Announcing the move on Twitter, Mordaunt said: “Our leadership needs to change. It has to be done a little less for the leader and a lot more for the ship.” Updated at 09.43 BST Important events: Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature
Jeremy Hunt: ‘What you need are smart tax cuts that will grow the economy’
Former health secretary and Tory leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt is under fire from Sophie Raworth over his proposal to cut corporation tax amid the cost of living crisis. He says current plans to increase corporation tax will mean “people won’t want to set up businesses” in the UK and underlines his position that he has “more cabinet experience” than any of his rivals. “What you need are smart tax cuts that will grow the economy,” he says. “I set up my business because Nigel Lawson, Margaret Thatcher created a pro-business environment. I was actually the only one of my friends who left university to go and set up their own business. Hunt arrives at BBC Broadcasting House in London this morning Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA “I want more people to do that, but if we’re going to raise corporate tax, which is one of the biggest taxes that businesses pay, so that it’s not just Japan and America, but more than France and Germany . Then people won’t want to start businesses.” Asked about the immediate issue of supporting families and individuals struggling to make ends meet, Hunt says such a policy would allow his government to ease the strain in the long term. “When you reduce people’s personal taxes, which I passionately believe they should, it should be forever and that means it should be sustainable on the basis of growing the economy.” He says. Updated at 09.41 BST More to come from this morning’s Sunday political shows, but with Rishi Sunak seemingly absent from the rounds, the Observer’s dip today is worth noting. Senior Tories have accused Boris Johnson of trying to torpedo his former chancellor’s bid to succeed him as prime minister. A former vice-chairman of the 1922 Conservative Party Committee, Sir Charles Walker, said calls for restraint were pointless because there was so much bad blood. “Clearly the prime minister remains deeply bruised by the chancellor’s resignation. Rishi’s camp will have to absorb a lot of anger in the coming days. That will apply to whoever takes over,” he said. You can read the lowdown from Observer politics and policy editors Toby Helm and Michael Savage here: Updated at 09.35 BST
Grant Shapps says he ran transport department ‘very capably’
Transport secretary Grant Shapps is at Sophy Ridge on Sunday now. He says three things are needed now to lead the country and for the Tories to win the next general election. “[They are] it should be fully capable, it should be able to communicate and it should be able to campaign,” he says. Shapps says his track record as a former Conservative party chairman and how he ran the Department for Transport “very competently” shows he has those skills. “I think actually, I can use the same approach with the country,” he said. Grant Shapps pictured outside No 10 on Thursday Photo: James Manning/PA He added that he believed he played a role in persuading Johnson to step down, saying he wanted to make sure the prime minister was “looking at the facts” as “things came to a close”. “I always think the best thing to do is to be completely honest and tell it like it is,” he said. “One of the problems with being a leader, you end up with people around you who will tell you what you want to hear. “I just wanted to make sure he was getting the facts and that was my discussion with him. He listened carefully and, as we know, the next morning he said he would resign.” Asked if he thought his intervention was “part of the reason” for Johnson’s departure, he said: “Yeah, I mean, it presents reality. So, yes, of course.” Updated at 09.52 BST Tugendhat added, several times, that a “clean start” is needed for the UK, including to pave the way for a low-tax economy. “What you need is a clean start. If you make a clean start, what you have is the ability to look at the economy again and set a 10-year economic plan that delivers a fairer and stronger economy,” Tugendhat said. Voting to remain in the EU in the Brexit referendum, he said he “always respected” the outcome of the vote. “What I want to do is start cleanly the six years of disagreements we’ve had,” he added. Updated 09.12 BST
Tom Tugendhat: “I fought for my country and was attacked there too”
First on the media rounds this morning is Tom Tugendhat, a senior Tory figure and ex-soldier who currently serves as chairman of the foreign affairs committee. Asked by Sophy Ridge on Sky News’ Sunday morning show of the same name what experience he has in the job, given he has never served in a government role, Tugendhat emphasized his veteran credentials. It’s not an entry-level position, but it’s not a management position either, it’s a leadership position, and the reality is that my entire career has been to serve our country,” he led. Tom Tugendhat, who was the first Tory MP to announce his leadership bid Picture: Niall Carson/PA “[In] Leadership in war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, to leadership in foreign affairs, where, as you know, I have stood up for our country very clearly. “[I’ve defended] our country against Chinese economic threats and against Russian bullying in many different areas and that has led me to sanctions from one and a very vicious attack from the other.” “I fought for my country and was attacked there too.” Updated 09.12 BST Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who will be at the Ridge on Sunday soon, formally announced his leadership bid this morning. Posting on Twitter, MP Welwyn Hatfield said he was a “problem solver with a proven track record of delivery”. He also said environment secretary George Eustice was backing him to be the next Tory leader. A message attributed to Eustice on social media, shared by Shapps, said: “Grant has always shown good judgment and ability to handle anything thrown his way. “We have challenges ahead as we deal with the consequences of the pandemic and that is why I am supporting Grant to be our next Prime Minister.” Updated at 08.40 BST More on the Conservative leadership candidates from the Observer’s political editor Toby Helm, who says the contest will highlight fissures in the fractured party. This weekend, Sunak is seen as the early favorite and was said yesterday to have at least 80 Tory MPs signed up behind his campaign. Announcing in a video on social media his intention to stand down, Sunak said he wanted to “restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country”. Senior officials, including a former trade secretary Liam Fox, described Sunak as “an excellent person who actually has a plan to see government spending brought under control over time. What we can’t do is continue to spend money we don’t have and leave the burden on future taxpayers.” Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak attends a Cabinet meeting at No 10 in May Picture: Daniel Leal/Reuters But as soon as the former chancellor declared his ambition to run, the knives were out from his critics, including cabinet ministers and people in No 10. Jacob Rees-Mogg, loyal to Johnson to the end, had prepared his lines. “We’ve had a high-tax chancellor and I’m in a low-tax party and I want to see us back to being a low-tax party,” the Brexit opportunity minister told BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions. Earlier in the week, Rhys- Mogg had said Sunak “was not a successful chancellor”. You can read more here: Updated at 08.40 BST
Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt are in the race for the Conservative leadership
Good morning. Former Health Secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt have thrown their hat into the ring to succeed Boris Johnson. It means eight Tories have so far put themselves forward to replace the prime minister, three days after he was forced to hand in his notice. In their separate bids for the Tory leadership, Hunt and Javid both promised to cut corporation tax. Announcing their candidacy to the Telegraph, both said they would not only scrap former chancellor Rishi Sunak’s plans to raise corporation tax from 19% to 25% in April, but reduce the rate to 15%. It comes after two sitting ministers, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, revealed their intentions to contest the top job in the space of an hour on Saturday. The other candidates in the race so far are Attorney General Suella Braverman, former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat and Sunak. Updated at 08.48 BST
title: “Penny Mordaunt Joins Conservative Leadership Race Uk Politics Live Policy " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-23” author: “Sharon Lowery”
Announcing the move on Twitter, Mordaunt said: “Our leadership needs to change. It has to be done a little less for the leader and a lot more for the ship.” Updated at 09.43 BST Important events: Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Well, we’re down to nine official Tory leadership candidates so far, and expect at least one more (namely Liz Truss) to join in the next day or so. But how to moderate such a huge list? Bronwen Maddox, director of the Institute for Government, has some ideas. He told Times Radio:[The party] it could set the bar high enough for the support in parliament that any candidate must have to win this huge field, it seems right now, very very quickly. “They can have the different rounds of this almost every day, certainly every couple of days, to go through it to just get to the finalists very, very quickly. “They can put the bar where they like in every round.” He added that if a candidate emerged very clearly in the end, they could “not go to the party members at all but say ‘we have a clear winner’”. “If they go past the MPs’ voting stage and go to the members, they could just say ‘look we’re not going to be long on this.’ Peter Walker Penny Mordaunt has officially launched her bid to become Conservative leader with an apparent reversal of her previous stance on transgender rights, a sign of how important so-called culture war issues could be in the contest to replace Boris Johnson. Before even releasing her initial campaign video announcing her candidacy, Mordaunt took to Twitter to insist opponents were trying to misrepresent her as “woke”. The MP for Portsmouth North, who is trade minister, has long been known as one of the hardliners in the party, speaking out publicly in favor of transgender rights. To a former equalities minister, Mordaunt said “trans men are men and trans women are women”, a statement that sets the current legal basis for gender recognition but has become an increasingly heated area of debate on issues such as the safe spaces for women. This led to Mordaunt being criticized by some conservative factions. The former defense secretary tweeted: “I am biologically female. If I have a hysterectomy or a mastectomy, I’m still a woman. And I’m legally a woman.
Leadership candidates have ruled out a referendum in Scotland for at least 10 years
Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid have said there should not be another vote on Scottish independence for at least another decade. Their comments come after Nicola Sturgeon said another vote would be held in October next year. Scotland’s lord advocate has referred a bill to the high court in a bid to ensure Sturgeon has the legal powers to hold a referendum without the authority of the UK government. Asked on the BBC’s Sunday Morning whether he would allow another referendum, Hunt said: “Not in the next 10 years.” Javid, answering the same question in a later interview, said: “The last one was for a generation and the generation hasn’t changed, so no. “Not forever, but at least not for a decade.” Meanwhile, fellow leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat said that while the union was voluntary with no rules preventing a country from leaving, “you can’t ask the same question and hope for a different answer.” Updated at 12.17 BST Sky News reports Liz Truss is expected to announce her leadership bid within the next 24 hours, making her the tenth candidate to throw her hat into the ring. The foreign secretary already has the backing of Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey and has brightened her public profile in recent months. Proud to support my friend @trussliz to be our next PM. We need a leader who can unite the Red and Blue Wall, has a clear vision for the country and the economy, and has the skills and experience to make the tough decisions right. — Thérèse Coffey #PutinMustFail #SlavaUkraini (@theresecoffey) July 10, 2022 However, despite her popularity among party members, candidates such as Jeremy Hunt and Penny Mordaunt have recently taken the lead in some betting estimates. Liz Truss outside Downing Street on Tuesday. Photo: Peter Nicholls/Reuters Updated at 12.12 BST In case you missed it overnight, Boris Johnson is facing fresh allegations that he lobbied to get a job for a woman who claimed he had a sexual relationship with him while he was mayor of London. He allegedly lobbied for the woman to get a job at City Hall, the Sunday Times revealed, but the appointment was blocked because Kit Malthouse – now one of Johnson’s cabinet ministers – suggested the pair were having an inappropriately close relationship. Johnson is said to have admitted pushing her forward for work when the woman, who remains unnamed, confronted him in 2017 when he was secretary of state. You can read the full details of the allegations from Observer politics editor Michael Savage here: Incidentally with this week’s breaking news, the immediate furor surrounding a newly appointed Education Secretary’s “gesture” outside Downing Street has all but died down. But unfortunately for Andrea Jenkyns, who yesterday said it was caused by a “provoked mob”, it is still relevant enough for other sitting ministers to be asked about it. Speaking to Times Radio about the incident earlier, Grant Shapps said: “I would like to see a high level of decency with everyone. I wouldn’t support it.” Updated at 11.16 BST While you might think the writing was on the wall for Boris Johnson for some time, it’s worth considering that not everyone was prepared for his departure. According to one constituent in the Tory heartland of Spalding, who spoke to my colleague James Tapper, the Prime Minister has been “stabbed in the back” by his colleagues. “All politicians are liars, but Boris is the one who has been caught. Look at Keir Starmer – he should be punished just like Boris,” added Steve Mason. Meanwhile, Rosemary Burton said she had done a “fantastic job” with vaccinations. “I can’t see who would take over from the one who would do better,” he added. You can read the full feature from James’ trip to Lincolnshire here: Here’s a bit more from Sajid Javid’s interview with Sophie Raworth earlier. The former health minister insisted he trusted what he was told when he spoke on behalf of the government during media interviews. “It turns out that some of the things I was told – and I made that clear in parliament when I made my statement – didn’t turn out to be true,” he said. Sajid Javid outside No 10 on Tuesday, the day he tendered his resignation Picture: Peter Nicholls/Reuters “Now, I don’t know why anyone would have told me something that wasn’t true. That is a question for them. But I trusted what they told me.” Like fellow candidate Jeremy Hunt, Javid has announced his intention to cut corporation tax if he is successful in the race. He said his plans to cut taxes would cost around £39bn a year but would not include a further cut in fuel duty in the short term. Explaining that he does not believe in “unfunded tax cuts”, Javid said he would draw up “a scoreboard showing exactly how we funded all of this sustainably” in the coming days. Updated at 11.17 BST Bringing you some Sunday morning cheer in these politically uncertain times now. Financial Times senior reporter Chris Cook has just drawn parallels between Penny Mordaunt’s leadership bid campaign video and a skit from 90s satire The Day Today. You’ll forgive me for initially thinking the soundtracks were exactly the same. Updated at 10.45 BST Just a reminder of who the current Conservative leadership candidates are – we’re now down to nine! Are the folowing:
Rishi Sunak Sajid Javid Jeremy Hunt Nadhim Zahawi Penny Mordant Grant Shapps Suella Braverman Kemi Badenoch Tom Tugendhat
Jeremy Hunt says Esther McVey will be his deputy prime minister
In a thinly veiled bid to win over red-wall voters, Tory leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt has said he would make Esther McVeigh his deputy prime minister if he succeeds. Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Morning, he likened MP Tatton to John Prescott as Tony Blair’s deputy. “I also recognize that the leader of a political party has to win an election, and that means broad appeal, so just as Tony Blair asked John Prescott to broaden his appeal as deputy prime minister, I will have Esther McVeigh as my deputy. minister,” he said. “He’s won a lot of elections against Labor in the north, I’ve won them against the Lib Dems in the south and I think we’re going to be a formidable campaign team.” Esther McVey pictured at the Conservative party conference 2021. Photo: Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Allstar Updated at 10.46 BST Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Boris Johnson’s admission of meeting former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev at the height of the Salisbury crisis suggested a “serious breach of security” had taken place. Cooper told Sky’s Sophie Ridge on Sunday that serious questions needed to be answered about why Johnson, then foreign secretary, allegedly went “with a never-disclosed guest” immediately after attending a NATO meeting on Russia. He pointed to the scandal as part of a wider pattern of alleged problematic behavior by the prime minister. “I think the problem is that you have someone still in Downing Street who nobody believes has a duty, no sense of duty to the country, who is responsible for lying, for breaking the law and also for today’s allegations of abuse of power a young woman while mayor of London. The billionaire Russian tycoon and former KGB agent…
