UK politics live: Jenrick cuts Badenoch Tory poll lead as Tugendhat won’t guarantee winter fuel reversal
Former PM Liz Truss dismissed claims that her mini-budget was to blame for the disastrous state of the economy
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Robert Jenrick has drawn closer to Kemi Badenoch by four points in a head-to-head poll of Conservative members.
Mr Jenrick was almost 20 points behind the former business secretary six weeks ago. However, a new YouGov poll has shown the former immigration minister is beginning to reverse his fate as the annual Conservative Party conference enters its penultimate day.
Some 52 per cent of Tory members preferred Ms Badenoch as Tory leader while 48 per cent backed Mr Jenrick, the poll found.
It comes as fellow Conservative leadership contender Tom Tugendhat declined to commit to reversing Labour’s cuts to winter fuel payments if he becomes leader of the party.
He said he would not “undermine” his promise to restore trust in politics by writing a budget “four years’ out”.
The shadow security minister told LBC: “I’m not going to write a budget for four years’ time. You know that it wouldn’t be honest for me to do so.”
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
Watch: Tory leadership hopefuls Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat address party conference
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Badenoch rules out electoral pact with Nigel Farage’s Reform party
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
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'
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’
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
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
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 on health grounds
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
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
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
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.
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