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Washington Bureau Chief
Liz Truss has told the Conservative Party conference that it is “pathetic” to claim she is to blame for the economic meltdown follwoing her mini-budget.
During a fringe event, the unrepentant former prime minister dismissed Theresa May’s claim that she destroyed the party’s reputation after her economic policies.
She also lashed out at the four Tory MPs vying to replace Rishi Sunak as the party’s leader, claiming she will not endorse any of the candidates.
But she agreed with Kemi Badenoch’s controversial comments about maternity pay being “excessive”, and revealed she would be “really happy” with Robert Jenrick‘s suggestion to have the Star of David at UK borders.
It comes after Mr Jenrick described illegal migrants as “terrorists on our streets terrorising our citizens” during a rally at the conference.
During his speech, the former minister said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is a “leave or die” issue for the Tories and urged to exit the convention.
Mr Jenrick also called for the Star of David to be displayed at every point of entry to the UK to show “we stand with Israel” while wearing a “Hamas Are Terrorists” hoodie at a Conservative Friends of Israel fringe event.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
Lib Dems urge Tories to strip Liz Truss of £115,000 allowance
The Liberal Democrats have urged the Tories to strip Liz Truss of her £115,000 allowance as former prime minister for failing to “recognise economic vandalism”.
Responding to her appearance at Conservative Party Conference, deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “Liz Truss’s failure to recognise the economic vandalism that she oversaw is a kick in the teeth to all those who endured their mortgage rates spiralling and were worried about losing their homes as a result of her disastrous policies.
“It’s outrageous that instead of calling out the damage that she did, the Conservative Party actually allowed her to stand as one of their candidates at the General Election.
“Every Conservative Party Leadership candidate must condemn Truss’s terrible record and pledge that they would strip her of her ex-PM allowance of up to £115,000 a year.”
Labour cabinet secretary to step down at end of year
A senior Labour secretary has announced he will step down at the end of the year on health grounds, The Telegraph reports.
Head of civil service Simon Case told Sir Keir Starmer he will leave Downing Street 18 months after being diagnosed with a neurological condition.
In a letter, he reportedly told colleagues: “It is a shame that I feel I have to spell this out, but my decision is solely to do with my health and nothing to do with anything else. Whilst the spirit remains willing, the body is not.”
Badenoch: Reform and Lib Dems are not serious people
Asked whether the Liberal Democrats or Reform UK represent an ememy for the party, she said: “Anyone who is not a Conservative has got to be defeated.”
But she branded Reform as “not real conservatives” and “like the Liberal Democrats” not serious people.
She added: “And by that I mean the Reform politicians. The Reform voters are our voters. But actually the Reform manifesto did not add up. They want a big state, actually, when you look at some of the things they are talking about, the state would balloon.
“Reform are not serious, but it is now our job to make sure that we squeeze them out and push them away from the bit of the political spectrum they are on. They are parking our tanks on our lawn and we need to get them off.”
No pact with Reform UK under Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch has confirmed she is not in favour of an electoral pact with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
As part of her pitch to party members, the Tory candidate said she wants the Conservatives to be the centre-right option for voters at the next general election.
Tory candidate says party should apologise over migration
On whether it was time for the Conservatives to apologise over migration, Kemi Badenoch said: “I think so.”
She added: “We need to look at the numbers, look at the culture, and look at the leadership. We just sort of made an announcement and assumed someone else was going to be looking after it. Just to hope it happens, that’s witchcraft.”
At a previous fringe event, Ms Badenoch blamed pro-migration border control staff for problems tacking illegal migration, saying they would be better off working at Amnesty International.
I was working class when I came to the UK, Badenoch says
Kemi Badenoch has said that she became working class after moving from Nigeria to the UK.
The Tory hopeful told party members how she worked full-time at McDonald’s while studying part-time at an FE college.
She added: “I had left Nigeria, where I’d had a middle class life, driven to school every day, and the first time I ever went on a bus was in this country. But I couldn’t even afford bus money most of the time. I had to walk everywhere.
“Sometimes I was hungry. I was on my own. I had a place to live, but I had to do everything myself at a very young age. If that is not working class, I didn’t know what working classes is.
“The working classes are the people who have to work for a living, otherwise they will be in trouble. They are people who don’t necessarily have big savings or a family that can look after them.”
Kemi Badenoch says maternity pay claims used to attack her
Now, on the controversial maternity pay row. Kemi Badenoch has said comments that the benefit is “excessive” were taken out of context to attack her.
In an attempt to clarify her position, she said: “I think maternity pay is quite important and this was actually a long discussion we were having about the role of the state in deciding what businesses should do.”
The shadow minister claimed that, just like her idol Margaret Thatcher, the remarks have been used to undermine her as Tory leadership contender.
She told the conference: “But let’s take a step back. Who remembers the phrase ‘there is no such thing as society?’ Thatcher gave an interview to Woman’s Own magazine where she was asked the question, and said there is no such thing as a society, that there are only individual people and families.
“And that very good explanation got cut down into a soundbite that was used to attack her. When you are a leader, when you are a Conservative, when you are making the opposite for conservative principles, your opponents are going to turn it into something else. We need to decide who is going to be the leader of the Conservative Party. Not the Left, not the Guardian, not the BBC, just Conservatives.”
Badenoch: My skin colour should not matter
Kemi Badenoch has said that the colour of her skin should matter as little as hair colour.
Asked how it would feel to be the first black leader, Ms Badenoch said: “I don’t know, I’ve never done it before.”
She added: “I’m sure it’ll be interesting but I am somebody who wants the colour of skin to be no more significant than the colour of our hair or the colour of our eyes.”
Electoral Commission ‘considering carefully’ Labour’s call to investigate Jenrick
The UK elections watchdog is “considering carefully” a letter from Labour calling for an investigation into the ultimate source of a £75,000 donation to Tory leadership frontrunner Robert Jenrick.
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said in a statement on Monday: “We have received a letter from the Labour Party requesting we investigate three donations accepted by Robert Jenrick MP.
“We will be considering the contents carefully in accordance with our usual procedures, and will respond in due course.
“The commission’s role is to regulate the political finance laws that political parties and campaigners must comply with.
“The laws we enforce are there to ensure transparency in finances and to increase public confidence in our system.”
Labour are the bad guys, we’re the good guys, says Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch has said the political narrative around the two main parties needs to change.
The shadow minister told the Tory conference: “Being a politician often means people writing your story for you, people writing a narrative for you. But it’s very important that we make sure we tell our own stories.
“As Conservatives we’ve allowed too many people to tell us who we are, we’ve allowed too many people to portray us as the bad guys. Labour are in, everyone can see we’re the bad guys and they’re the good guys.”
