Starmer rejects Badenoch’s claim Labour is ‘clueless’ and urges Tories to apologise for the ‘mess they made’ – as it happened

Keir Starmer and education secretary Bridget Phillipson during a visit to Perry Hall primary school in Orpington, south east London. Photograph: Richard Pohle/The Times/PA

6.10pm BST

Early evening summary

• Two frontrunners to be Conservative party leader have criticised their rivals’ promises to leave the European court of human rights (ECHR) as the contest turns combative with days to go until the first MP is eliminated. As Peter Walker reports, Kemi Badenoch, the former business secretary, and James Cleverly, the former home secretary, both rejected the idea of leaving the ECHR on Monday despite calls from some of their colleagues to do so. Badenoch is generally seen by bookmakers as the favourite, and her launch was praised by commentators. (See 3.12pm.)

• Conservative politicians have started to be seen as “weird”, and few members of the public – even including the party’s own voters – are able to identify the Tory leadership candidates, research suggests.

• The UK has moved to immediately suspend 30 arms export licences to Israel after a review by the new Labour government found a “clear risk” that UK arms may be used in serious violation of humanitarian law relating to the treatment of Palestinian detainees and the supply of aid to Gaza.

• Jeremy Corbyn is to form an official parliamentary alliance with four independent MPs who were elected on pro-Gaza platforms – issuing a call for more MPs to join.

• A childminder who is married to a Conservative councillor is facing a “substantial” prison sentence after she admitted stirring up racial hatred with an inflammatory social media post.

• Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has criticised Cleverly for his comments in parliament this afternoon on the racist rioting that took place last month. Responding to a Commons statement by Cooper about the disorder, Cleverly asked her to accept that the sight of Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner taking the knee at the time of the Black Lives Matter protests, “when violent protesters attacked police officers”, made it look as if some forms of violence were less serious than others. Cooper suggested it was foolish to blame something that happened four years ago for the rioting this summer, and she argued that Cleverly was just making these claims to boost his chances in the Tory leadership contest.

5.52pm BST

Some Tory MPs are more critical of David Lammy’s announcement about some arms sales to Israel being suspended than Andrew Mitchell, the shadow foreign secretary, was. (See 5.34pm.) This is from Oliver Dowden, the former deputy PM.

Very concerned by Labour government decision to suspend some arms export licences to Israel just days after six hostages murdered by Hamas. As MP for Hertsmere I will always support Israel’s right to self defence.

— Oliver Dowden (@OliverDowden) September 2, 2024

Very concerned by Labour government decision to suspend some arms export licences to Israel just days after six hostages murdered by Hamas. As MP for Hertsmere I will always support Israel’s right to self defence.

Updated at 10.13am BST