Tory leadership race: Hunt goads Johnson for missing debate, after frontrunner renews 31 October Brexit pledge

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Boris Johnson refuses to deny photo of him with Carrie Symonds is six weeks old

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.”

After 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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Key Points

• Hunt goads Johnson over missed debate
• Boris Johnson claims it is 'simply unfair' to have row with partner discussed
• ... as he dismisses links to Steve Bannon as 'codswallop'
• A dozen Tory MPs 'will topple government' to avoid no-deal scenario
• Jeremy Hunt promises to boost defence spending

[25 June 2019 17:48 · Jon Sharman]

Our political sketch writer Tom Peck has had a crack at Boris Johnson's change of tactics.

Boris Johnson’s original strategy of winning the Tory leadership contest by placing himself under effective house arrest came unstuck at the weekend when he somehow managed to still cock everything up, from inside the house in which he had arrested himself.

But now we are on to Plan B, namely the media blitz, at least we all know why Plan A was the preferred option.

The BBC ... LBC ... Talk Radio ... all of these outlets seem to want to know more about the police being called in the middle of the night to the house of the de facto future prime minister over a reported domestic disturbance. They want to know how things like how many secret families does he have. And so on and so on.

Read the full story here.

[25 June 2019 18:15 · Jon Sharman]

A by-election sparked by the conviction of a former Tory MP will go ahead just one week after the new prime minister takes over.

The Brecon and Radnorshire seat is up for grabs due to the successful recall petition of Chris Davies following his conviction for faking expenses claims.

The paperwork was expected to be lodged today, but the Labour Whips tweeted that there had been a delay: "Contrary to reports, the writ to hold the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election is not moved today."

However, according to the Press Association the by-election should go ahead on 1 August.

The agency said it understands the delay was because the returning officer said the rules stated it was too early to move the motion.

[25 June 2019 18:33 · Samuel Osborne]

Jeremy Hunt has claimed he is the candidate who can be trusted to deliver Brexit.

In an apparent swipe at Mr Johnson, the foreign secretary said the personality of the next prime minister would be crucial to the outcome of negotiations with Brussels to gain a new deal.

"Both Boris and I want to change that deal, and the judgment is, who is the person we trust as PM to go to Brussels and bring back that deal?" he told BBC News

"It's about the personality of our PM. If you choose someone where there's no trust, there's going to be no negotiation, no deal. And quite possibly a general election, which could mean we have no Brexit either."

Mr Hunt dismissed Mr Johnson's commitment to deliver Brexit by the end of 31 October as a "fake" deadline.

"I think that 31 October come hell or high water is a fake deadline, because it's more likely to trip us into a general election before we've delivered Brexit, and that would hand the keys to Jeremy Corbyn and then we'd have no Brexit at all," he said.

[25 June 2019 18:50 · Samuel Osborne]

In response to Boris Johnson's letter promising the UK will leave the EU on Halloween, "deal or no deal", Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, tweeted: 

[25 June 2019 19:00 · Samuel Osborne]

In another response to Mr Johnson's comment that Brexit was "do or die", Rory Stewart, the defeated Tory leadership candidate, tweeted a passage from Alfred Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade:

 The poem tells the story a British light cavalry brigade of 600 soldiers who charged into Russian artillery fire during the Crimean War, suffering heavy casualties.

[25 June 2019 19:20 · Samuel Osborne]

Here's more from Jeremy Hunt's interview earlier, in which he says "the next prime minister must be trustworthy":

[25 June 2019 19:36 · Samuel Osborne]

Jeremy Hunt tells BBC he will pursue a "technology-led solution" when it comes to Irish border: