
11:29
Salma Ouaguira
When asked if she would welcome Rosie Duffield to the Conservative party, Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch expressed admiration for the Labour critic but clarified that she is “not a Conservative”.
“Rosie Duffield is an amazing person. Whenever people ask me whoever’s the Labour person you like most, I always say Rosie,” Ms Badenoch told Times Radio. “She fights for her beliefs, she’s passionate, she’s principled. She’s not a Conservative.”
On the abuse Ms Duffield has received in recent weeks and since handing in her resignation, the shadow business secretary said: “I’ve offered moral support where I can. She’s had abuse from her own side, which is the worse thing.”
Boris Johnson: Covid virus created in Chinese laboratory
11:25
Salma Ouaguira
Boris Johnson has said that he believes a leak from a Chinese laboratory was the “likely” cause of the pandemic.
The former prime minister told the Daily Mail: “The awful thing about the whole Covid catastrophe is that it appears to have been entirely man-made, in all its aspects.
“It now looks overwhelmingly likely that the mutation was the result of some botched experiment in a Chinese lab.
“Some scientists were clearly splicing bits of virus together like the witches in Macbeth – eye of bat and toe of frog – and oops, the frisky little critter jumped out of the test tube and started replicating all over the world.”
Tugendhat: Judge me on my record, not ‘posh’ schooling
11:22
Salma Ouaguira
Tom Tugendhat has rejected suggestions he would be just another privately educated “posh boy” in charge of the Conservative Party if he wins its leadership election.
The former security minister was pressed about his private education at St Paul’s School in London as he faced questions on the dawn of the Tory conference in Birmingham.
Mr Tugendhat urged the public to judge him on his record, rather than on his background, as he faced questions on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.
Asked whether the Tories need another “posh boy leader from a great public school”, Mr Tugendhat said: “I think the Conservative Party needs a leader who can lead, and you can judge me on the decisions my parents made 35 years ago or you can judge me on the decisions I have made for the last 35 years.
“I think that decisions I have made for the last 35 years demonstrate the character that you are looking at.
“I have chosen consistently to serve our country. I have put myself on the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Lib Dems: Tory leadership candidates defend the indefensible
11:20
Salma Ouaguira
Following the appearance of the four Conservative leadership candidates on the morning media round, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader has expressed come concerns.
Daisy Cooper accused the contenders of trying to “defend the indefensible” on their pitches.
She added: “As James Cleverly said himself, people wanted the Conservatives out of government and this dire set of candidates has made it crystal clear why.“From the Conservative’s Partygate and PPE scandals to their disastrous mini budget, every one of the Conservative’s leadership candidates has spent years defending the indefensible.
“The British people have had enough of Conservative sleaze and scandal. They’ve had enough of seeing their health services and economy trashed. And that’s why so many former life-long Conservative voters backed the Liberal Democrats at the last election.
“People want urgent action to fix the health and care crisis not Conservative leadership candidates sniping from the sidelines. That’s why Liberal Democrats are calling for a Budget to Save the NHS and Care and working day in day out to be the constructive opposition the country needs and deserves.“
Watch: Duffield claims Starmer ‘has problem with women’ after quitting Labour
11:10
Salma Ouaguira
Badenoch: Britain needs to be clear in its national identity
11:03
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has called for the need for clarity around Britain’s national identity.
Speaking on Times Radio about the challenges posed by migration, she said: “People are running away from terrifying regimes and coming here. We cannot allow the things they’re running from to spring up here.
“Immigrants come here to build their lives, not to build this country. We should ask them to contribute to this country.
“But at some point if you just become a mix of everything that’s just going on around the world, what is it that you’re uniting around, what is your national identity?”
Tugendhat rejects ‘tailender’ label
10:55
Salma Ouaguira
Tom Tugendhat has rejected claims that he is the “tailender” in the Tory leadership race.
Asked on Times Radio if he was the “tailender”, he said: “No I don’t think that’s right. I think what we’re seeing is that this is a massive reset moment for the party and actually for the race.
“The reality is that we need to restore trust in this party, we need to restore trust in politics across the country, and we need to offer the leadership that the British people need.
“And you know, I’ve demonstrated over 25 years serving our country in different ways, on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Parliament and recently in cabinet, that you know, service is absolutely essential to what we need, and it defines who I am, and we need to be offering that same level of service and that same offer of leadership to make sure we’re delivering for the British people.”
In a quick-fire round of questioning, Mr Tugendhat answered “yes” to questions “can you win” and “would you appoint your final contenders to your shadow cabinet if you do win” and “do you think this contest should be cut short so you can respond to the budget”.
Asked, “if not you, who”, Mr Tugendhat did not answer and said “that will be a matter for the Conservative voters”. Pushed on the question, he said: “Look, I’m standing because I think I’m the best placed to offer the leadership this country needs.”
McFadden denies Duffield’s claims ‘the lads are in charge’ of No10
10:40
Salma Ouaguira
Pat McFadden has rejected Rosie Duffield’s claim that “the lads” were in charge in Downing Street.
Asked whether he was one of “the lads”, he told the BBC: “I think I’m a bit too old to be a lad.
“Some of the stuff in the letter [from Rosie Duffield] I just don’t accept.
“I see ministers turning up to work every day and what’s on their mind is how to stabilise the economy and get it growing again, how to turn around the NHS, how to get more houses built, how to improve rights at work for people, how to get more opportunity into schools.
“That’s what the ministers around that Cabinet table are focused on. They believe in public service.”
McFadden says Labour will tighten rules on hospitality received by ministers
10:25
Salma Ouaguira
Labour will tighten rules to ensure ministers declare hospitality they receive in the same way as backbench MPs, Pat McFadden has said, claiming the current rules were a “Tory loophole” to protect Conservative ministers.
He told the BBC: “We will make clear going forward in the ministerial code that both ministers and shadow ministers should be under the same declaration rules.”
He added: “This was a Tory loophole, brought in so that you would have an event where the Tory minister, as it was under the last government, there, the Labour shadow opposite number would also be there, and the Tory minister would not have to declare.
“That was the Tory rules, we don’t think that’s fair, so we will close that loophole so ministers and shadow ministers are treated the same going forward.”
Details of hospitality received by ministers in their ministerial capacity are published by departments, but the information is released quarterly and does not include the value of the hospitality, unlike MPs’ interests which are declared fortnightly and include the cost of the hospitality.
McFadden responds to Duffield: ‘She’s been disillusioned for a long time'
10:20
Salma Ouaguira
Labour cabinet minister Pat McFadden has addressed Rosie Duffield’s recent criticisms.
Acknowledging her long-sanding disillusionment with the party and its leader, he told the BBC: “It’s not something that’s developed in the last few months.”
On the controversy surrounding donations accepted by Labour members, McFadden defended them as standard contributions, adding that “presentation” is part of any campaign.
He also dismissed any notion of “give x to get y,” and highlighted Lord Alli as a “long-term” Labour supporter.
Watch: Badenoch praises Israel as ‘extraordinary’ following Hezbollah leader wipeout
10:06
Salma Ouaguira
Duffield: The lads are in charge
09:55
Salma Ouaguira
Rosie Duffield has accused Sir Keir Starmer of having a problem with women.
She told the BBC that many women backbenchers she’s friends with refer to the “young men that surround him [Starmer] as ‘the lads’ and it’s clear that the lads are now in charge”.
Ms Duffield added: “They’re the same lads that were there briefing against me in the papers.I was really hoping for better, but it wasn’t to be.”
Rosie Duffield: Starmer can afford his own clothes
09:52
Salma Ouaguira
Following her resignation letter attacking the prime minister, the Canterbury MP has hit out at Keir Starmer for accepting gifts from donors while axing the winter fuel payment for pensioners.
Ms Duffield told the BBC: “I’m ashamed of the fact that we stood up and condemned the last few years of Tory sleaze and all of the things that brought politics into disrepute and here we are and it’s daily revelations of hypocrisy and grubby presents. I can’t believe what I’m reading every single day.”
She added: “It’s greed. Why else would someone on so much more money than most people take free gifts? Why?
“He can absolutely afford his own clothes, we all can and I’ve seen journalists asking him and he hasn’t answered, he hasn’t explained.”
‘I’m not an uncritical friend of Israel,’ Jenrick insists
09:49
Salma Ouaguira
The final Tory leadership candidate to speack with Trevor Phillips has also addressed the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
While is Jenrick considered one of the strongest supporters of Israel among the candidates, he insisted that he is “not an uncritical friend” of Israel.
He added that it is right to stand by the “only democracy in the Middle East”, but it must be done in “sensible steps” to reduce the loss of life.
Badenoch attacks migrants ‘living in their little bubbles'
09:44
Salma Ouaguira
The former minister has now turned her attack towards the “lack of integration” claiming it is a “recipe for disaster”.
Ms Badenoch said: “People who come here should want to live in Britain, they want to love the country.
“They should want to contribute and wanted to succeed. We are not a dormitory. This is our home. People from all around the world just living here in their little bubbles and little groups is a recipe for disaster.
“I have seen it. I told you. I grew up in a country with 300 ethnic groups. This is a recipe for conflict, and the government needs to work hard on integration. You can’t just sit back and say, well, as long as you get a good job and don’t commit crimes, that’s fine.”
Badenoch grilled over ‘immigrants who hate Israel’ claim
09:42
Salma Ouaguira
The Tory hopeful has been pressed over her comments about “immigrants who hate Israel” on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
The shadow business secretary said: “I know what you’re trying to do. Laura, you want me to say Muslims, but it isn’t all Muslims. So I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to play this game.
“I should be able to say that I have made an observation without you trying to portray it as me attacking a particular group.”
She added: “I talked about people ripping down posters. We saw who was doing it. We read about cases.”
Badenoch: People bringing views to UK that aren’t welcome
09:38
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has doubled down on her attack towards migrants, claiming that many people coming to the UK have brought views that “have no place here”.
She told the BBC: “I actually think it’s extraordinary that people think that’s an unusual or controversial thing to say, of course, not all cultures very flat. I don’t believe in cultural relativism.
“I believe in western values, the principles which have made this country great. And I think that we need to make sure that we continue to abide by those principles to keep the society that we have now.”
The Tory contender said during her time as an equalities minister she say people bringing cultural disputes from India “to the streets of Leicester”.
Citing her time on the election trail, Ms Badenoch said: “You’d knock on doors and you see somebody at the door who says ‘I can’t speak to you, I will get my husband’.”
Badenoch pressed on claim ‘not all cultures are equal'
09:33
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch is now next on the BBC, the Tory contender has been asked about her comments on the Sunday Telegraph.
She wrote that “not all cultures are equal” and some are “less valid”.
Pressed on which cultures she referred to, Ms Badenoch said those that believe in child marriage, or think women have less rights.
Home Office is ‘in ashes’, Robert Jenrick says
09:28
Salma Ouaguira
Asked about his ministerial record, Robert Jenrick has claimed the Home Office was “in ashes” when he first entered.
He told the BBC: “I worked relentlessly on legal migration to secure the biggest change to that system in my lifetime.
“It will ensure that the number of people coming into our country legally goes down by around 300,000 and you can already see that flowing into the numbers.
“And on illegal migration, I was the only minister who reduced the number of people coming across on small boats and I got the number of deportations in this country up by 80 per cent in a year.”
Robert Jenrick hits out at mass migration
09:24
Salma Ouaguira
While some Tory leadership contenders were grilled on Sky News, Robert Jenrick has been interviewed on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
The former immigration minister said his party has “to listen to the public and set out serious answers” to challenges on the NHS and immigration.
He added: “I want to use this leadership contest for us to settle those things and to have a clear plan as to how we take our party and our country forward, and I have that in particular on immigration.”
Asked whether he would accept lower economic growth to cut immigration, he said: “I don’t agree that the age of mass migration has made our country richer. In the 25 years since Tony Blair became prime minister, we’ve had 5.9 million people coming into our country legally.
“It was 59,000 in the 25 years prior to that, and this has not been a period of record growth, record productivity for rate. In fact, far from it.”
In pictures: Conservative Party conference in Birmingham
09:21
Salma Ouaguira
Britain suffered from ‘absence of leadership’, says Tugendhat
09:18
Salma Ouaguira
Tom Tugendhat has criticised the “lack of leadership” in recent years, insisting that he would bring a decisive approach to governing.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “The way I would deliver is by leading”.
Reminding members about his operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, he added: “I’ve been a soldier. I’ve helped to rebuild government in Afghanistan and served on the National Security Council.
“I’ve spent years serving the public in various different ways, including standing up against hate, against tyrants when I was chairing the foreign affairs committee, and as you know that got me sanctioned by China, by Russia and by Iran, a country that is now threatening us again.
“And I’ve been warning clearly for years that the alliance of tyrants and dictatorships that we’ve seen growing in recent years is a direct threat to the British people.”
Tory contender admits his party ‘failed to deliver'
09:14
Salma Ouaguira
Tom Tugendhat has attributed the Conservatives’ election defeat in July to a “failure to deliver”.
In his pitch, he called for a renewed focus on the party’s achievements rather than internal divisions.
He said: “Quite understandably, people have looked at us and asked us what our record is. The focus of the media has been where we’ve drawn attention, and we’ve drawn attention to the in-fighting and not our success.”
Mr Tugendhat added: “We need to restore trust and the way we restore trust is by ending the culture of sleaze that sadly we now see infecting the Labour Party, and to make sure that we’re bringing back the trust that British people can expect in their parties.
“Change is the way our party will act.”
Tugendhat: Iran is a pernicious and vicious threat
09:10
Salma Ouaguira
Tom Tugendhat has now taken the Sky News stage to make his case for the Tory leadership.
Like his contenders, he is asked about his message to Israel.
Mr Tugendhat replied: “Well, I’d be saying to Iran that this is no time for escalation, this is no time for reinforcing your militias in the region.”
The veteran added that “we don’t just have to be tough in words, we have to be tough in action” in dealing with Tehran, highlighting his introduction of the National Security Act.
He added: “We need to be absolutely clear, Iran is a pernicious and vicious threat, not just to the region but also us in the United Kingdom.”
Cleverly: I’ve been the face and voice of four different prime ministers
09:03
Salma Ouaguira
James Cleverly has hit back at criticism over his lower support among Tory MPs compared to rivals Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, highlighting his loyalty and experience.
He told Sky News: “I have been the face and voice of, as you say, four different prime ministers and I have been a team player, which means I have had to promote other people’s ideas.
“I was happy to do so, that’s what you do as part of a team. The point I’m saying is I have not spent that time promoting my own ideas. This leadership campaign is about doing that.
“And the point is you say I’m most popular with the general population, that really matters if you’re trying to win a general election.”
Cleverly admits voters wanted Tories out of office
09:00
Salma Ouaguira
James Cleverly is now asked about the bruising defeat to Labour at the general election.
Reflecting on the result, he told Sky: “British voters told us not that they wanted a Labour government, they wanted us out of office, and we have got to listen to that.”
He added: “There’s no point getting angry with the voters. We got kicked out of office for a reason. What we’ve now got to do is get our act together, quickly, listen to what they told us properly, and then campaign once again on our core values to get back into office.
“I’ll tell you what the public told me they didn’t like, they didn’t like the constant infighting, they didn’t like the bickering.
“They didn’t like the fact that as soon as someone became prime minister, there were people within the party who set about removing them as prime minister. And we didn’t do that just once or twice. We did that over and over again.”
Cleverly: Israel should act within international law
08:55
Salma Ouaguira
It is now the turn of shadow home secretary James Cleverly.
Sky News’ Trevor Phillips has asked the Tory contender what would he say to Israel following the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah.
Mr Cleverly responded: “I would see them what I said to them already when I was foreign secretary, when I met with President Herzog, when I met with Prime Minister Netanyahu, defence minister Gallant.
“I’ve said that you do have a right to defend yourself, absolutely. They are surrounded by people who would do them harm. But when they do so, they have to abide by international law.
“They have to be conscious of civilian casualties, they have to act professionally, and show restraint. So I will be consistent. I’m always consistent what I said to them before, is what I would say to the future.”
‘If you swing at me, I will swing back,' Badenoch warns
08:51
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has ben pressed about her recent rows with David Tennant and Nadine Dorries.
The Tory leadership candidate previously hit out at the Doctor Who actor in a campaign video saying the star is “the problem”.
The former business secretary was also engulfed in a row involving Ms Dorries, who claimed Ms Badenoch was aligned to a plot to control the Conservative Party.
Asked about the disagreements, she said: “I don’t know, I guess it must be being somebody who’s very forthright... There I was being nice, minding my own business and then they came after me.”
She added: “[David Tennant] told me to ‘shut up’. Why is it that people worry about someone who told back? They don’t like it when women talk back, they don’t like it when politicians talk back.
“I will talk back. I will not stand there and let people punch me. If you swing at me, I will swing back. But I don’t look for fights.”
Asked if she was “too Nigerian” for British politics, she added: “I doubt that, Nigerians tell me I’m too British. I am just Kemi, I am something that’s just different and unique. And that’s why I stand out in this contest, and that’s why I think members like me.”
Tory leadership contender: ‘it’s not all Muslim immigrants’ who hate Israel
08:45
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has said she was struck by how many immigrants hated Israel.
Asked whether she was referring to all Muslim immigrants, the Tory MP told Sky News: “Because it’s not all Muslims, and this is what I don’t do. I’m very careful when I speak.
“I’ve met many Muslim people who love Israel. I’ve met them in the Middle East, when I went to Saudi, when I went to the UAE, you know, you look at the Abrahamic Middle East.
“It is not all Muslims, but there are some who buy into Islamist ideology, political Islam. They do not like us.”
Badenoch ‘starting from first principles'
08:43
Salma Ouaguira
The Tory leadership contender has told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that she is different from other candidates because she “starts from first principles”.
Kemi Badenoch added: “I’m not standing throwing out lots of new policy and saying ‘this time we’ll do this’.
“What I believe we need to do now is to win the trust of the British people again, and that means starting with principles.
“What do we believe in? Personal responsibility. We haven’t talked about those things as much. Freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of association.
“We stopped talking about the principles. That’s what people buy into when they’re voting for a political party, not just what latest managerial policy might be announced.”
Tories were talking Right and governing Left - Badenoch
08:40
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch is now being asked about the Tories’ historic defeat at the general election.
On whether the Conservatives deserved to lose, Ms Badenoch told Sky News: “Well, I don’t think we deserved to win. People didn’t understand what we stood for.
“I often tell people that we were talking Right and governing Left. An example of that is increasingly we gave out lots of prison sentences, but we didn’t get around building more prison places for all sorts of reasons.
“And from the public’s perspective, it looked like we weren’t still delivering. We need to be able to show that, and that we also say what we mean and mean what we say, that’s what I want to bring to the contest.”
Badenoch: ‘I would be congratulating Netanyahu’
08:38
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has claimed she would “congratulate Netanyahu” following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The Tory contender added: “I think what they did was extraordinary. Israel has more clarity in leading with its enemies and the enemies of the west.”
Asked whether Israel should get a free pass, she said: “It is not about a free pass, but Israel has the right of defend itself.”
Badenoch: Leaving ECHR ‘not a silver bullet’ for migration crisis
08:28
Salma Ouaguira
Kemi Badenoch has downplayed the idea of quitting the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as a solution to the UK’s migration challenges, suggesting it would not be her first step in addressing the issue.
In a video posted on X, she said: “A lot of people talk about leaving the ECHR as if it is a silver bullet. It’s not. Leaving the ECHR alone will not solve our immigration issues. It’s not even the most radical thing we need to do.
“We need a wholesale strategy that starts with thinking about what kind of country we want to be, who are we letting in, why are they here? How long are they going to be here for? Are they committed to our country? Do they want to be British?”
I don’t give easy answers to complex problems…
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) September 28, 2024
Let’s talk about immigration. pic.twitter.com/6rozYEfPhh
Senior minister defends Labour after Rosie Duffield’s resignation
08:21
Salma Ouaguira
Following Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield’s resignation from the Labour Party, senior minister and Sir Keir Starmer ally Pat McFadden has expressed regret over her departure.
He told Sky News: “I regret that Rosie’s made this decision. It’s probably not a secret that she’s been unhappy for some time.”
When pressed on Ms Duffield’s claim that she is “ashamed” of the party, McFadden said: “Well, I’m not ashamed of the party. You know, we’ve got a new Labour government. We’ve got a big agenda ahead of us.”
Tory leadership candidates make pitch ahead of party conference
08:20
Salma Ouaguira
Conservative leadership hopefuls are making pitches to the membership ahead of the party’s conference getting under way.
The first conference since their election defeat in July begins in Birmingham on Sunday – and Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly will be vying for support in the contest.
Candidates have touched on subjects from tax to immigration and the party’s future in a series of interviews and op-eds.
Ahead of several days of events, opening the conference in Sunday afternoon, the interim chair of the Tories, Richard Fuller, will tell the membership that he is “profoundly sorry” for the election loss.
The leadership candidates hoping to succeed Rishi Sunak will all have an opportunity to address the conference – which will run until Wednesday – and their campaigns will be lobbying MPs before parliamentarians pick the final two on 10 October.
Members will choose between those two, with the result declared on 2 November.
Coming up: Tory leadership contenders make pitch on Sky News
08:15
Salma Ouaguira
All four Tory leadership candidates will shortly appear on Sky News to make their pitch to members.
Live from the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, contenders Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat and Robert Jenrick will make their case for the leadership.
Stay tuned for insights and analysis from each of the hopefuls.
Rosie Duffield’s resignation letter in full
08:10
Salma Ouaguira
Rosie Duffield has quit as a Labour MP, criticising leader Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners and also his decision to retain the two-child benefit cap for parents.
In a three-page letter, published in the Sunday Times, she also slammed his treatment of fellow MP Diane Abbot, as well as his “managerial style and technocratic approach.”
She plans to sit as an independent MP. Below is her letter in full.
Not all cultures are ‘equally valid’, says Badenoch
07:51
Holly Evans
Not all cultures are “equally valid” when it comes to immigration, and failing to recognise that is “naive”, Kemi Badenoch has said.
The Tory leadership candidate said that most politicians have avoided in discussing immigration in terms of culture over economics, but explained it is “more than cuisine or clothes” but also “customs which may be at odds with British values”.
In an article for The Telegraph, she said: “We cannot be naïve and assume immigrants will automatically abandon ancestral ethnic hostilities at the border, or that all cultures are equally valid. They are not.
“I am struck, for example, by the number of recent immigrants to the UK who hate Israel. That sentiment has no place here.”
Speaking of her own background, which saw her spend much of her childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK aged 16, she said that today’s immigrants are able to maintain constant contact with their relatives in other countries.
“Their feet may be in the UK, but their heads and hearts are still back in their country of origin. We need an integration strategy that takes this into account,” she said.
‘Would be better’ if Tory MPs selected leader, says Lord Hague
07:34
Holly Evans
Former Conservative leader Lord Hague has said that it “would be better” if the party’s leadership was decided by MPs, rather than the membership.
Tory members are preparing to select a new leader after Rishi Sunak announced he was standing down following the party’s general election defeat in the summer.
Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat are all vying for the party leadership, and will get a chance to address the party’s membership at the conference in Birmingham which gets under way on Sunday.
Speaking to the BBC’s Westminster Hour, Lord Hague – who led the party after its defeat in 1997 – said that membership had “become so small”.
Asked about the membership making the final decision on who will be party leader, Lord Hague told the Radio 4 programme: “That’s my fault, I introduced these rules. But now we can see the world has changed, political parties are smaller.
“It would be better if the decision was in the hands of Members of Parliament because the party membership has become so small.”
However, he said that MPs “still play a very big role” so “they have to be very careful who they support in case they give the impression to the members that they’re happy with someone they’re not really happy with”.
Boris Johnson claims Covid originated in lab, in sudden U-turn in his views
07:19
Holly Evans
Former prime minister Boris Johnson has said he believes the Covid pandemic was caused by a leak from a laboratory in China, and did not originate in unsanitary conditions in a Wuhan market.
He joins Donald Trump in dismissing evidence suggesting that the virus was transmitted “zoonotically” from infected animals.
The US former president insisted that coronavirus emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
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Is the Tory conference worth paying attention to this year?
07:00
Holly Evans
Dazed, confused, but with more than a hint of defiance (foolish or otherwise), the Conservatives meet for their party conference in Birmingham with some important business to transact.
The members and MPs will see a great deal of the four remaining leadership candidates, and naturally there will be much discussion about what went wrong for the party in the general election (and before). Robert Jenrick is now the bookies’ favourite, having overtaken Kemi Badenoch, with James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat the outsiders – but that could all change.
The official theme is “Review and Rebuild”, which sounds about right. Given their fratricidal tendencies, however, and the spectral presence of Boris Johnson through the medium of his memoir Unleashed, it could easily descend into acrimony. The Tories may not be too relevant right now, but it will be entertaining...
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The Tories are adrift in the political wilderness – can they ever recover?
06:00
Holly Evans
When the Conservatives begin their annual conference tomorrow (Sunday), it might be tempting for them to savour the woes engulfing Keir Starmer’s government so early in its life. Labour’s freebies will certainly provide plenty of ammunition – and jokes at Starmer’s expense.
True, it’s good news for the Tories if voters think the parties are “all the same” – one likely result of the recent controversy. It will be harder for Labour to play the sleaze card against the Tories at the next election.
All politicians struggle to resist schadenfreude. Yet the biggest mistake the Tories could make would be to assume Labour is doomed to be a one-term government. I recall such Tory complacency in 1997 after Labour’s previous landslide; the Tories lost the following two elections.
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Security ramps up ahead of Tory conference in Birmingham
05:00
Holly Evans
Security measures have been ramped up around Birmingham city centre as the Conservative Party Conference gets under way.
The annual conference is an opportunity for the four candidates in the Tory leadership race to convince members to pledge their support. Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James C
