Graham Brady confirms new prime minister will be revealed on 5 September
James Cleverly, the recently appointed education secretary, has accused Rishi Sunak of acting like a Labour chancellor as the latter prepares to launch his Tory leadership campaign.
He also accused Mr Sunak of plotting to oust Boris Johnson while serving in the most senior role in his cabinet, according to The Times. Mr Sunak was the only candidate not to pledge tax cuts on gaining office, though he later said he would bring cuts once inflation was brought under control.
Following a vote deciding the membership of the powerful 1922 Committee executive on Monday, chair Sir Graham Brady announced that the new prime minister will be revealed on 5 September, as he unveiled the leadership race rules.
Candidates will be whittled down to two by several rounds of voting among MPs before the vote goes to the Tory membership. The first vote by MPs will take place on Wednesday, Sir Graham said.
‘Freedom isn’t free’: Shapps vows to boost defence spending to 3% of GDP
Grant Shapps has pledged to increase defence spending by 3 per cent of gross domestic product, warning that the UK “can’t afford not to”.
Writing in The Times, the transport secretary said: “Freedom is not free. That is why, as prime minister, I will raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP, in contrast to Nato’s recommended minimum of 2 per cent.”
Jeremy Hunt has made the same pledge – higher than the 2.5 per cent rise by the end of the decade recently committed to by Boris Johnson after a Cabinet row over the issue. But this is not enough to prevent Britain from falling behind other Nato countries, including Poland and Lithuania, which have increased their military budgets following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Mr Hunt.
Mr Shapps pointed to the kit limitations of the Navy and the RAF, adding: “The Army is shrinking in manpower, artillery and armour. Quality is vital, but quantity has a quality all of its own.
“We have had to wait a decade to replace the venerable Nimrod subhunter with the new Poseidon aircraft. The Vanguard-class boats carrying the Trident nuclear deterrent are based on the Clyde, and they are nearing the end of their lives.
“The extra money I am proposing will help to bring forward the modernisation of the deterrent with new Dreadnought-class boats. We will accelerate the in-service dates for programmes that have been ‘shifted to the right’ to ease budgetary pressure.
“The defence of the realm is the first duty of Her Majesty’s Government. Can we afford to spend more money on this core responsibility? The answer is, we can’t afford not to.”
Andy Gregory12 July 2022 07:32
Mordaunt and Badenoch way out ahead in poll of Tory members
Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch are the favourites to become the new Tory leader among the party faithful, a new poll has indicated.
Conservative Home – a news and analysis blog popular with grassroots activists – conducted a survey of its readers and the top candidate to replace Boris Johnson is Ms Mordaunt.
The international trade minister, who was previously at the Cabinet Office, got 19.6 per cent, with Kemi Badenoch, the former equalities minister coming a close second with 18.7 per cent.
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak, who currently has the most MPs backing him at 37, came in third place with 12.1 per cent.
My colleague Joe Middleton reports:
Mordaunt and Badenoch way out ahead in poll of Tory members
Penny Mordaunt got 19.6 per cent, with Kemi Badenoch close second with 18.7 per cent
Namita Singh12 July 2022 07:14
Not just tax cuts needed to boost economy says Tugendhat
Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has said tax cuts cannot be the “only round in the magazine” in stimulating economic growth.
In a speech on Tuesday, the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee will set out his 10-year plan for growth to address the…
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