Boris Johnson has warned the Tories are "staring down the barrel now of political extinction" over Brexit ahead of a hustings before voting in the leadership contest gets underway.
The frontrunner told Reuters that the party faced being wiped out unless the referendum result was delivered by 31 October, with or without a Brexit deal.
Elsewhere, his rival Jeremy Hunt made a humiliating u-turn over his calls to overturn the ban on fox hunting, which were branded "cruel" by Tory MPs.
To follow events as they unfolded, see our live coverage below
The Tory leadership contest is entering a crucial phase, as ballots are being sent to members over the coming days. While the contest does not end until 22 July - with a new PM announced the next day - members are widely expected to cast their votes over the next few days.
Bear this in mind when considering the actions of both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt over the next few days.
A great example is Hunt's sudden support for overturning the ban on fox hunting, which is likely to go down a storm with the Tory grassroots.
Elsewhere, Boris Johnson has given an punchy interview to Reuters, where he warned the Tories were facing wipeout if they fail to deliver on Brexit.
He said: “I don’t think that parliament is going to want to stop Brexit. Don’t forget we are staring down the barrel now of political extinction, the Conservative Party, it is very difficult situation unless we get this thing over the line. What I want is a sensible Brexit that is supported by both sides of the channel but we have got to come out by October 31 and get it done, get it done by then at the latest.
“Don’t forget that only a couple of weeks ago parliament actually opted not to vote for such a proposal. I think that MPs will look at their responsibilities in a spirit of maturity and restraint and consider our wider duty to the electorate who we asked to vote on EU membership and we agreed to respect that result."
Jeremy Hunt has carried out a humiliating U-turn just hours after pledging to bring back fox hunting, saying: “This is not something I will seek to change as prime minister.”
The foreign secretary backtracked after his proposal – widely seen as a desperate attempt to woo Tory members – met with a storm of criticism, including from Conservative MPs.
“The law is not going to change on fox-hunting. There isn’t a majority in the House of Commons, I don’t see there ever being one,” he said.
Jeremy Hunt has said there is "no reason" why Britain cannot continue to have good relations with China, despite an escalation of the dispute over Hong Kong.
In his Today programme interview, the foreign secretary refused to outline what sanctions he could impose on China, after the country's ambassador in London was reprimanded by the UK's top diplomat.
The Foreign Office and Beijing have been involved in a spat following a call from Mr Hunt not to use the protests in Hong Kong as a "pretext for repression".
China's foreign ministry hit back and ambassador Liu Xiaoming lambasted the UK Government over its approach.
But Mr Hunt said: "We have good relations with China... there's no reason why that can't continue.
"But, for us, it is very important that the 'one country, two systems' approach is honoured."
Asked to spell out what the consequences might be, he said: "No foreign secretary would ever spell out precisely what would happen in a situation like that - you need what Bill Clinton called strategic ambiguity.
"The reason that you wouldn't spell it out is because you don't want to provoke the very situation you are trying to avoid.
"I'm not saying anything about what those consequences might be - that would not be the right thing for me to do as Foreign Secretary, because, of course, you keep your options open.
"But I am making the point that the United Kingdom views this situation very, very seriously."
An FCO source said Mr Liu had been hauled in for a meeting on Wednesday with Foreign Office chief Sir Simon McDonald, the head of the diplomatic service, following the "unacceptable and inaccurate" comments from China's ministry of foreign affairs.
The turmoil in Hong Kong has seen protesters storm parliament and raise the old British colonial flag in the legislative chamber on the 22nd anniversary of the territory's return to Chinese rule on July 1.
Brexit secretary Steve Barclay has told Sky News that he cannot rule out a recession in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
"As a former Treasury minister no one can ever rule out what could happen in the future," he said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is calling on business to use its influence with Conservative Party members to raise the alarm about the “hardline and irresponsible” no-deal Brexit positions being taken by the two leadership contenders.
In a speech to the CBI today, the Labour mayor will say that the contest to succeed Theresa May as prime minister has descended into a "bizarre contest to see which man will promise the most economically damaging plans".
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The government is planning to again delay the legal requirement to call elections in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley is seeking to push back the end of August deadline amid deadlock between the political parties.
The latest talks, which were established following the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry in April, appears to have stalled.
Power-sharing at Stormont collapsed in 2017, leaving Northern Ireland without a functioning executive.
With the politically sensitive summer marching season approaching its height, a time period not considering conducive for striking compromises, the prospects of consensus emerging in the coming weeks appear slim.
Over the last two months, there has been little evidence of any movement on key logjams preventing a return of Stormont, such as Irish language protections and the ban on same sex marriage.
Mrs Bradley is tabling legislation at Westminster to extend the deadline by which she will have a legal duty to call an election.
She had already extended what was a March deadline to the end of August.
In comments which will be seen as a veiled swipe at Boris Johnson’s readiness to take the UK out of the EU without a deal against the wishes of a majority of Scots, Ms May will say that she expects her successor to make the the union “their priority”.
Pro-EU MP Anna Turley has accused Tories of "blithely discussing plans for a destructive no-deal" after the Brexit secretary said he could not rule out a recession in the event of such an outcome.
Ms Turley, who backs the People's Vote campaign, said: “It is outrageous that Steve Barclay can sit in his plush Whitehall office and tell us there will be disruption in the event of a destructive No Deal, as though it was on a par with rain on a school sports day or wasps at a family picnic.
“The livelihoods of millions of people are at stake while the likes of Barclay or the two contenders for the Conservative leadership blithely discuss plans for a destructive No Deal.
“If they allow such an outcome, the economic and social chaos that will follow will be hung round the Conservatives’ necks for a generation to come.
"Backing No Deal might help win this leadership contest, but it is a simple issue of democracy that the whole country should get a final say on Brexit – not just the 0.25 per cent of the population who are members of the Conservative Party.”
Responding to Mr Barclay’s comment, Theresa May’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister has been clear that in the event of no-deal, there would be disruption.
“But she has also said that we were making preparations to keep that disruption to a minimum and that work is ongoing.”
A health minister has branded Boris Johnson’s plan to review the sugar tax “bollocks”, as Tory infighting broke out over the threat to the anti-obesity levy.
Caroline Dinenage lashed out after Treasury minister Liz Truss, a prominent Johnson supporter, claimed that scrapping the tax would “help Britain's poorest”.
In a single-word tweet, Ms Dinenage said “Bollocks” – before going on to point out that the tax was already succeeding in persuading firms to cut sugar levels in their drinks.
The SNP's Pete Wishart suggested a Commons debate on fox hunting and jokingly pondered whether the Conservatives also want to talk about reintroducing child chimney sweeps and workhouses.
Speaking at business questions, he told the Commons: "Can we have the foreign secretary to introduce this (debate) before this particular fox is shot?
"Maybe when we're through with that we could have some legislation to reintroduce the 'Children Up Chimneys Act', when we're through with that maybe we can have a bill to reintroduce workhouses and then move on to the dunking of witches, such is the great offerings we have from a Tory leadership contest to keep us up-to-date with the modern zeitgeist."
Boris Johnson's pledge to recruit 20,000 more police officers would not solve the mounting problems with crime and violence that the UK faces, a watchdog has said.
Sir Thomas Winsor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said keeping the public safe was “not just about police numbers”.
At a briefing with journalists on Thursday, he said Mr Johnson's proposals were “not the most efficient and effective way of spending £1.1bn on policing”.
