Tory leadership debate - live: Boris Johnson challenged on ‘letterbox’ comments, as candidates quizzed on Brexit, tax cuts and climate change
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Your support makes all the difference.The remaining Tory leadership candidates have clashed over Brexit, tax cuts and public spending during a heated televised debate that saw Boris Johnson go head-to-head with his rivals for the first time.
The five contenders put forward different plans on Brexit, with Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt saying they would be willing to delay Britain's departure from the EU in order to secure a deal, while Mr Johnson and Sajid Javid said they would not. Rory Stewart promised never to allow a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Stewart also attacked his rivals for making promises he said they could not deliver, including on tax cuts. But they returned fire, with Mr Gove pushing him on his plan for public services.
Mr Johnson apologised for the offence caused by his previous comments about Muslim women but insisted they had been unfairly “escalated”, while Mr Hunt defended saying he agreed with the “sentiment” of Donald Trump's tweets about Sadiq Khan.
The debate followed the second round of voting by Tory MPs, which resulted in Dominic Raab being eliminated after failing to meet the threshold of 33 votes. Mr Johnson maintained a huge lead and Mr Stewart also increased his support, but Mr Javid only narrowly scraped through to Wednesday's third round.
See how the day unfolded below:
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Rory Stewart says the other candidates are promising tax cuts they cannot deliver. He says there are "huge pressures" on public services and that he would spend any money saved by Brexit on public spending, not tax cuts.
The questioner says the only candidate who answered his question is Jeremy Hunt and accuses Rory Stewart of being "completely out of touch".
None of the people asking questions so far have been especially impressed with the answers, with all of them accusing the candidates (with varying degress of anger) of having not addressed the issues they were asking about. So far there has been a lot of shouting among the contenders and little in the way of clear answers.
The next question is about funding for public services and results in another round of unintelligble answers. Rory Stewart says candidates should be prioritising spending over tax cuts, but Sajid Javid says tax cuts can result in more revenue for spending on services. Jeremy Hunt says local councils need more money for social care, while Boris Johnson says he would invest in the education services.
The next question is about words having consequences - a clear reference to Boris Johnson's previous comments about Muslim women who wear the niqab.
Mr Johnson says his words were "escalated" but apologises for the offence they caused. He is then asked about the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. He says blaming him for her incarceration in Iran is wrong and that his incorrect claims that she was training journalists in Iran "did not make any difference". The real villains are the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, he says.
Jeremy Hunt is then asked about saying that he agrees with the "sentiment" of Donald Trump's tweets about Sadiq Khan. He says he agreed that Mr Khan was a "useless" mayor of London but insists he strongly again racism.
Sajid Javid asks the other candidates if they would support an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party. They all do.
He also pushes Rory Stewart on whether he would call out Donald Trump's comments about Muslims. Mr Stewart dodges the question.
Michael Gove is more critical of Mr Trump but also attacks Jeremy Corbyn, saying the Labour leader has "indulged antisemitic hate speech"
Here's Boris Johnson's response to a question about his previous comments about Muslim women who were the niqab...
The next question is about the environment. Rory Stewart and Boris Johnson say they would place climate change at the heart of their agenda. Mr Stewart says he is "deeply proud" that the govenrment has committed to the UK being carbon neutral by 2020 and should be the "leader in the world in driving green and environmental change".
Michael Gove points to his achievements as environment secretary. He says he has one of the best jobs in the world because he has the power to help ensure that the next generation inherits a "cleaner and greener" planet.
Boris Johnson is asked whether he is still opposed to Heathrow expansion. He says he has "grave concerns" about a third runway but does not directly answer the question. Instead he says as mayor of London he cut CO2 emissions by 40 per cent.
Jeremy Hunt says this is a matter of trust between teenagers and his generation, while Sajid Javid says his teenage daughter has repeatedly asked him about what he would do to tackle cliate change. He says the UK must be a lot more ambitious on renewable energy and electric cars.
The questioner, like most of the others in this debate, is unimpressed. She says none of the candidates have shown a willingness to take the "drastic critical action" needed to tackle climate change.
The final question is on when the candidates would call a general election if they become prime minister.
Unsurprisingly, they all say there should not be an election until Brexit has been delivered.
And that's the end of the debate. Did we learn much? I'm not sure we did. Reaction to follow.
Story: Boris Johnson dodges questions about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and 'letterbox' comments
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