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Conservative leadership frontrunner Liz Truss has denied that she has been modelling herself on former prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The foreign secretary suggested comparisons to the former Tory leader were sexist and said it was “frustrating that female politicians always get compared to Margaret Thatcher”.She was questioned about the comparisons in interviews on Thursday after some noted similarities between her outfit at the first Tory leadership debate and a look worn by Margaret Thatcher in 1979.The foreign secretary, who took part in the Channel 4 event last week, opted for a black blazer over a white blouse featuring a bow tie detail across the neck.Thatcher wore a strikingly similar outfit at the time made up of a white blouse that tied in a large bow at the neck, under a black blazer.RecommendedOne tweet, which garnered more than 17,500 likes, said: “Liz Truss has recreated Margaret Thatcher’s appearance from her 1979 election broadcast down to the last detail.” More

Boris Johnson could face a recall petition which could trigger a by-election if he is suspended by MPs investigating whether he lied over Partygate, the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle confirmed. The Privileges Committee examining whether the prime minister mislead parliament has set out the terms of their inquiry, insisting the probe will go ahead despite his resignation.The Speaker confirmed that the committee’s findings – if they deem Mr Johnson worthy of suspension – would fall within the remit of the Recall of MPs Act, following advice from a leading lawyer.The committee said Sir Lindsay ruled that the “any suspension of the requisite length (ten sitting days or fourteen calendar days) following on from a report from that committee will attract the provisions of the Recall of MPs Act”.A recall petition would mean Mr Johnson’s constituents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip could trigger a special election to remove him before the next general election.RecommendedFor any recall petition to be successful it requires 10 per cent of registered voters in a constituency to sign the petition. The committee suggested one could be set up in the “hypothetical” scenario that Mr Johnson is suspended for 10 days.If the 10 per cent threshold is reached then the seat becomes vacant and a by-election is then required – but the recalled MP may stand again as a candidate.The Privileges Committee unanimously backed Labour grandee Harriet Harman to chair the investigation that could determine Mr Johnson’s legacy. The cross-party committee has insisted its investigation will still go ahead, despite Mr Johnson’s resignation as Tory leader and his expected departure from No 10 in early September.Its report published on Thursday said that “some have suggested” the inquiry is no longer necessary. “Our inquiry, however, is into the question of whether the House was misled, and political developments are of no relevance to that.”The group of senior MPs added: “The House charged the committee with this task and we are obliged to continue with it.”The committee confirmed that staff will be able to give anonymous evidence on parties in No 10 and Whitehall suggesting whether or not Mr Johnson lied to parliament during the saga.The MPs vowed to protect anonymous whistle-blowers who wish to submit evidence as “some witnesses may only be willing to give evidence if their identity is not made public”.A report published by the committee on Wednesday also said that when considering the allegations against Mr Johnson, the standard of proof will be “on the balance of probabilities”.Johnson’s defenders have questioned whether he “deliberately” or “knowingly” misled parliament during the Partygate saga. But the committee made clear that such commentary is not relevant.A memo in the report on determining whether Mr Johnson had been in contempt of parliament, stated: “It is for the committee and the House to determine whether a contempt has occurred and the intention of the contemnor is not relevant to making that decision.”The committee said it expects oral evidence sessions to begin in the autumn, meaning the inquiry will hang over Mr Johnson’s head for months, even after he departs No 10 and returns to the backbenches.RecommendedDowning Street last month disowned allies’ claims that the parliamentary inquiry into his Partygate statements will be a “kangaroo court” – insisting that Mr Johnson trusts the cross-party committee to deliver a fair verdict.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer this week called the outgoing PM a “complete bulls***er” who had “taken the p***” out of people over Partygate. More

The race is on for the keys to 10 Downing Street after the Tory leadership contenders were whittled down to the final two – Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.And we want to know who you think will become Tory leader and subsequently the UK’s next prime minister – in our reader poll. Scroll down to vote.On Wednesday, Penny Mordaunt was eliminated after a closely fought fifth round of voting saw her miss out on second place to Ms Truss by just eight votes.Former chancellor Mr Sunak scooped 137 votes, Ms Truss 113 and Ms Mordaunt 105.It’s been a fast-paced week of voting with Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch taking fifth and fourth place respectively after a weekend which saw two televised leadership debates.RecommendedNow Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will go head-to-head to win votes from an estimated 160,000 Conservative members, before the winner is announced on Monday 5 September. Whoever becomes Tory leader will then replace Boris Johnson as prime minister.This is the third reader poll since Mr Johnson stepped down. In the first one, Independent readers said Mr Tugendhat should replace him. When voting on the final five, readers predicted Ms Mourdant would win.In the previous poll, some readers were disappointed there was not an option to select ‘Don’t care’, so we have included it this time.Once you have voted, feel free to let us know which option you picked and why, in the comments below.Then check back for a write up of the results of the poll.Take part in our reader poll by voting below.RecommendedWhat other topics would you like to see us run a reader poll on? Let us know in the comments below. More

Conservative leadership hopeful Liz Truss has claimed that the unresolved row with the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol shows how she “gets stuff done”.The foreign secretary pointed to the current dispute over Brexit as an example of her delivery – despite her failure to reach a deal with Brussels on after several months of negotiations.“I’ve shown I can get things done,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Whether it’s sorting out the issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol to make sure we deliver the full opportunities of Brexit, I can get stuff done.”In her first full interview of the campaign, Ms Truss also shared her regret over her backing the Leave campaign in 2016 and claimed Brexit had been a success. “I fully embraced the choice the people of Britain made,” she said.Reminded that she had predicted that Brexit would mean less trade, slashed investment and fewer jobs, Truss replied: “I was wrong and I’m fully prepared to admit I was wrong.”The foreign secretary added: “The portents of doom didn’t happen. Instead, we’ve unleashed new opportunities. And I was one of the leading figures driving those opportunities.”RecommendedMs Truss’s attempt to tear up parts of the Brexit withdrawal deal in defiance of the EU have moved closer to becoming law, after the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill cleared the Commons on Wednesday night.But peers are expected to contest parts of the Bill, and leading figures in Brussels have warned in recent days that it could put the UK and the EU on course for a trade war.Truss – the bookmakers’ favourite to be the next PM – also said she would “bulldoze” down opposition to her ideas and “take on the Whitehall machine”, as she positioned herself as more radical than rival Rishi Sunak.“I think every day when I get up in the morning, ‘What can I do to change things?’” she said. “I’m impelled to do that. I am pretty hard working, pretty direct. And I will bulldoze through, frankly, the things that need to get done.”Defending her plan to cut taxes immediately, Ms Truss also pledged to wage an ongoing battle the Treasury if she makes to No 10. “The Treasury do have an economic orthodoxy. They do resist change.”The foreign secretary said Sunak had pushed Britain in the “wrong direction” on taxation, and she would swiftly axe his National Insurance rise if she becomes PM.She admitted her plan to cut taxes would cost at least over £30bn a year. About if it would cost about £38bn, as some have estimated, Truss said: “I’d say that’s slightly high but it’s around that figure”But she insisted tax cuts would boost growth, and rejected widespread warnings that her cuts would fuel inflation. “My tax cuts will decrease inflation … It’s not a gamble.”Asked to name the leading economists who agreed with her approach to tax, she named the right-wing Brexiteer Patrick Minford.Ms Truss also denied modelling herself on Margaret Thatcher. “I don’t accept that. I’m my own person. I’m from a different background.”The Tory hopeful defended her backing for the Liberal Democrats as a student, saying her political views had “developed” over the years.She also defended her loyalty to Boris Johnson in a later interview, telling GB News she wanted him to stay “Boris admitted he made mistakes,” she also told Today. “But the positive side of the balance sheet is extremely positive.”Truss said she would be happy to serve under Sunak if he wins the Tory leadership contest. She also hinted at jobs for Sunak and rivals if she wins the race to No 10.“We’ve had fantastic candidates present themselves, like Penny, Kemi, Tom Tugendhat and Rishi, and we need to make sure that those talents are being fully used,” she told GB News.RecommendedTruss and Sunak will try to win over the support of local politicians on Thursday morning when they take part in a private hustings for the Conservative Councillors’ Association.They will then tour the UK to take part in 12 hustings for the Tory members who will vote for their next leader, with the result being announced on 5 September. More

The two candidates to become Britain’s next prime minister began a head-to-head battle on Thursday for the votes of Conservative Party members who will choose the country’s new leader.Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is promising fiscal prudence, while Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is offering immediate tax cuts to the right-of-center governing party, which is divided and demoralized after three turbulent years under departing Prime Minister Boris Johnson.Sunak and Truss were chosen Wednesday by Conservative lawmakers, from an initial field of 11, as finalists to replace Johnson, who quit as party leader on July 7 after months of ethics scandals. He remains prime minister until his successor is chosen. The result of the party leadership contest is due on Sept. 5.Only about 180,000 Conservative Party members have a vote in choosing the country’s next leader. The rest of the U.K.’s 67 million people must watch the campaign from the sidelines, as the candidates spar in televised debates and party meetings — against a backdrop of soaring prices, growing climate extremes and war in Ukraine.The winner of the Conservative contest will not have to face British voters until 2024, unless he or she chooses to call an early general election.RecommendedOddsmakers say the favorite is Truss, who has led the U.K.’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is running as a low-tax, small-state conservative in the mold of Margaret Thatcher.In interviews Thursday, Truss said she had the “toughness” and “grit” to lead the country in troubled times.“We are in very difficult times. We need to be bold,” she told the BBC. “We cannot have business as usual for the challenge we face.”Sunak, who steered Britain’s economy through the pandemic before quitting Johnson’s government this month, also claims to wear the mantle of Thatcher, whose free-market policies transformed Britain’s economy in the 1980s. Sunak argues it would be irresponsible to slash taxes before getting inflation under control. He won the vote among party lawmakers, but his role as Britain’s chief taxman may go down less well with the Tory grassroots.Lawmaker Robert Jenrick, a Sunak supporter, said “it is the antithesis of Thatcherism to be going around making unfunded tax pledges merely to win a leadership contest.”Sunak also faces open hostility from allies of Johnson, who consider him a turncoat for quitting the government early this month, a move that helped bring down the prime minister.Johnson clung to office through months of scandals over his finances and his judgment, refusing to resign when he was fined by police over government parties that broke COVID-19 lockdown rules. He finally quit after one scandal too many — appointing a politician accused of sexual misconduct — drove his ministers to resign en masse.Recommended___Follow all of AP’s coverage of British politics at https://apnews.com/hub/boris-johnson More

Liz Truss has vowed to bring in an emergency budget to cut taxes, as the new favourite in the Tory leadership favourite criticised Rishi Sunak’s record as chancellor.The foreign secretary said Mr Sunak had pushed Britain in the “wrong direction” on taxation, and she would swiftly axe his National Insurance rise if she becomes prime minister.Mr Sunak has made his own pitch to win over the membership who will crown the winner by arguing he was the “only one” who could beat Keir Starmer’s Labour party and win an election.He also insisted he “will govern as a Thatcherite” after facing repeated criticism from the Tory right for wanting to hold off on tax cuts until after inflation is under control.Tory MPs chose the final two candidates to enter the run-off stage decided by Tory members, as trade minister Penny Mordaunt was eliminated when she came third behind Ms Truss by eight votes.Mr Sunak won 137 votes to Ms Truss’s 113. But bookmakers make the foreign secretary the the frontrunner, with early indications suggesting she is more popular with Tory members.RecommendedThe pair will try to win over the support of local politicians on Thursday morning when they take part in a private hustings for the Conservative Councillors’ Association.They will then tour the UK to take part in 12 hustings for the Tory members who will vote for their next leader, with the result being announced on 5 September.Mr Sunak claimed Ms Truss would not be able to win a general election. “Who is the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labour Party at the next election?” he said. “I believe I’m the only candidate who can do that.”Mr Sunak – who has warned against “fairytale” promises – will reportedly set out plans to cut taxes in the “medium term” after inflation begins to fall.Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Sunak insisted he “will govern as a Thatcherite” but tried to dial down the bitter attacks that have dogged the Westminster leg of the contest, saying Ms Truss is someone “I like and respect”.But in a sign the “blue on blue” attacks would remain, Sunak backer Robert Jenrick pointedly said that his candidate was “never a member of the Lib Dems” – a reference to the former party allegiance of Ms Truss.Mr Jenrick, the former housing minister who will be hoping for a return to cabinet, also told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is the antithesis of Thatcherism to be going around making unfunded tax pledges merely to win a leadership contest.”In her own pitch in the Daily Mail, Ms Truss vowed to “hit the ground running by immediately cutting taxes, growing our economy and unleashing the potential of everyone”.And she attacked the government’s tax record, which was overseen by Mr Sunak until he resigned, triggering Mr Johnson’s ultimate downfall.“We have been going in the wrong direction on tax, with the tax burden at its highest in 70 years,” she wrote. “I will move to bring in an emergency budget to get on with doing this quickly, and announce a spending review to find more efficiencies in government spending.”Tory polling guru Lord Hayward said he “genuinely” couldn’t call the race. “At the moment there is no question Liz Truss is the favourite,” he told Sky News. “But those polls [of members] have fluctuated quite dramatically.He added: “That says there a lot of people out there who haven’t decided, who haven’t got firm views one way or another.”Boris Johnson has not publicly backed any of the candidates to replace him, but his most loyal allies have come out for Ms Truss. And in his final PMQs, he took a swipe at Mr Sunak, his former chancellor.Mr Johnson said: “Cut taxes and deregulate wherever you can and make this the greatest place to live and invest, which it is.”RecommendedFormer No 10 strategist Dominic Cummings claimed the PM quietly supported Truss’ campaign because he “knows she’s mad and thinks she’ll blow and he can make a comeback”.Cummings said his former boss’s immediate priority was stopping Sunak. But he added: “He knows Truss is mad as a box of snakes and is thinking, ‘There’s a chance she blows, there’s another contest and I can return’.” More

Bookings of UK musicians at the EU’s biggest festivals have crashed by 45 per cent, in the starkest evidence yet of the damage from the Brexit trade deal.The agreement – which inflicted punishing costs and red tape by removing visa-free touring – is being blamed for the huge slump in appearances at the events in Spain, Hungary and Germany.At last week’s Benicassim alternative music festival, near Valencia, just 14 UK artists played – down from an average of 24 between 2017 and 2019, the figures show.Likewise, at next month’s Sziget Festival in Budapest, only 18 UK acts are booked to appear, compared with an average of 25 in the three years before Brexit.And only four British artists are scheduled to play at the Lollapalooza festival in Berlin in September – down from 11 across the period between 2017 and 2019.RecommendedBest for Britain, the internationalist campaign group which researched the statistics, said they were evidence of the “dud Brexit deal”, now festivals are recovering from the Covid pandemic.“The Beatles famously made their name in Europe and it’s on tour that many musicians gain the formative experiences and audiences they need to take off, said Naomi Smith, its chief executive.“Our government has not only robbed emerging British talent of these opportunities abroad, but has also made international acts think twice before including Glasgow or London in their European tours.”Deborah Annetts, head of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, said the figures underlined how, for festival organisers, British bands are “at the bottom of your list due to new barriers created”.She added: “Whoever ends up replacing Boris Johnson must commit to removing this needless bureaucracy which is stifling the prosperity and creativity of the next generation of British musicians.”The loss of bookings at the major festivals will fuel ongoing fears about the plight of musicians losing the chance to further their careers, after the Brexit deal broke a promise to save visa-free touring.The Independent revealed how the UK rejected an EU offer of a “mobility” agreement, leaving artists mired in red tape. No effort has been made to begin fresh talks with Brussels.Instead, ministers have made “misleading” claims about the costs and paperwork involved – despite Mr Johnson’s public vow to “fix” the crisis, made more than a year ago.It was revealed that a production of Phantom of the Opera was brought in from China to tour the EU, because Brexit red tape made it too “expensive” to use a British one.RecommendedElton John has led criticism of the betrayal of musicians, while the rock band White Lies attacked the “appalling” Brexit customs rules which saw them forced to cancel a performance in Paris after equipment was seized.David Frost, who negotiated the agreement, admitted it had been a mistake not to compromise with the EU and called for a rethink – but ministers have failed to budge. More

MPs reacted with incredulity when an HM Passport Office executive said that 55,000 applications are delayed beyond the 10-week stretch that prospective travellers are advised to allow.Thomas Greig, director of passports, citizenship and civil registration was answering questions from members of the Home Affairs Select Committee.The committee chair, Labour’s Dame Diana Johnson, said MPs’ offices had been “inundated with people who are struggling to get their passports”.HM Passport Office is processing record numbers of passports since international travel restrictions were lifted by the UK in March 2022.Mr Greig said that one in 10 of the 550,000 passport applications currently pending had been with HM Passport Office for over the 10-week allowance for processing.Recommended“I have to say I’m fairly shocked at those figures you’ve just described,” said Dame Diana.“That is completely unacceptable.“This is not rocket science, is it? I’ve looked back at the experience in the Passport Office over the last 10 years.“There’s been criticism from the National Audit Office of your ability to project and plan.“Why have you failed so miserably?”Mr Greig said: “We have achieved record output and we have produced more passports than we ever have.“So a lot of our planning was directed towards that.“We’ve brought in increased numbers of staff to deal with these applications.“There have been a smaller proportion of applicants for whom it has taken longer than we would have liked.“We have put measures in place so they could contact us and where they do need their passport urgently we are able to provide it.”MPs have access to a special passport unit in Portcullis House, where the hearing took place, as well as a special Home Office telephone link.But Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said: “We don’t see our staff very much these days because they’re sitting in queues in the passport unit here or they’re permanently on the telephone.“The productivity of most MPs’ offices has gone down extraordinarily, more than anything else I have ever known in 25 years in parliament, because we are dealing with constituents who are desperate to get their passports that they applied for 10 weeks or more before.”In February 2018 the then-immigration minister, Caroline Nokes, told parliament: “We currently process 99.9 per cent of straightforward applications within three weeks, and on average, customers making a non-priority application can expect their passport to be issued seven working days after the application is made.”In April 2021, the normal three-week processing time for a renewal or new passport was extended to 10 weeks.Around half of the overdue passport applications are “available to decision-makers” – ie in a position to be issued, rather than awaiting further information or documentation.The chair also said the committee was “incredibly disappointed” at the absence of a representative of Teleperformance – the French service company that operates the Passport Adviceline.She said: “We think this is extremely out of order that they have not found time to come and be scrutinised at this committee.“They have a contract with the Home Office, and I hope the Home Office will be making it very clear that not attending a select committee is something that is not right and that they should make themselves available when we have asked to question them.Recommended“I hope, Mr Greig, you will take that message back.”Earlier, Simon Clark, chief secretary to the Treasury, told the BBC Today programme: “If you look now at the situation with, for example, passports, there is clear evidence that the Home Office is now totally on top of that situation, and that the long backlogs that were seen with that explosion of demand as people returned to travel are now abating.” More