UK politics: Badenoch confirms she did criticise Sunak over election at shadow cabinet – as it happened

Rishi Sunak and Kemi Badenoch pictured in the Commons last year Photograph: Jessica Taylor/UK PARLIAMENT/AFP/Getty Images

5.50pm BST

Afternoon summary

• Almost half of Conservative grassroots members are in favour of a merger with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, according to a poll, with Kemi Badenoch the favourite to be the next party leader.

• Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, has challenged Badenoch to say whether she really did tell a shadow cabinet meeting she thought Braverman was having a public nervous breakdown. She also criticised Badenoch for being willing to criticise Rishi Sunak’s leadership now when she did not do so before the election. (See 3.47pm and 5.16pm.)

• Keir Starmer is at the Nato summit in Washingon where he has met President Biden. Later today they are due to have a proper bilateral at the White House.

There is further coverage of the Nato summit on our summit live blog.

5.36pm BST

Suella Braverman has also criticised Kemi Badenoch for not criticising Rishi Sunak in public ahead of the election. As Charles Hymas reports in the Telegraph, in another response to what Badenoch said about her at shadow cabinet (see 5.16pm), Braverman critcised Badenoch for not speaking about where Sunak was taking the party in the way that Braverman herself did after she was sacked as home secretary. Braverman said:

What Kemi says about me says something about her too. I don’t think she’s going to see what that is any time soon, though …

The people who enabled [Sunak] before, by saying nothing, are on great form now. You’re going to get tired of how beautifully that barn door is closed now.