Tory leadership race: Hunt goads Johnson for missing debate, after frontrunner renews 31 October Brexit pledge
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Jeremy Hunt has goaded Boris Johnson for pulling out of a television debate as the Tory leadership candidates hit the campaign trail hard.
Meanwhile, Mr Hunt said he would instead hold a question-and-answer session on Twitter.
Earlier, Mr Johnson again declined to discuss in detail a late-night quarrel at his home, saying it was “simply unfair” to “drag” his loved ones into the political arena in an interview with the BBC.
After Mr Hunt accused him of ducking public scrutiny, Mr Johnson has a flurry of broadcast interviews and visits in the south east planned for Tuesday.
A spokesman from his camp claimed: “We’re definitely stepping it up.”
Biggest lies told by Boris Johnson
Show all 5After days avoiding journalists’ questions, the former foreign secretary sought to get his campaign back on track, declaring he would deliver Brexit by the Halloween deadline “do or die”.
Mr Hunt, meanwhile, hit back at his rival, dismissing 31 October as a “fake deadline” which would more likely result in a general election which could hand the keys of No 10 to Jeremy Corbyn.
The foreign secretary suggested Mr Johnson would be unable to win the trust of other EU leaders to successfully negotiate a new Brexit deal with Brussels.
In a letter to his rival, Mr Johnson said the “central question” in the leadership contest was the issue of whether the next prime minister would commit to leaving the EU by 31 October.
“If we fail to deliver once again, the consequences for our party and our country will be devastating,” he said. “We must not kick the can down the road again. The British people have had enough of being left in limbo.”
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The leadership contenders are out and about on the campaign trail.
Boris Johnson visited Oxshott in Surrey with Dominic Raab, one of his ousted contenders for the Tory premiership, for a "walkabout".
The location sits within the former Brexit secretary's Esher and Walton constituency.
Alongside the Esher and Walton Conservative Women's Organisation chairwoman, Councillor Elise Dunweber, they were set to meet staff at local businesses during the visit.
Meanwhile Jeremy Hunt met Chelsea pensioners on a visit to the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
Theresa May will step down as prime minister on 24 July, Downing Street has said, writes Andrew Woodcock.
The new Conservative leader is due to be announced on 23 July.
But Ms May’s official spokesman said that she would remain in post until the following day, taking her final session of prime minister’s questions in the Commons on 24 July before handing over to her successor.
“We would expect the transition to the new prime minister to take place on Wednesday afternoon,” said Ms May’s spokesman.
After PMQs, it is expected that Ms May will be driven from 10 Downing Street to Buckingham Palace to inform the Queen of her decision to stand down.
Once she has left the palace, the new Conservative leader will be invited by the Queen to form a government, and will then return to Number 10 as PM.
Here's our story on the arrangements for Ms May stepping down.
Boris Johnson has been criticised for not divulging enough during the Conservative leadership contest, but on Tuesday he had plenty to say about his favourite pastime – painting buses on the side of old wooden crates, writes Adam Forrest.
When asked what he does for pleasure in an interview with talkRADIO, the frontrunner said that he liked to make models of buses, before contradicting himself to say that was not exactly what he meant.
“I don’t mean models of buses. What I make is, I get old ... wooden crates right, and then I paint them and, suppose it’s a box that has been used to contain two wine bottles and it will have a dividing thing, I turn it into a bus,” Mr Johnson said.
Jeremy Hunt has mocked Boris Johnson yet again for his decision not to debate the foreign secretary on Sky News.
In his letter to Mr Hunt, Mr Johnson wrote : "It has been three years since the British people voted to leave the EU in one of the biggest democratic exercises this country has ever seen. But, sadly, since then we have dithered and failed to carry out that one big instruction from the British people.
"We failed to take Britain out of the EU on 29 March 2019 - despite countless pledges to do so - and we can see the terrible impact that this has had on faith in democracy.
"The central question in this leadership contest is whether the next Prime Minister agrees to honour the referendum result and commits to leaving the EU on 31 October. If we fail to deliver once again, the consequences for our Party and our country will be devastating.
"We must not kick the can down the road again. The British people have had enough of being left in limbo. So both of us have a responsibility to provide clarity on exactly when we believe the UK should leave the EU.
"For my part, I have been clear that, if I am elected leader, we will leave on 31 October with or without a deal. Will you join me in this commitment to leave on 31 October come what may?"
Voters should be told what alternative deadline Mr Hunt would seek if he did not commit to 31 October, Mr Johnson added.
Have Jeremy Hunt's snark reservoirs run dry after so much use today? He is now retweeting others' mockery of Boris Johnson's letter.
Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of more “muddle and confusion” after Labour again failed to agree a shift to fully back a further Brexit referendum, writes Rob Merrick.
The Conservative Party has a "terrible problem" with Islamophobia and is acting "very poorly", MPs have been told.
The Commons Home Affairs Committee heard the comments during a discussion as part of its inquiry into Islamophobia in the UK.
A panel was asked by committee chairman Yvette Cooper what role political parties had to play in the matter.
Professor Tariq Modood, director of the University of Bristol Research Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, replied: "I think the Conservative Party has a terrible problem with Islamophobia at the moment.
"It's so evident. There are so many cases. They are acting very poorly."
PA
Britain must be seen by outsiders to be confident and engaged in "championing democratic values" despite the chaos of Brexit, Jeremy Hunt has said.
The foreign secretary said his conversations with the EU had led him to believe that what leaders valued most about Britain is its commitment to defence.
He said: "They look at us now and they see all this Brexit paralysis and they wonder what's happening to Britain, and I want them to know that Britain is here, Britain is back, Britain's voice is going to be strong in the world and that's why we are going to be a country that spends more money on defence, 2.5 per cent of our GDP, we can afford it within my spending plans that will still bring down debt.
"But this is a moment that we need to send that signal to the world of confidence. Confidence about Britain, confidence about what we stand for and confidence that British people are not going to pull down the shutters and stop engaging with the world. We're going to be out there, standing up for the values we believe in."
No further Twitter sass to report at this time, however.
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