UK politics live: Kemi Badenoch insists she believes in maternity pay as Tory rivals jump on ‘excessive’ claim
Badenoch suggests current maternity leave pay may be too generous at the Conservative Party conference
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Kemi Badenoch has said she does “believe in maternity pay” after previously describing it as “excessive”.
The Tory leadership hopeful has come under sharp criticism after she described it as a “function of tax”, telling Times Radio: “Tax comes from people who are working, we’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive.”
Rival candidate Tom Tugendhat said he did not know the context of Ms Badenoch’s remarks but that it is important for women to have the ability to choose, while Robert Jenrick said the party should be “firmly on the side of parents and working mums”.
The remarks come after the shadow secretary defended her claim that there has been a recent rise in the number of migrants coming to the UK who “hate Israel”.
She 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.”
But when she was asked on Sky News if she was referring to Muslim immigrants, Ms Badenoch disagreed.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
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Israel should be ‘congratulated’ for Hassan Nasrallah assassination, Kemi Badenoch says
Tugendhat rejects ‘tailender’ label
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.”
Minister denies Duffield’s claims ‘the lads are in charge’ of No10
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
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'
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
Kemi Badenoch praises Israel as ‘extraordinary’ following Hezbollah leader wipeout
Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has praised Israel and Netanyahu as “extraordinary” following an airstrike confirmed to have killed Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. “I would be congratulating prime minister Netanyahu”, Badenoch told Sky’s Trevor Phillips from the Tory Party Conference. When quizzed on whether moral lines had been crossed to reached Hezbollah’s leader, she added: “It’s not about a free pass, but Israel does have a right to defend itself.” The MP added that immigrants who see Israel as “an enemy” are not welcome in the UK.
Duffield: The lads are in charge
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
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
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 told Sky News 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'
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
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.”
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