Here’s more on the byelection remain pact:
But that’s it from me.
Summary
Here’s a summary of what learned from the Darlington hustings:
- Boris Johnson has denied a BBC report that he was kept away from intelligence briefings. “It’s not true,” he said and added: “I am extremely dubious about the provenance of this story.”
- Jeremy Hunt refused to comment on the story. He said: “We have the finest intelligence services in the world, but that does depend on some discretion by the foreign secretary”
- Johnson said he could have more money outside politics as an example of where he had put the national interest above his own self interest. “It is obviously possible to make more money by not being a full time politician. You have to make sacrifices sometimes,” he said.
- Johnson defended free speech and in his public gaffes. He said: “When people say you are making a gaffe, what you are doing is saying something true and necessary.” He added: “I deplore xenophobia and hate speech but I do think we should be able to speak our minds frankly without the fear that we’re going to get our heads bitten off.”
- Johnson claimed he was never in favour of the Conservative austerity programme and resisted David Cameron’s plan for an austerity Olympics. “That not the stuff to give the troops,” Johnson claimed he told Cameron.
- Jeremy Hunt said austerity “went too far” on cuts to policing and social care. But he said this was only with the benefit of hindsight.
- Hunt pleaded with MPs not to take a no-deal off the table in Brexit negotiations. “The best way to get a deal is to leave no-deal on the table,” he said. Earlier the chancellor warned Hunt and Johnson that parliament would find a way of blocking no deal.
- In a pointed dig at his rival Hunt said he thought about the British Iranian Nazanin Zeghari-Ratcliffe every day she is jail. Her family claimed she was put at greater risk when Johnson falsely claimed she was in Iran to train journalists.
- Hunt made new promises on immigration and the environment. He promised to reconsider the £30,000 salary level as too high for business. And he suggested a national programme for installing electric car charging points.
- John Major has backed Hunt’s campaign for leadership of the party. “We need a serious leader for serious times,” he told the BBC.
And that’s it from Darlington. I’ll post a summary soon. In the meantime, Downing Street has played down reports that Johnson was shut out of intelligence briefings.
Asked whether the PM had trusted Boris Johnson, a spokeswoman for Theresa May said she had done.
— Helena Wilkinson (@BBCHelenaLee) July 5, 2019
“It is a matter of fact that it was the PM’s own decision to appoint Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary in full knowledge of all the responsibility that that job involves”.
On austerity Hunt admitted that cuts went too far on police funding and social care.
Jeremy Hunt says Cameron and Oborne's austerity programme "went too far" in some areas, with benefit of hindsight. He cites police numbers and social care as two areas worst hit by austerity.
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) July 5, 2019
Q: Would a no-deal Brexit ruin the Conservative’s reputation as the party of business?
Hunt: We are the party of business but also the party that respects democracy. This is a country where politicians do what people tell them. We are going to leave the EU and make it a tremendous success.
Q: Name a policy to improve the environment.
Hunt: We have to show young people that we are true Conservatives by leaving the planet in a cleaner state. On specifics Hunt suggests putting in charging points for electric vehicles. When installing new internet capacity he said: “Why don’t we put in electric car charging points so we get electric only car towns and cities?”
Updated
Q: Does the need to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland mean we can’t leave the EU?
Hunt: I believe their is a technological solution, but it will take time. The EU must know that the backstop will never get through parliament which is why they must discuss technological solutions.
Hunt agreed that the debate on this before the referendum was not good.
On immigration, Hunt says he would reconsider the £30,000 salary limit. He said the current limit is not good for business. He promises a royal commission on the issue.
Hunt said: “I am concerned about the £30,000 salary limit, because that is too high for the needs of many businesses.”
John Major backing Jeremy Hunt
As he answers questions from the audience, Hunt has just won the backing of John Major. “We need a serious leader for serious times,” the former prime minister told the BBC’s Hard Talk programme.
Sir John: ”I do find that many of the things that have been said by Boris Johnson and by many others to be in conflict with reality as I understand it.” He added though that he was “not here for character assassination of Boris Johnson”.
— Chris Mason (@ChrisMasonBBC) July 5, 2019
Updated
Q: When was the last time you let someone down?
Hunt says he thinks about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe every day. “I am letting down Nazanin Zeghari-Ratcliffe every day she remains in jail.”
“I’ve tried very hard to get her out, I’ve met her husband Richard Ratcliffe on several occasions, she has a daughter the same age as my daughter.”
Updated
Q: would you accept a place in Johnson’s cabinet?
Hunt: After Brexit we have to come together, which is why there will always be a place for Boris Johnson in my cabinet. I would of course be proud to serve in Boris Johnson’s cabinet.
The best way to get a deal is to leave no-deal on the table, Hunt repeats.
To Tory colleagues he said: “Please don’t take no-deal off the table”. This is loudly applauded.
Q: Is Brexit like being emancipated from Slavery?
Hunt: We need to dial down the rhetoric on all sides and be the best of friends.
Asked about Islamophobia, Hunt said “we have to root out all prejudice in our party” which is why he said he backs an inquiry into the issue.
Q: Are you confident you are seeing all intelligence briefings?
Hunt: we can’t comment on intelligence. “Sorry I’m not commenting on intelligence matters.”
“We have the finest intelligence services in the world, but that does depend on some discretion by the foreign secretary”.
Jeremy Hunt resolutely refusing to comment on the Boris intelligence story, to applause from the audience.
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) July 5, 2019
Updated
Hunt promises that he won’t take the Tories into a general election until it recruits more young people as members. He said: We could elect our own populist, or we could do better, we could elect our Jeremy.
Jeremy Hunt is up next. He starts by praising Darlington’s railway history and its current record on engineering and exporting bridges.
He said the main difference between him and Johnson is his ability to negotiate a deal, and trots out his well-worn lines about being an entrepreneur.
Johnson can’t remember the location of the sausage factory he visited yesterday, describing it as “somewhere in Yorkshire”. The audience laughs.
Asked about Tory MPs voting against whatever Brexit deal has been present to parliament, Johnson said: “I think that they’re just going to have to get used to the fact that unless we get on and do this we’re going to keep on haemorrhaging support.”
Johnson suggested he won’t accept chlorinated chicken being imported from the US after Brexit.
Boris Johnson says any future international trade deals will uphold UK’s agricultural and animal welfare standards - I.e, no chlorinated chicken. pic.twitter.com/psjnKBSn8g
— Sean Seddon (@seddonnews) July 5, 2019
Johnson claims he resisted Cameron's plan for an austerity Olympics
Johnson claims he was never a fan of austerity.
“Austerity is not a helpful term. I never liked it. I remember Dave Cameron saying he wanted an austerity Olympics and I said: ‘No way mate.’ That’s not the stuff to give the troops.”
Boris Johnson on austerity: "I never liked it. I remember Dave Cameron saying to me he wanted to have an austerity Olympics. I said 'No way mate! That's not the stuff to give the troops'."
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) July 5, 2019
Updated
Q: Should we have a written constitution to enshrine free speech?
Free speech has been protect in Britain since the 18th century, Johnson said. He added that we don’t need any protection for free speech from the EU he claims.
“I deplore xenophobia and hate speech but I do think we should be able to speak our minds frankly without the fear that we’re going to get our heads bitten off.”
Updated
On Education, Johnson described student debt as “massive Ponzi” scheme. He says wants to give young people a better chance of owning their own home.
He also claims the Conservatives are the party for a cleaner environment, which he claims is a vote winner for young people.
Asked about the fishing industry, Johnson refuses to say whether the UK will scrap the 12 mile limit. But he repeats that the UK will be taking controls of our waters.
Johnson insists he is not selfish by claiming that he could have made more money by not being a politician.
“It is obviously possible to make more money not being a politician. But you have to make sacrifices sometimes,” he said.
He claims he could have earned more by writing a book about Shakespeare.
Boris Johnson, who earns £275,000 a year from his Telegraph column and has been paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for corporate speeches, says he has made personal “sacrifices” by not leaving politics and taking a job in the private sector.
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) July 5, 2019
Slightly odd moment. Boris Johnson is asked to give an example of when he has put self-interest aside for the national interest. His answer is that he could earn more money and finish his book on Shakespeare if he wasn’t involved in politics. pic.twitter.com/AKY42GUeEZ
— Sean Seddon (@seddonnews) July 5, 2019
Updated
Johnson criticises Theresa May’s government for slipping in its preparation for a no-deal Brexit. “We sagged on our oars,” he said.
The most important thing is to prepare for a no-deal Brexit, he said.
On that BBC intelligence story Johnson said: “I am extremely dubious about the provenance of this story”.
Asked about gaffes, Johnson says: “When people say you are making a gaffe, what you are doing is saying something true and necessary.”
Johnson denies he was shut out of intelligence briefings
Johnson is asked by CNN’s Hannah Vaughan Jones about a BBC report that he was kept away from intelligence briefings.
Johnson says he does not comment on intelligence maters.
But then adds: “It is not true. But I cannot comment any further on intelligence matters. I am sure the prime minister will not comment on security matters.”
Johnson repeats his joke about the ingredients for Mars bars but adds a local reference to parmos.
I can’t remember the last time I turned on a TV and Boris Johnson wasn’t telling his “where there’s a will there’s a whey” joke
— Jane Merrick (@janemerrick23) July 5, 2019
BREAKING: Boris Johnson says “there will be parmos” in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Middlesborough crowd are delighted.
— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) July 5, 2019
Johnson begins by lamenting the Conservative’s standing in the polls. He says he can’t remember when the party last sank to 9%, but claims this the dark before the dawn.
Boris Johnson will be up first in Darlington. He will give a speech and then be interviewed. Jeremy Hunt will then go through the same formula. Once again there will be no head-to-head debate.
Boris Johnson has arrived at the Darlington Hippodrome in time for the latest hustings, according to the local Northern Echo’s live blog of event.
“It’s a north-east Tory who’s who”, according to the Echo’s Chris Lloyd.
We’re about to get under way here in the beautiful Darlington Hippodrome. Boris Johnson has arrived but I haven’t seen Jeremy Hunt yet. pic.twitter.com/hjV93t4LbE
— Sean Seddon (@seddonnews) July 5, 2019
Updated
Johnson has launched a new campaign video timed for the arrival in the post of ballot papers to Tory party members.
He underlines his pledge not to delay Brexit beyond the Halloween deadline.
“Kick the can and we kick the bucket”, is his chosen soundbite to the party faithful.
This election comes down to a simple choice: change, or more of the same. Please vote for me so I can deliver Brexit by 31st October, unite our country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 5, 2019
Join the team 👉 https://t.co/tGRXu94CmT pic.twitter.com/ChVlB0UlUi
Jeremy Hunt appears to have arrived by train in Darlington for this morning’s hustings. We’re not sure how Johnson is getting there but it’s only a 40 minute drive from Ripon (near where’s he was shearing sheep) to Darlington.
Great to arrive in Darlington this morning, site of the first steam railway in 1825. HS2 due to open 201 years later. Time to speed things up and get Britain moving again. pic.twitter.com/20SFPFMfMd
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 5, 2019
Boris Johnson has apologised for offending Scots, while condemning the SNP’s record in government and insisting that a no-deal Brexit is “extremely unlikely” in an interview in the Press and Journal.
Asked about a series of magazine articles in which he described being a Scottish MP as a “political disability” and said that “government by a Scot is just not conceivable”, Johnson replied:
“Of course I am sorry if people take offence at distorted quotations from old newspaper articles – but one of the things I want to make clear is that Conservatives must reach out beyond the Westminster bubble and that means not just speaking in waffle and jargon”.
He went on to accuse the SNP of using devolved power “to damage the Scottish economy: making Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK, bloating the Scottish deficit to four times that of the UK’s and desperately trying to keep Scottish fishing communities locked into the hated Common Fisheries policy”.
Boris Johnson has been shearing sheep in North Yorkshire before the hustings in Darlington today.
Meanwhile, his campaign continues retweet posts from Tory members who claim to have voted for Johnson.
Good luck @BorisJohnson #BackBoris pic.twitter.com/2dqd2FRCbK
— Ollie Davies (@osdavies) July 5, 2019
Our house, two Tory members voted for Boris today ... #backboris pic.twitter.com/2mf5zeM0i9
— Keith (@KeithKeith80) July 5, 2019
Jeremy Corbyn has accused Amazon of not paying its fair share of taxes.
The Labour leader wrote a card to the company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, to mark the 25th anniversary of Amazon’s launch.
It read: “Dear Jeff. Happy Birthday. You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. This year, pay your fair share of taxes, give your hard-working staff a pay rise and respect workers’ rights.
“Many Happy Tax Returns,
Jeremy.”
My card to @Amazon on its 25th birthday.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 5, 2019
"You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share."#Amazon #Amazon25 pic.twitter.com/8YewzxEb1K
Cable: ‘pro-remain electoral pacts now irresistible’
The outgoing LibDem leader, Vince Cable, has welcomed a pledge by the Greens and Plaid Cymru not to contest the Brecon and Radnorshire byelection next month, claiming it will open the way for more pro-remain electoral pacts.
The contest was triggered by a recall petition after the Conservative MP for the seat, Chris Davies was convicted of fiddling expenses.
Speaking to the Today programme Cable said: “The Liberal Democrats have the best opportunity to win this byelection and Plaid have got behind us endorse our candidate as have the Greens. There is strength in being together.”
Asked if the LibDems were prepared to pull their candidates in seats where Plaid and the Greens had the best chance of winning, Cable said: “Yes in principle we would be willing to do that.”
He added: “There is no narrow deal around this particular seat but it will create trust and good will, we will reciprocate in an appropriate way. We have no difficulty with that. We had an agreement with the Greens at the last general election - they didn’t contest my seat and we didn’t contest the Green’s seat in Brighton. And that kind of thing could now happen much more widely given the strength of feeling about Brexit.”
Cable said he had consulted the two candidates competing to succeed him, Jo Swinson and Ed Davey, about the move. He said: “They will have to endorse the strategy going forward but we’ve had a careful process of consultation. The political logic of what’s happening is irresistible.”
But Cable ruled out electoral deals with the Labour Party even if moved to back a second referendum. Cable said: “The Labour party is way off the map where this is concerned. They have been so ambiguous for so long and sat on the fence. There is no possibility of an agreement with the Labour party.”
Updated
Theresa May is heading for Poland on what is expected to her last foreign trip as prime minister.
She is expected to tell delegates as the Western Balkans summit to work together to tackle organised crime.
According to PA she is set to say crimes including money laundering, human and drugs trafficking, weapons trading, cyber-attacks and terrorism threaten lives in the UK and undermine security and stability in the Western Balkans.
“There is no doubt that serious and organised crime and corruption are security challenges we all face across Europe,” she will tell the summit.
“They can only be tackled by strong international cooperation.”
Back home, five former top police officers in Britain have attacked May’s record on crime, saying that “resources drained to dangerously low levels” have contributed to a “feeling of lawlessness” and saying confidence in the police has to be urgently restored.
A letter to the Times signed by Lord Condon, Lord Stevens, Lord Blair, Sir Paul Stephenson and Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, says: “The reduction of police and support staff by more than 30,000, the virtual destruction of neighbourhood policing and the inadvisable undermining of lawful police powers such as stop and search, have taken their toll. Common sense suggests that these factors have contributed to the feeling of lawlessness generated by knife murders and ‘county lines’ drugs.”
Speaking to LBC Stevens said:
“Theresa May’s departure from number 10 will hopefully mark an end to the dark period of policing, where quite frankly, relationship between the government and police officers are an all time low. We know what the situation is on the streets, and we really do need something done about it, and done about it now.
“We witnessed a complete breakdown of trust and confidence between her and overworked police officers.”
Welcome to a Friday instalment of Politics Live at a crucial juncture in the Tory leadership race.
Most of the 160,000 Tory members will now have received their ballot papers and many will be voting over the weekend. The two contenders, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, are due to take part in four leadership hustings in the next two days. The first is in Darlington at 10.30am today, before Johnson and Hunt head to Perth for the only hustings in Scotland, at 7pm.
Ringing in Hunt and Johnson’s ears will be a parting shot from the chancellor Philip Hammond.
Speaking to Nick Robinson’s Political Thinking podcast, Hammond warned them that they won’t be able to take the UK out of the EU without a deal, because Parliament will block such an outcome.
Hammond predicted he would be sacked by whoever wins the contest but appears determined to scupper a no-deal Brexit, which both candidates have refused to rule out.
He said:
“The House Commons has been clear already that it does not support a no-deal exit. That is my position and as a backbencher I will continue to argue against a no deal exit.
Let me quote the speaker, who has said if the Commons is determined to do something, he’s quite sure it will find a way. I am quite confident that the House of Commons will find a way — and indeed should be able to find a way, because this is a parliamentary democracy, and it would be frankly rather shocking if the House of Commons, the elected representatives of the people, could be simply sidelined.”
'It would be frankly shocking if the House of Commons could be simply sidelined' - @PhilipHammondUK warns against pursuing a no deal Brexit against the wishes of the Commons
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) July 5, 2019
🎧 Political Thinking with @BBCNickRobinson
[Tap to expand] https://t.co/djnDSWwkW7 pic.twitter.com/OmTpYpJdUq
