Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

Tory leadership debate: Boris Johnson brandishes kipper on stage as he declares May's Brexit deal ‘defunct' at final hustings

The final Conservative Party leadership hustings with Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, as it happened

Lizzy Buchan
Political Correspondent
,Harry Cockburn
Wednesday 17 July 2019 20:32 BST
Comments
Conservative leadership race: Boris Johnson waves around a kipper

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Tory leadership contenders Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt both stood by their stated approaches to handling Brexit at the final hustings before the polls close for Conservative members to vote for their party’s new leader and the country’s next prime minister.

Mr Johnson repeatedly refused to rule out suspending Parliament as PM to force through Brexit and said the UK would leave the European Union by 31 October with or without a deal.

Mr Hunt meanwhile said he could delay Brexit beyond that point if a deal was in reach, but he has also not ruled out walking away from negotiations without an agreement.

See below for live updates

Corbyn presses May on poor air quality in urban areas and asks May what action has been taken.

She says the clean air strategy is the most ambitious in a generation and has been hailed as an example by the World Health Organisation.

Corbyn says air pollution breaches legal limits in the majority of areas, which is 'literally suffocating our children'. He says the government promised to be the greenest ever but failed on carbon emissions, failed on solar etc.

He says Labour led calls for a climate emergency and asks when the government will face up to the crisis.

May says she expects to see up to 2m jobs in renewables. She says she won't take lectures from Labour on this and she goes back to attacks on antisemitism. She says 'look what he has done to his party, we will never let him do that to our party'.

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:17

Ian Blackford, for the SNP, raises Donald Trump's racist comments about US congresswomen, who he told to 'go home'. He tells her to condemn the 'go home' vans used by the Home Office when she was home secretary.

May says the vans were 'too blunt an instrument' and she condemns Mr Trump's comments as 'unacceptable'. This is the first time she has said this on the record.

Blackford accuses the Tories of staying silent on racism, for not condemning the racist columns by Boris Johnson, and for not condemning the deportation of asylum seekers. 

May says the only party playing to a nationalist audience is the SNP.

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:22

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:23

Tory Sir Roger Gale asks a suck-up question about May's legacy, saying her premiership will be viewed more positively in future than those who have campaigned against her.

She thanks him for his support.

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:25

Labour MP Sharon Hodgson says thousands of families worry about feeding their children over the holidays. Will she ensure people get free meals over the summer?

May says a programme giving free meals and activities to children is being expanded this summer.

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:27

Tory MP Robert Halfon raises "shoddy" homes built by develop Persimmon and urges the PM to hold the company to account.

May agrees it is important to ensure the quality of newbuild homes. She says the government expects developers to do the right thing.

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:34

Donald Trump appears to have woken up, just as May was condemning his comments.

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:35

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:38

SNP MP Patrick Grady says Ms May's legacy will be her hostile environment policy. He asks how the government can spend millions on a marketing campaign for Britain, when many Africa traders find the UK is closed.

May says visa applications from African nationals are at their highest level since 2013.

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:42

That's it for PMQs for the day - and our top experts Andy Grice and John Rentoul are primed to discuss today's session.

Lizzy Buchan17 July 2019 12:48

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in