Shapps pulls out of Tory leadership race and joins Raab in supporting Sunak as Rees-Mogg and Dorries back Truss

From 2h ago

Raab and Shapps back Sunak for next Tory leader

Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy PM, opens the event.

He says Rishi Sunak has what it takes to be PM.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is also at the event. He has withdrawn his own bid to succeed Boris Johnson.

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Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, is one of the more junior figures in the Conservative leadership contest, but she is probably the one with most appeal to ideological rightwingers. Reading the speech she gave at her campaign launch, which was at the Institute for Government at the same time as Rishi Sunak’s, it is not hard to see why. Here are the main points.

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Badenoch called for a smaller state, saying government should do less. She said:

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The truth that limited government – doing less but better – is the best way to restore faith in government has been forgotten, as we pandered to pressure groups and caved in to every campaigner with a moving message

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That has made the government agenda into a shopping list of disconnected, unworkable and unsustainable policies.

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She cited cutting the number of young people going to university, cutting support staff and extra-curricular activities in schools and stopping the police from investigating hate crime online as examples of how the state could save money. She said:

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We are now taxing and spending more on government than we have ever done and yet people’s satisfaction with the quality of their day to day services is falling. This is not sustainable.

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We can’t carry on subsidising so many young people onto university courses which leave them with debts and diminished job prospects.

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We must require schools to concentrate on effective whole class teaching of rigorous subjects rather than allocating tight resources to superfluous support staff and peripheral activities.

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We should get the police to focus on neighbourhood crime not waste time and resources worrying about hurt feelings online.

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She said cutting the size of the state was the only reliable way to cut taxes.

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She said she was opposed to “protectionism, populism and polarisation”. She said:

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Free markets, imited governmen, a strong nation state – those are the Conservative principles we need to beat back protectionism, populism and polarisation.

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She did not mention the fact Boris Johnson’s premiership championed populism and polarisation, and at times protectionism too.

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She criticised what she described as “the Ben & Jerry’s tendency”, which she described as “those who say a business’s main priority is social justice not productivity and profit”.

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She criticised the next zero target, claiming it was not well planned. She said:

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[There are] too many policies, like the net zero target, set up with no thought to the effect on industries in the poorer parts of this country.

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The consequence is simply to displace emissions to other countries: unilateral economic disarmament.

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She said Britain had had a “poor decade for living standards”. She said:

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We have had a poor decade for living standards.

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We have overburdened our economy.

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There’s too much unproductive public spending, consuming taxpayers hard earned money.

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Too many well meaning regulations, slowing growth, and clogging up the arteries of the economy.

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She said her views where shaped by her upbringing in Nigeria. She said:

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I grew up in Nigeria and saw first hand what happens when politicians are in it for themselves, when they use public money as their private piggy banks, when they promise the earth and pollute not just the air but the whole political atmosphere with their failure to serve others.

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I saw what socialism means. For millions. Poverty…… and Broken dreams.

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I came to Britain determined to make my way in a country where hard work and honest endeavour can take you anywhere.

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She continually stressed her commitment to telling the truth. She used the word seven times in her speech, while promising honesty, or to be honest, five times.

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https://t.co/cvgUlumlne

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) July 12, 2022

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Rishi Sunak has always been an exceptionally polished – he thinks carefully about what he is going to say, he plans ahead, he puts a lot of weight on quality presentation – and if this leadership contest gets decided by political professionalism, he will win by a mile. His launch video released last week was pitch perfect. And this launch ran very smoothly too. He opened with a new, high-grade endorsement, and delivered a speech with some substance.

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Sunak’s pitch is that he is the most serious and experienced candidate in the field. Or “grown up”, as he put it. By my count he called for a “grown-up conversation” three times, clearly implying that is not what MPs, party members or the public are getting from rival candidates. This is a plausible message that is certain to land well with the commentariat (see 9.47am), and probably with the public at large too.

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The speech also included two other lines designed to fine-tune his appeal to party members. Sensitive to the charge that he was disloyal to Boris Johnson, Sunak included a lengthy passage paying tribute to him. (See 11.13am.) At one point he claimed that he would refuse to trash Johnson’s reputation even if that cost him the leadership – despite the fact he must be calculating that not antagonising Johnson loyalists is more likely to help his chances in a ballot of party members than hinder them.

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Sunak also clarified his stance on tax cuts – saying that he is committed to bringing down the tax burden, just not yet. (See 11.19am.) This is the position he took in his spring statement too – it’s an honest description of what he thinks, not a U-turn – but the emphasis is different from what we heard last week. Again, this feels like a tweak that brings Sunak closer to the centre of gravity in the party.

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But it could be that this micro-positioning is too clever by half. Last week Sunak seemed to be running as the fresh start candidate (against Liz Truss, who represents continuity Johnson). But Sunak also seems to be the only candidate in the field who currently supports the government’s current tax policy. This creates the risk that, overall, his position might just be a bit too ambiguous.

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And, often to win a leadership contest, a candidate has go out and fight for it. If Sunak really believes that his opponents are peddling nonsense, at some point he is going to have to say so with a bit more grit than he managed today. His reluctance to take questions from the press (he wanted to wrap up after just three questions) did not bode well either.

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Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has pulled out of the Tory leaderhip candidate and endorsed Rishi Sunak.

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Huge thanks to my team for helping to pull together my leadership bid in literally no time! Amongst a field of brilliant candidates I've spoken to @RishiSunak who I believe has the competence and experience to lead this country.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) July 12, 2022

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Turning to the economy, Sunak goes on:

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We need to have a grown-up conversation about the central policy question that all candidates have to answer in this election. Do you have a credible plan to protect our economy and get it growing?

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My message to the party and the country is simple. I have a plan to steer our economy through these headwinds. We need a return to traditional conservative economic values. And that means honesty and responsibility, not fairy tales.

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It is not credible to promise lots more spending and lower taxes.

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Sunak says he had to take the most difficult choices as chancellor. He goes on:

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Once we have gripped inflation, I will get the tax burden down. It is a question of when not if.

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He ends by saying a better future is not given, it is earned. That is why he is standing.

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Sunak says he wants to talk about Boris Johnson. They need to explain why he is leaving office.

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Johnson is one of the most remarkable people I have every met and, whatever some commentators may say, he has a good heart.

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Sunak says he is flawed. “And so are the rest of us.”

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He says he resigned because it was “no longer working”. But he goes on:

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But let me be clear. I will have no part in a rewriting of history that seeks to demonise Boris, exaggerate his faults or deny his efforts.

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Sunak pays tribute to Johnson’s achievements, “breaking the Brexit deadlock, winning a stunning election victory, rolling out a world class vaccination programme and standing up for a free Ukraine when other leaders were still wringing their hands”. He goes on:

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Some people might advise that I should avoid saying all of this in case it alienates people. But that wouldn’t be honest. If telling you what I think – positive and negative – costs me the leadership, so be it.

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Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy PM, opens the event.

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He says Rishi Sunak has what it takes to be PM.

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The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is also at the event. He has withdrawn his own bid to succeed Boris Johnson.

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The Rishi Sunak campaign launch is about to start. There is a live feed here.

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We are live! #Ready4Rishi https://t.co/TZYEzqkibY

— Ready For Rishi (@RishiSunak) July 12, 2022

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Many journalists are there, but not my colleague John Crace, the Guardian’s sketchwriter. He was banned.

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So… I applied to be accredited to Rishi launch and was told venue full. Someone who applied after me has been allowed to go. You might think that Rishi isn't keen on free speech

— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) July 12, 2022

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Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit opportunities minister, and Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, have just told Sky News that they are backing Liz Truss for the Tory leadership.

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Rees-Mogg says Truss had been his strongest supporter in cabinet in terms of seeking Brexit opportunities. He went on:

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When we discussed taxation, Liz was always opposed to Rishi’s higher taxes. That again is proper Conservatism. And I think she’s got the character to lead the party and the nation.

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Asked if Truss was the ‘Stop Rishi’ candidate, Rees-Mogg replied:

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Liz Truss is the best candidate. She’s a proper Eurosceptic. She will deliver for the voters. She’ll deliver for the voters. She believes in low taxation.

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Dorries added: “And she’s a woman.”

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This joint endorsement will firm up Truss’s position as the lead candidate for the Tory right. It also confirms that she is effectively the Johnsonite, ‘Stop Sunak’ candidate. Boris Johnson thinks his former chancellor was disloyal, and blocked his spending plans. Johnson said yesterday he would not be endorsing anyone himself, but his closest allies are now piling in behind Truss.

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Truss has become the main Brexit candidate despite voting remain in 2016. That’s a tribute to the speed with which she repositioned herself, and also the credit she won with Brexiters as international trade secretary for signing trade deals (which critics said were mostly roll-over version of the trade deals the UK had as an EU member anyway).

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In an interview with BBC Breakfast this morning Nadhim Zahawi, the new chancellor and Tory leadership candidate, hit out at his predecessor for implying rivals offering immediate tax cuts were peddling “comforting fairy tales”. Zahawi told BBC Breakfast:

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Of course we need to reduce the burden of tax.

\n

I believe cutting taxes isn’t a fairytale but rather a critical step to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

\n

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Zahawi claimed his promises were fully costed, and he said he would be “saying more about the way we’ll pay for that in the coming days”.

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He also said he was confident that he would receive the 20 nominations he needs by the end of the day to be on the ballot paper.

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BST","blockLastUpdated":1657617454000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"10.17 BST","blockFirstPublished":1657616121000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"09.55 BST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"09.55","title":"Zahawi hits back at Sunak, saying ‘cutting taxes isn’t fairytale’","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 12 Jul 2022 12.55 BST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 12 Jul 2022 09.01 BST"},{"id":"62cd2c908f08038ec3b7fdaa","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

As my colleague Alexandra Topping reports, Labour plans to table a no-confidence motion in the government that would be debated tomorrow.

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No-confidence debates are relatively rare. As this Commons library note explains, the last one was in 2019, but that was the first since 1994.

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It is important to remember that they fall into two categories. Sometimes the opposition tables a no-confidence motion in the hope of getting government MPs to abstain, or vote against, so they can bring down the government.

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But sometimes no-confidence motions are tabled with the intention of getting government MPs to vote for an unpopular government. This is what Tony Benn wrote in his diaries in November 1990, when Margaret Thatcher was being challenged for the government.

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\n

The Labour party is of course keen to keep Thatcher, and Kinnock has put down a motion of censure against her, for Thursday, to try to consolidate Tory support around her. It is a disgrace that in eight years this is the first motion of censure.

\n

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Labour says it is tabling the motion because it wants Boris Johnson out of office by the end of the week. But there is no chance of the motion being passed because, although Tory MPs may not want Johnson to remain as PM, but they do want a Tory government to stay in power, and the debate will be about confidence in the government. Instead, the debate will provide Labour with campaign ammunition, because it will enable the party to say (justifiably) that Tory MPs voted to keep Johnson in office (if only for a few more weeks).

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Good morning. Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, launches his campaign for the Tory leadership later. At one point he was seen as the clear favourite to succeed Boris Johnson, and the candidate best placed to help the Conservatives beat Labour, but his reputation collapsed early this year after his spring statement backfired and a row erupted over his wife’s non-dom status and the fact that he had a US green card when he became chancellor.

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Conventional wisdom declared that he had ruined his chances of ever becoming prime minister. This morning he is still the candidate with the most public endorsements from fellow MPs. But he is by no means a shoo-in, and there are two bits of news out this morning that should be worrying for his campaign.

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Johnson’s allies are mounting a bid to stop Sunak becoming leader. The clearest sign of this in the Times, which quotes James Cleverly, the Johnson loyalist appointed education secretary last week, accusing Sunak of being a Treasury stooge and of “plotting” against the PM. To defend his plotting claim, Cleverly said:

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\n

I think what some people were doing was about trying to create the preconditions of a leadership contest. There are people like Liz [Truss] who have been defending the government’s decisions, working hard every day making sure the government does what it needs to do. People will draw their own conclusions about who has been fully committed.

\n

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Cleverly also said that, as chancellor, Sunak was “a spokesperson for Treasury officials”. He went on:

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We have pursued an economic policy which a lot of people would find harder to differentiate from what a Labour government would do. We need to make it clear that you can’t keep putting up taxes to solve every challenge, you need to unlock economic growth.

\n

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In its story, the Times also reports that Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit opportunities minister, and Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, are both set to endorse Truss as the candidate of the Tory right most likely to stop Sunak. Rees-Mogg and Dorries have consistently been Johnson’s most loyal cheerleaders.

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A survey of Conservative party members for the ConservartiveHome website suggests only around 12% of members favour Sunak as their first choice candidate to succeed. Penny Mordaunt comes top in the survey, but she is only on about 20% and perhaps what is most significant about the survey is what is suggests about members wanting someone new, not associated with the Johnson cabinet. This is from Paul Goodman, the ConservativeHome editor, in his analysis of the results.

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\n

Perhaps the reason is that some of them were involved in pushing out Boris Johnson. Or maybe it is that others tried to keep him on. Or perhaps it’s simply that yesterday’s candidates are old hat, amidst a culture that prizes sensation and novelty.

\n

But whatever the explanation may be, the two chart-toppers in ConservativeHome’s first next Tory leader survey since Ben Wallace withdrew from the contest, aren’t members of the current cabinet at all.

\n

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Until now the Conservative leadership campaign has consisted of Sunak saying he won’t tell “comforting fairy tales” on the economy, while almost all the other candidates have been promising tax cuts almost immediately, with little or no indication of how they might be funded. At his launch today Sunak will say that he wants tax cuts too – but only when inflation is under control. Here is our preview story.

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Here is the agenda for the day.

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Morning: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet.

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11am: Rishi Sunak holds his campaign launch.

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11am: Tom Tugendhat holds his campaign launch.

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11am: Kemi Badenoch takes part in a Q&A at the Institute for Government.

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11am: Sir John Major, the former Conservative prime minister, gives evidence to the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee about propriety in governance in the light of Greensill.

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10pm: Nominations close for leadership candidates. To stand in the first ballot tomorrow, MPs will need the backing of at least 20 colleagues.

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I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

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If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

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Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com

","elementId":"e86340f7-46c9-4b85-b9e8-f83351811d98"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1657612874000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"09.01 BST","blockLastUpdated":1657615883000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"09.51 BST","blockFirstPublished":1657612874000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"09.01 BST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"09.01","title":"Boris Johnson’s allies launch bid to stop Sunak as survey casts doubt on former chancellor’s leadership chances","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 12 Jul 2022 12.55 BST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 12 Jul 2022 09.01 BST"}],"filterKeyEvents":false,"format":{"display":0,"theme":0,"design":9},"id":"key-events-carousel-mobile"}”>

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Badenoch says state should be smaller and do less, instead of pandering to ‘every campaigner with moving message’

Badenoch called for a smaller state, saying government should do less. She said:

The truth that limited government – doing less but better – is the best way to restore faith in government has been forgotten, as we pandered to pressure groups and caved in to every campaigner with a moving message

That has made the government agenda into a shopping list of disconnected, unworkable and unsustainable policies.

She cited cutting the number of young people going to university, cutting support staff and extra-curricular activities in schools and stopping the police from investigating hate crime online as examples of how the state could save money. She said:

We are now taxing and spending more on government than we have ever done and yet people’s satisfaction with the quality of their day to day services is falling. This is not sustainable.

We can’t carry on subsidising so many young people onto university courses which leave them with debts and diminished job prospects.

We must require schools to concentrate on effective whole class teaching of rigorous subjects rather than allocating tight resources to superfluous support staff and peripheral activities.

We should get the police to focus on neighbourhood crime not waste time and resources worrying about hurt feelings online.

She said cutting the size of the state was the only reliable way to cut taxes.

She said she was opposed to “protectionism, populism and polarisation”. She said:

Free markets, imited governmen, a strong nation state – those are the Conservative principles we need to beat back protectionism, populism and polarisation.

She did not mention the fact Boris Johnson’s premiership championed populism and polarisation, and at times protectionism too.

She criticised what she described as “the Ben & Jerry’s tendency”, which she described as “those who say a business’s main priority is social justice not productivity and profit”.

She criticised the next zero target, claiming it was not well planned. She said:

[There are] too many policies, like the net zero target, set up with no thought to the effect on industries in the poorer parts of this country.

The consequence is simply to displace emissions to other countries: unilateral economic disarmament.

She said Britain had had a “poor decade for living standards”. She said:

We have had a poor decade for living standards.

We have overburdened our economy.

There’s too much unproductive public spending, consuming taxpayers hard earned money.

Too many well meaning regulations, slowing growth, and clogging up the arteries of the economy.

She said her views where shaped by her upbringing in Nigeria. She said:

I grew up in Nigeria and saw first hand what happens when politicians are in it for themselves, when they use public money as their private piggy banks, when they promise the earth and pollute not just the air but the whole political atmosphere with their failure to serve others.

I saw what socialism means. For millions. Poverty…… and Broken dreams.

I came to Britain determined to make my way in a country where hard work and honest endeavour can take you anywhere.

She continually stressed her commitment to telling the truth. She used the word seven times in her speech, while promising honesty, or to be honest, five times.

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https://t.co/cvgUlumlne

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) July 12, 2022

Andy Street, the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, is backing Jeremy Hunt for Conservative leader.

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As much as I am a pragmatist, there are times when you have to speak up for what you genuinely believe in. The contest to become the next Prime Minister is one of those occasions👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/RMQTvOxLLf

— Andy Street (@andy4wm) July 12, 2022

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As much as I am a pragmatist, there are times when you have to speak up for what you genuinely believe in. The contest to become the next Prime Minister is one of those occasions👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/RMQTvOxLLf

— Andy Street (@andy4wm) July 12, 2022

Street is not an MP, and so he will not get a vote in the contest until the ballot among members. But, as a prominent Tory elected mayor, his endorsement is helpful to Hunt.

David Davis, the former Brexit minister, is backing Penny Mordaunt for leader, he has told Sky News.

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BREAKING: David Davis announces his support for Penny Mordaunt in the Conservative Party leadership contest.

The former cabinet minister tells @BethRigby she is "most likely to beat Rishi Sunak".

Latest: https://t.co/ZTbv6x8cal

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/iwVPlc7GaQ

— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 12, 2022

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Rishi Sunak’s launch – snap verdict

Rishi Sunak pays tribute to 'remarkable man' Boris Johnson in campaign launch – video — Rishi Sunak pays tribute to ‘remarkable man’ Boris Johnson in campaign launch – video

Shapps pulls out of Tory leadership contest and backs Sunak, saying he has ‘competence and experience’ to be PM

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has pulled out of the Tory leaderhip candidate and endorsed Rishi Sunak.

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Huge thanks to my team for helping to pull together my leadership bid in literally no time! Amongst a field of brilliant candidates I've spoken to @RishiSunak who I believe has the competence and experience to lead this country.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) July 12, 2022

Huge thanks to my team for helping to pull together my leadership bid in literally no time! Amongst a field of brilliant candidates I’ve spoken to @RishiSunak who I believe has the competence and experience to lead this country.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) July 12, 2022

Sunak tries to wrap up. The journalists protest. Sunak agrees to another question.

Q: Dominic Cummings has been campaigning to make you PM. Are you grateful fo his support, and will you give him a job in No 10.

Sunak says Cummings has had nothing to do with this campaign, and will have nothing to do with any government he leads. He has not communicated with him since Cummings left No 10.

Q: Why have you blocked attempts to raise defence spending?

Sunak says he views the 2% of GDP target as a floor, not a ceiling.

And defence spending is already set to rise, he says.

But he says defence spending should not be determined by arbitrary targets. It should be based on the nature of the threats the country faces, he says.

That’s it. Sunak has now left.

Q: The party has just ousted Boris Johnson on the basis of probity and conduct. You have a police fine too. And there are questions about your family avoiding millions of pounds in tax. And in the party you are seen as a corrosive figure. You are not a clean start, are you?

Sunak says he has support from all wings of the party. That is why he thinks he can bring the country together.

Q: But Labour will be able to use issues like your green card, and your wife’s non-dom status against you.

Sunak says these issues are all out there. He addressed them, and so did his wife. People expect high standards in public office. That is what he will provide.

Q: Why did you decide it wasn’t working with Boris Johnson?

Sunak says he explained that in his resignation letter. It was a difficult and sad decision. He had worked closely with Johnson for two and a half years.

All politicians are flawed, he says. His job is to talk about what he can offer the country.

He is proud to have been part of the government that did all those things, he says.

Sunak is now taking questions.

Q: Your colleagues are trying to demolish your record as chancellor. Do you have the stomach for the fight ahead?

Sunak says he is surrounded by friends and colleagues. He has respect for his colleagues. When this is over, the party must reunite. They are all part of the Conservative family, he says.

‘It’s question of when, not if’ – Sunak promises to get tax burden down

Turning to the economy, Sunak goes on:

We need to have a grown-up conversation about the central policy question that all candidates have to answer in this election. Do you have a credible plan to protect our economy and get it growing?

My message to the party and the country is simple. I have a plan to steer our economy through these headwinds. We need a return to traditional conservative economic values. And that means honesty and responsibility, not fairy tales.

It is not credible to promise lots more spending and lower taxes.

Sunak says he had to take the most difficult choices as chancellor. He goes on:

Once we have gripped inflation, I will get the tax burden down. It is a question of when not if.

He ends by saying a better future is not given, it is earned. That is why he is standing.

Sunak says he will not engage in negative campaigning.

He says his values are clear – “hard work, patriotism, fairness, a love of family, pragmatism, but also an unshakable belief that we can build a better future.”

He says it is unacceptable that women and girls do not enjoy the same freedom as men.

He will prioritise funding for the armed services, he says.

Sunak pays tribute to Johnson, saying he’s ‘remarkable’ and ‘has a good heart’

Sunak says he wants to talk about Boris Johnson. They need to explain why he is leaving office.

Johnson is one of the most remarkable people I have every met and, whatever some commentators may say, he has a good heart.

Sunak says he is flawed. “And so are the rest of us.”

He says he resigned because it was “no longer working”. But he goes on:

But let me be clear. I will have no part in a rewriting of history that seeks to demonise Boris, exaggerate his faults or deny his efforts.

Some people might advise that I should avoid saying all of this in case it alienates people. But that wouldn’t be honest. If telling you what I think – positive and negative – costs me the leadership, so be it.

Rishi Sunak starts by saying we need “a grown-up conversation about where we are, how we got here, And what we intend to do about it.”.

That is a conversation for the party, but also with the public, he says.

And it starts with being honest with each other.

Sunak says the leadership contest should not be a conversation behind closed doors.

It should be a chance for the party and the country to come together, he says.

Raab says the threat of the SNP breaking up the UK is real.

So there is no time to learn on the job.

The party has to unite to win, Raab says.

We are one team, and we will stand or fall together.

We need a leader who can win. The reality is, the polling shows only Rishi can beat Labour.

Raab says other candidates are talking about tax cuts.

But “while others talk the talk, Rishi this month delivered the biggest tax cut for a decade”.

Raab is referring to the rise in the national insurance threshold.

(Sunak has also delivered historic tax increases too, which the national insurance cut only partly compensates for, but this does not get a mention.)

Raab and Shapps back Sunak for next Tory leader

Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy PM, opens the event.

He says Rishi Sunak has what it takes to be PM.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is also at the event. He has withdrawn his own bid to succeed Boris Johnson.

Rishi Sunak launched leadership campaign

The Rishi Sunak campaign launch is about to start. There is a live feed here.

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We are live! #Ready4Rishi https://t.co/TZYEzqkibY

— Ready For Rishi (@RishiSunak) July 12, 2022

Many journalists are there, but not my colleague John Crace, the Guardian’s sketchwriter. He was banned.

<gu-island name="TweetBlockComponent" deferuntil="visible" props="{"element":{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TweetBlockElement","html":"

So… I applied to be accredited to Rishi launch and was told venue full. Someone who applied after me has been allowed to go. You might think that Rishi isn't keen on free speech

— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) July 12, 2022

So… I applied to be accredited to Rishi launch and was told venue full. Someone who applied after me has been allowed to go. You might think that Rishi isn’t keen on free speech

— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) July 12, 2022

Source: Guardian

Shapps pulls out of Tory leadership race and joins Raab in supporting Sunak as Rees-Mogg and Dorries back Truss – live

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Raab and Shapps back Sunak for next Tory leader

Badenoch says state should be smaller and do less, instead of pandering to ‘every campaigner with moving message’

Rishi Sunak’s launch – snap verdict

Shapps pulls out of Tory leadership contest and backs Sunak, saying he has ‘competence and experience’ to be PM

‘It’s question of when, not if’ – Sunak promises to get tax burden down

Sunak pays tribute to Johnson, saying he’s ‘remarkable’ and ‘has a good heart’

Raab and Shapps back Sunak for next Tory leader

Rishi Sunak launched leadership campaign

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