Summary
The Tory leadership campaign has now officially ended as voting closed at 5pm BST. The winner of the contest – and the next prime minister of the UK – will be announced on Monday.
Here is a round-up of the day’s top headlines:
Boris Johnson has been accused of trying to “intimidate and bully” an inquiry into claims he misled MPs over Downing Street parties, after No 10 took the highly unusual step of commissioning a senior QC to scrutinise the legal basis for the process. The opinion, by the crossbench peer David Pannick, argued that the Commons committee on privileges and standards was “proposing to adopt an unfair procedure” in examining allegations that Johnson falsely told the Commons he knew nothing about lockdown-breaking gatherings.
Mark Elliot, a professor of public law at the University of Cambridge, pointed out that much of the criticism Pannick makes of the privileges committee is inapplicable because they refer to legal standards, rather than parliamentary process.
Johnson has also been criticised for appointing a “leading crony” to help oversee the appointment of new peers to the House of Lords. The writer and journalist Harry Mount, the author of The Wit And Wisdom Of Boris Johnson, will take up the role on the House of Lords Appointments Commission from 11 September.
Sadiq Khan has described an official review into the resignation of Cressida Dick as head of the Metropolitan police as “clearly biased” after it concluded the commissioner “felt intimidated” into stepping down from her post in February. The review states Khan did not follow due process in actions which prompted her departure, and tried to push Dick into firing every officer involved in the Charing Cross scandal after the police watchdog’s findings, a claim Khan denies.
Cost of living support from the government will need to extend into 2023 to help defeat the tactics used by Vladimir Putin, according to the chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi. Such an approach is needed to send a “very clear message” to the Russian president that his strategy is not going to work, Zahawi added.
Extinction Rebellion said a group of about 50 people were involved in the “non-violent” action at the Palace of Westminster. They said three people booked on an official tour of the building glued themselves in a chain around the Speaker’s chair inside the Commons chamber, PA Media reported.
A cabinet minister and a high-ranking aide at 10 Downing Street continued to work in Boris Johnson’s government despite allegations of sexual misconduct against them, according to reports. Two women have given first-hand accounts of what they claim happened to them when one was assaulted and the other groped by political figures, both now in senior roles.
Neither of the candidates for leadership of the Conservative party has made a convincing pitch to rural voters, despite that demographic being one of the biggest sources of Tory power, the head of the UK’s biggest rural business organisation said. Mark Tufnell, president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents about 30,000 landowners and rural businesses, said Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak had done too little to show how they would boost the countryside economy and deal with pressing concerns such as planning, rural broadband, and farm support.
Rishi Sunak is not “cut and dried” but probably “neck and neck” with Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race, according to one Conservative MP. Kevin Hollinrake, a supporter of the former chancellor and MP for Thirsk and Malton, told Sky News: “I’ve seen some of the polls and national polls. I think it’s quite hard for pollsters to determine who is a Conservative member and who is not because there’s not an open database.”
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the UK politics live blog for today. Thanks for following along. Goodnight.
Updated
At Conservative leadership hustings events over the summer Liz Truss supporters have waved placards and sported T-shirts emblazoned with “In Liz we Truss”.
But the faith of Tory party members in the likely next prime minister is far from being reflected across the UK more broadly.
When, as expected, Truss enters No 10 next week to find an in-tray spilling over with difficult issues, the lack of trust in her office will be among the knottiest to resolve.
In recent decades politicians, not least because of Tory sleaze in the 1990s and the MPs’ expenses scandal in 2009, have enjoyed less than the full confidence of the public.
Trust in British democracy and the state has plummeted to new depths under Boris Johnson with his rejection of the normal conventions of government.
When he won a landslide victory in 2019 his relaxed relationship with the truth was already well known – but enough voters were willing to set that aside in return for his boosterism and Brexit promises, and because they didn’t like the alternative of Jeremy Corbyn.
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak said he had been “humbled” to meet Conservative activists throughout the summer in a final message an hour before polls close in the Tory leadership contest.
In a statement, he said:
I have been humbled to meet so many thousands of our brilliant members and activists over the past six weeks.
This is a critical election for our country and for the future of the Conservative party, as we eye a historic fifth term in government.
We face huge challenges ahead, but also huge opportunities. I know what it takes to get through challenging times. I did it as chancellor and I will do it again as prime minister.
Updated
As the final day of voting in the Tory leadership race comes to a close, the frontrunner Liz Truss spoke of her admiration of of the party’s membership.
She will find out on Monday if she has beaten the former chancellor Rishi Sunak in her bid to win the contest and become the next British prime minister.
In a statement on Friday, she said:
It has been fantastic meeting and speaking to thousands of members across the whole of the UK over the last six weeks. Our members make our party great, and I would like to thank all the volunteers who have helped along the way.
I believe in a brighter and better future for Britain. I have a bold plan that will grow our economy and deliver higher wages, more security for families and world-class public services. I’ll do this by cutting taxes, pushing through supply-side reform and slashing red tape that is holding businesses back.
If I am elected prime minister, I will never let anyone talk us down and I will do everything in my power to make sure our great nation succeeds.
Updated
Extinction Rebellion activists superglued themselves to the Speaker’s chair in the Commons chamber on Friday.
The climate activists said they carried out the protest to voice their support for a ‘citizens’ assembly’.
Cost of living support from the government will need to extend into 2023 to help defeat the tactics used by Vladimir Putin, according to Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi.
Such an approach is needed to send a “very clear message” to the Russian president that his strategy is not going to work, Zahawi added.
Speaking at a Policy Exchange event in London, Zahawi said of forthcoming support:
You target the help, we need to target those families, those households, who literally have no headroom at all.
Now, the £37 billion that we are midway through delivering will help so that everyone getting £400 off their energy bills will deal with about 50% of the new energy price cap rise between October and December, but that only delivers between October and December, we need to look at January and then beyond that.
Why? Because I think we need to send a very clear message to Mr Putin that this strategy is not going to work, that we are going to be resilient, we’re going to put help into households and to businesses so the targeting, I think, is the right approach.
Zahawi said there is also a need to deal with consumption, explaining:
We’re working up options for the incoming prime minister to be able to hit the ground running, to be able to make some of those decisions.
Not allowing the Commons inquiry to investigate whether Boris Johnson corrected the record over his Partygate denials would amount to a cover-up, the shadow leader of the House of Commons has said.
Thangam Debbonaire told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme:
This current prime minister needs to be able to show – and the investigation’s got to be free to investigate this – that he corrected the record at the earliest possible opportunity.
Otherwise, I’m afraid to say, it just looks like the sleaze and the lies and the cover-ups that people have described it as.
Asked about Johnson’s allies’ argument that he did not intentionally mislead MPs, she said the job of the cross-party select committee inquiry, which has a Tory majority and will be conducted by “very experienced parliamentarians”, is to check that.
“We can’t just take the word of allies,” she said. “This is not just a niche thing, it’s about trust, it’s about truth, I’m afraid to say it’s about a prime minister who just seems not to care that much about any of that.”
Meanwhile, the Welsh secretary, Sir Robert Buckland, denied allegations by some allies of Johnson that the Commons committee investigating his Partygate denials has deliberately chosen its terms to ensure the prime minister is found guilty.
Asked if he believed the claims, the former justice secretary told World at One:
No, I don’t. As a former member of the privileges committee, I can attest to their independence, the quality of the clerks who advise them.
He said he would advise the new prime minister against “any suggestion that somehow the committee should be impeded or prevented from carrying out its inquiry”.
Updated
Mark Elliot, a professor of public law at the University of Cambridge, has pointed out that much of the criticism Pannick makes of the privileges committee is inapplicable because they refer to legal standards, rather than parliamentary process.
You can read the full thread here:
I find this opinion on the Johnson Privileges Committee matter very odd. Much of it is concerned with the fact that the Committee's process may not adhere to legal standards that are wholly inapplicable to a political, parliamentary process. /1 https://t.co/wkl86XXMvA
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) September 2, 2022
The opinion notes near its outset that decisions by the Committee are not subject to judicial review, claiming that if they were, a court would find against the Committee. /2 pic.twitter.com/uncbiT8Qun
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) September 2, 2022
However, this understates matters in crucial respects. The fact that the Committee is not subject to judicial review is no mere happenstance: it is a matter of basic, and sound, constitutional principle that proceedings are not subject to judicial oversight. /3
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) September 2, 2022
After a little over 1,100 days of Covid briefings and Dominic Cummings, Brexit deals and booze-filled suitcases, the lurching big dipper ride that was Boris Johnson’s prime ministership is finally drawing to a close.
Since he was forced to quit, many Conservative party members have bemoaned his resignation, and his supporters in the media have glossed over the many calamities of his premiership to declare him a “great leader”.
Here we remember (some of) the significant points of his time in Downing Street – and how the accumulation of mishaps and mistakes finally led his own party to force him out.
Updated
Chris Bryant accused Boris Johnson of 'trying to intimidate' the committee
The Labour MP Chris Bryant has said that Boris Johnson is “trying to intimidate” the committee investigating him over Partygate, and says that Pannick’s opinion is “bizarre” and has no formal status.
You can read the Bryant’s full twitter thread below.
You would have thought that @BorisJohnson would want to clear his name in front of the Privileges Committee instead of trying to intimidate it. Lord Pannick’s bizarre ‘opinion’ has no formal status and is wrong on several counts. Firstly, he fails to mention that
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) September 2, 2022
Updated
Among the criticism Lord Pannick makes of the standards and privileges committee’s inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled parliament over Partygate, the report states:
The committee is proposing to apply an unfair procedure in that it says it may well not tell Johnson the identity of witnesses whose evidence may be relied on to establish a contempt of the House
The committee has failed to recognise that a fair procedure requires that Johnson should be able to be represented at a hearing before the committee by his counsel.
The committee has failed to recognise that a fair procedure also requires that Johnson should be able, through his counsel, to cross-examine any witness whose evidence is relied on to establish a contempt of the House.
You can read the full summary of the report here.
Updated
From the Guardian’s political correspondent Peter Walker:
Chris Bryant, former chair of the committee privileges committee, tells me Pannick has fundamentally misunderstood the inquiry, and that the legal opinion is an attempt by No 10 to "intimidate and bully" the committee.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) September 2, 2022
Government publishes Lord Pannick report claiming Partygate inquiry is 'flawed' and 'unfair'
The government has now published the report by Lord Pannick, which argues that the inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled parliament over Partygate is “unfair” and “fundamentally flawed”.
You can read the full report here. In one key extract it says:
“In our opinion, the Committee is proposing to adopt an approach to the substantive issues which is wrong in principle in important respects, and the Committee is also proposing to adopt an unfair procedure.”
It later says there are six ares where the inquiry is “proposing to adopt a fundamentally flawed approach”.
We will report more details shortly.
Updated
This morning, the Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake told Sky News twice that “the key thing is the word ‘intentionally’” when it came to the privileges committee’s investigation into Boris Johnson’s Partygate claims in parliament.
He said: “I think the key thing is here is the word ‘intentionally’. It’s not whether the prime minister or any other minister misled parliament. It’s whether there was an intention to do that, and that’s what the privileges committee is going to look at, if it decides to go down this route, which I think it is. And then will report accordingly.”
But before Hollinrake made his comments to the broadcaster, the standards committee chair, Chris Bryant, who recused himself from the privileges committee’s inquiry, told BBC Radio 4’s Today that “the question has never been knowingly or deliberately misled”. Instead, the question of intent and whether Johnson knowingly misled parliament will be considered as exacerbating factors in identifying a contempt of parliament and how serious it would be.
“If you have misled the house and choose not to correct the record when you then know subsequently that you have got it wrong – and there’s a formal process for doing that, and you’re meant to do it, it says in the ministerial code, ‘at the earliest possible opportunity’ – if you do that, then your culpability gets worse,” Bryant added.
A spokesperson for the committee told The Guardian: “The three questions the committee will set out to answer are: (1) whether the House was misled; (2) if so, whether that was a contempt – which has been defined as an action or omission which may have obstructed or impeded the functioning of the House of Commons; and (3) if so, how serious was that contempt. The committee has not yet assessed the evidence nor has it prejudged any of these questions. The issue of whether the House was deliberately misled may arise under steps (2) or (3) of the committee’s inquiry.”
Updated
Extinction Rebellion said a group of about 50 people were involved in the “non-violent” action at the Palace of Westminster.
They said three people booked on an official tour of the building glued themselves in a chain around the Speaker’s chair inside the Commons chamber, PA Media reported.
The activists took turns to read a speech in support of the need for a citizens’ assembly, the group added.
Alanna Byrne, of Extinction Rebellion, said:
It is possible to change things and update politics so it really represents ordinary people.
Independent citizens’ assemblies can show that those blocking progress in Westminster have no democratic mandate to continue destroying the environment and give power back to people. Selected like a jury and supported with independent, expert knowledge, this is true democracy that reflects the diversity of the population.
But to create a new, fairer politics will require first thousands, then millions of us. It will require sustained culture-shifting civil disobedience, until we become impossible to ignore. Then, when there’s enough of us, positive change will become inevitable.
Updated
Boris Johnson has been criticised for appointing a “leading crony” to help oversee the appointment of new peers to the House of Lords.
The writer and journalist Harry Mount, the author of The Wit And Wisdom Of Boris Johnson, will take up the role on the House of Lords Appointments Commission from 11 September.
Johnson confirmed the appointment just days before he steps down as prime minister, PA Media reported. The body is responsible for vetting all nominations to the Lords.
This will include Johnson’s requests for peerages to be granted as part of the prime minister’s resignation honours.
Mount, who studied at Oxford, is the editor of The Oldie magazine and a contributor to various titles including the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and the Spectator.
In a 2007 interview, the New Yorker wrote: “At Oxford, Mount was tapped for the exclusive Bullingdon Club; he enjoys a certain notoriety for having been rolled down a hill in a portable toilet. ‘It was like coming out of Dracula’s coffin,’ he recalled, at a diner near the Met.”
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said:
This is a display of pure arrogance by Boris Johnson, putting his own leading crony in charge of stopping cronyism in parliament.
Instead of tackling the cost of living crisis facing the public, the prime minister is using his last days in office for a final desperate bid to hand out more jobs for the boys.
Far from promising long-overdue change, the Tory continuity candidates offer more of the same sleaze and self-interest that have defined their government for years.
Updated
Partygate inquiry 'flawed' and 'unfair', lawyer hired by government says – report
A lawyer hired by the government has said the inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled MPs over Partygate is “fundamentally flawed” and “unfair”, BBC News has reported.
Lord Pannick said the inquiry needed to establish “that Mr Johnson intended to mislead the House [of Commons] – that is that he knew that what he told the house was incorrect”.
Johnson, who will be replaced as prime minister next week, could be called before the privileges committee to answer questions over whether he lied to parliament later this year.
As punishment, Johnson could face being suspended from parliament or lose his seat.
While the legal opinion is heavily critical of the inquiry process, it cannot stop the committee from carrying out its inquiry.
This is increasingly odd. A series of friendly outlets (and BBC) have seemingly been sent the Pannick opinion, but No 10 are refusing to say if, and when, it will be published.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) September 2, 2022
Updated
In response to Sir Thomas Winsor’s report, former Met Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said:
Leading the Met and serving the people of London was a wonderful privilege. My first priority was always their safety. I regret this report was necessary but I hope it will help create a sounder foundation for my successors.
Sir Tom has written a highly detailed and forensic account of the circumstances surrounding my departure. He found the mayor did not follow due process and at times his behaviour was oppressive, unreasonable, entirely unacceptable and unfair.
At all times I sought to uphold the law and act ethically and with goodwill, professionalism, openness and trust. I fully respect the need for democratic oversight of policing. It is also important that politicians respect due process and do not break the rules.
I hope this report is an opportunity for others to reflect on how City Hall functions and is held to account. The Met is a fantastic police service that is admired across the world. It performs many important functions for London and the country. Its officers and staff face many challenges.
They can only succeed on a bedrock of independence and impartiality.
Meanwhile, the acting Met Police commissioner Sir Steve House has said he welcomes the report on former commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.
He said:
I welcome the publication of this report. I am pleased the home secretary was able to respond to my request for a review and I am grateful to Sir Tom Winsor for his thorough and impartial report.
Updated
Sadiq Khan says review into Cressida Dick resignation is ‘clearly biased’
Sadiq Khan has described an official review into the resignation of Cressida Dick as head of the Metropolitan police as “clearly biased” after it concluded the commissioner “felt intimidated” into stepping down from her post in February.
The review states Khan did not follow due process in actions which prompted her departure, and tried to push Dick into firing every officer involved in the Charing Cross scandal after the police watchdog’s findings, a claim Khan denies.
Dick resigned as commissioner of Britain’s biggest police force after Khan, the mayor of London, said he had lost confidence in her ability to overhaul Scotland Yard after a series of damning scandals.
Khan responded: “Londoners will be able to see that this review is clearly biased and ignores the facts.
“On the former commissioner’s watch, trust in the police fell to record lows after a litany of terrible scandals. What happened was simple – I lost confidence in the former commissioner’s ability to make the changes needed and she then chose to stand aside.
“Londoners elected me to hold the Met commissioner to account and that’s exactly what I have done. I make absolutely no apology for demanding better for London and for putting the interests of the city I love first. I will continue working with the new commissioner to reduce crime and to rebuild trust and confidence in the police.”
Updated
While we wait for more on that story, Extinction Rebellion says supporters have superglued themselves around the Speaker’s chair in the House of Commons chamber.
The campaign group tweeted a photo showing three members hand-in-hand in front of the seat while two other members held up signs.
One read “Let the people decide” and the other said “Citizens’ assembly now”.
The group wrote:
Extinction Rebellion supporters have superglued around the Speaker’s chair inside the Commons chamber.
Right now inside Parliament a speech is being read out demanding a Citizens’ assembly now: ‘We are in crisis. We can not afford to carry on like this’.
BREAKING NEWS: Extinction Rebellion supporters have superglued around the Speakers Chair inside the commons chamber.
— Extinction Rebellion UK 🌍 (@XRebellionUK) September 2, 2022
Right now inside Parliament a speech is being read out demanding a Citizens' Assembly Now: “We are in crisis. We can not afford to carry on like this..." pic.twitter.com/JqKBasRaCH
Updated
It appears the legal opinion from Lord Pannick on the standards committee report into Boris Johnson may have been sent to some media outlets.
Our political correspondent Peter Walker tweeted that Downing Street is failing to answer questions on if it has been published and, if so, where it can be found.
Some media outlets seem to have been sent the Pannick legal opinion. But as far as I can tell it has not been published, and No 10 are not replying to questions about where it is.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) September 2, 2022
More on this as we get it.
Updated
Tour on PM's plane a 'blatant misuse of taxpayers' money', says Labour
Labour has accused the government of blatantly misusing taxpayers’ money after reports emerged that Whitehall officials took a £50,000 sightseeing tour of the UK onboard the prime minister’s official plane.
It is understood a number of Foreign Office officials boarded the government jet on Wednesday, and that “the usual catering” for a flight was available, PA Media reported.
According to the Sun, the trip cost £50,000 and during the journey a “fancy meal with a selection of alcoholic drinks” was served.
Flightradar24’s data shows the plane took off from London Stansted airport, headed to the Lake District and then further north on to the Scottish Borders, before returning.
The shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, told PA:
This kind of blatant misuse of taxpayers’ money would be considered totally unacceptable at the best of times, but in the middle of the cost of living crisis our country is facing, those responsible should feel utterly ashamed.
More than anything, it also shows that the culture of wasting public money and laughing about it behind our backs goes way beyond Boris Johnson, and will continue until we get rid of this whole wretched government.
A government spokesperson said the flight was necessary to comply with aviation law.
Updated
In response to Sir Thomas Winsor’s report, the home secretary, Priti Patel, said:
In thanking Sir Tom for his report, I hope now that those responsible for delivering policing in London – as well as those responsible for holding the Met to account – will concentrate their efforts on delivering safer streets for the capital and restoring integrity in policing.
Public confidence in the Met has been dented by a series of appalling incidents and it is vital that failings are addressed and professional standards restored to the level that Londoners deserve.
The police need to ensure that they get the basics right, which should include a relentless focus on cutting neighbourhood crime and the serious violence that has blighted too many communities.
Updated
Review finds Cressida Dick 'felt intimidated' by Sadiq Khan ultimatum
Dame Cressida Dick “felt intimidated” into stepping down as commissioner of the Metropolitan police in February this year following an ultimatum from the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, according to a review by Sir Thomas Winsor which found due process was not followed.
Winsor found Dick “felt intimidated” following an ultimatum from Khan.
The report said:
In this case, none of the statutory steps set out in section 48 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and summarised above were followed. The Mayor, through his Chief of Staff, gave the Commissioner an ultimatum on 10 February 2022: if the Commissioner did not attend a meeting and convince the Mayor that her plan of 4 February 2022 would be improved, he would make a statement to the media.
That statement would make clear that he no longer had trust and confidence in the Commissioner, and that he intended to start the statutory process for her removal.
When the Commissioner did not attend that meeting, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff reiterated the Mayor’s position and gave her less than one hour to decide what to do.
She felt intimidated by this process into stepping aside, and I can understand that reaction. The Commissioner felt that, in the interests of Londoners and the Metropolitan Police, she had to ‘step aside’, as a prelude to her eventual resignation.
Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives at the London assembly, called on Khan to apologise and assembly members have demanded he make a formal apology at mayor’s question time later this month.
Khan responded:
Londoners will be able to see that this review is clearly biased and ignores the facts.
On the former commissioner’s watch, trust in the police fell to record lows following a litany of terrible scandals. What happened was simple – I lost confidence in the former commissioner’s ability to make the changes needed and she then chose to stand aside.
Londoners elected me to hold the Met commissioner to account and that’s exactly what I have done. I make absolutely no apology for demanding better for London and for putting the interests of the city I love first. I will continue working with the new commissioner to reduce crime and to rebuild trust and confidence in the police.
Updated
When does Tory party leadership race end and who will win?
The former chair of the House of Commons standards committee has hit out at reports that the government has obtained legal advice that undermines the inquiry into claims Boris Johnson misled parliament over the Partygate scandal.
Several newspapers, led by the Daily Mail, revealed on Friday that Lord Pannick, the crossbench peer known for previously acting against the government in the courts on cases related to Brexit, has drawn up the legal advice after being commissioned within the Cabinet Office.
Supporters of the outgoing prime minister, including the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, told the Daily Mail Pannick’s expert opinion should mean the end of the committee on privileges and standards inquiry into whether Johnson misled parliament, which was labelled by Dorries and others as a “kangaroo court”.
The committee, chaired by Harriet Harman, is set to look into whether the prime minister misled the Commons when he claimed “all guidance was followed in No 10” and there was “no party” breaking lockdown rules.
Responding to the reports, Chris Bryant, the former chair of the standards committee who recused himself from the role due to his previous criticism of Johnson, told BBC Radio 4 the “kangaroo court is the Daily Mail”.
For more on this story, see the full report below.
Updated
Chris Bryant also described an example of when Boris Johnson corrected himself on the record in parliament when discussing an inquiry into whether he misled parliament over the Partygate scandal.
Downing Street is attempting a legal fightback against a Commons investigation into whether Johnson misled parliament, in a move branded “very odd” by critics, PA Media reported.
Although he is due to leave No 10 next week, the privileges committee is going ahead with its inquiry into whether Johnson committed a contempt of parliament by telling the house on several occasions that there were no lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street.
Legal advice on the investigation commissioned by the government from leading barrister Lord Pannick is expected to be published on Friday, in a highly unusual move.
Bryant, the chair of the parliamentary standards committee, who has recused himself from the investigation, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
You may recall that Boris Johnson said that Roman Abramovich had been sanctioned. I challenged him, he said ‘Oh no, actually no, I think I’m right.’ But then the next day had to correct the record. You do it by a written ministerial statement.
So there’s a perfectly sensible way of correcting the record if a minister gets something accidentally wrong.
The question for the privileges committee is simple - did the prime minister mislead the house? If he misled the house, and he did on several occasions, is that a contempt of parliament because he didn’t correct the record swiftly enough and he was culpable?
Updated
Privileges committee should be allowed to do its job, says Tory MP
The Commons privileges committee will look at whether the prime minister “intentionally” misled the house, and it should be allowed to do its job, a Tory MP has said.
Kevin Hollinrake was asked on Sky News about reports that the legal advice commissioned by the Cabinet Office on the Boris Johnson Partygate investigation called into question the legitimacy of the inquiry, PA Media reported.
The Thirsk and Malton MP said:
I think the key thing here is the word intentionally. It’s not whether the prime minister or any other minister misled parliament.
It’s whether there was an intention to do that. And that’s what the privileges committee is going to look at, if it decides to go down this route, which I think it is, and then it will report accordingly.
The legal advice commissioned by the Cabinet Office on Partygate is “misjudged”, according to the chairman of the committee.
The Labour MP Chris Bryant, who has recused himself from the investigation, said there was already a way for ministers to correct themselves on the record if they misspeak in parliament.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
I think, from what I’ve seen so far ... I’ve not seen the actual advice, but I think it’s completely misleading or misjudged, because you want ministers, when they stand up in the House of Commons, to be careful about what they say to make sure that what they are saying is the truth.
If they’ve managed to, for some reason, misspeak or get a fact wrong or whatever, they have a perfect opportunity through the House of Commons processes for correcting the record.
Updated
MPs have never claimed there are no problems with sexual misconduct in Westminster, the Conservative former cabinet minister Sir John Redwood has said.
Redwood was asked on Times Radio for how long politicians, MPs and the government can claim there is not a cultural issue of sexual misconduct in Westminster.
He replied:
I don’t think MPs have ever claimed that there are no problems with sexual misconduct – there have been some proven cases where MPs have behaved badly and have been rightly punished. And I think we all feel the same thing about it – it should not happen.
And there have to be proper complaints procedures, as there are, which should be followed rigorously and soundly, to get to the bottom of the truth of allegations.
Updated
The head of the Prospect trade union said he has spoken to the Speaker of the House of Commons over the allegations of sexual misconduct reported by Sky News, PA Media has reported.
Its general secretary, Mike Clancy, told Sky News:
There’s been a constant round of failures of leadership here, which has demonstrated a culture which needs to change.
We’ve been saying for some time that the processes need to improve. We’ve had a conversation with the Speaker; I think he wants to make improvements in the way these things are dealt with.
But we really need action, we need to be sure that people who have been the subject of allegations are able to be kept away from the parliamentary estate or the workplace.
The most important thing for people to remember here is that people need to be safe and to be confident about going about their business.
He added that he hopes that when the new prime minister takes office they will deal with the “toxic” culture in Westminster.
He said:
Sophisticated employers have processes and procedures to ensure that the rights of victims, [and] those [who] are the subject of complaints, are properly handled.
Now we have a new prime minister, potentially from Monday, and this is an opportunity to reset the culture and show the leadership that hasn’t been there in the past.
And I’m hoping that the new prime minister will be able to clean this up and deal with a toxic culture.
Updated
No 10 retained minister and aide accused of sexual misconduct – reports
A cabinet minister and a high-ranking aide at No 10 Downing Street continued to work in Boris Johnson’s government despite allegations of sexual misconduct against them, according to reports.
Two women have given first-hand accounts of what they claim happened to them when one was assaulted and the other groped by political figures, both now in senior roles.
A former parliamentary staff member for the Conservative party, who wished to remain anonymous, relayed details of a sexual assault by an MP who is currently a cabinet minister.
She told Sky News’s The Open Secret podcast:
I was sexually assaulted by someone who’s now a cabinet minister, and I was in my early 20s and didn’t really know how to deal with it. I was super drunk. He’s feeding me more wine and I’m already quite obviously tanked.
After a while, I was like ‘you know, what, would you mind if I just went to bed?’ So I went to bed. But obviously he didn’t leave me alone. And then I woke up the next morning and I realised what had happened.
She told colleagues, and the MP she was working for at the time of the incident who encouraged her to report it to the police. But after initial discussions with the police she chose not to proceed further and did not make a formal complaint to the Conservative party. She said:
I was too scared to kickstart that process and risk it spiralling out of control.
A Conservative party spokesperson said:
We have an established code of conduct and complaints procedure where people can report complaints in confidence. We take any complaint seriously.
If an allegation of criminal wrongdoing is raised, we would always advise the individual to contact the police.
British rural voters ‘ignored’ by Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak
Neither of the candidates for leadership of the Conservative party has made a convincing pitch to rural voters, despite that demographic being one of the biggest sources of Tory power, the head of the UK’s biggest rural business organisation said.
Mark Tufnell, president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents about 30,000 landowners and rural businesses, said Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak had done too little to show how they would boost the countryside economy and deal with pressing concerns such as planning, rural broadband, and farm support.
“I don’t think either candidate really understands what is happening in the countryside, and what the real issues are,” Tufnell said. “Both of them have said nice things about farms. But there is no understanding of what is actually happening in the countryside. They have not said much about it.”
He warned the failure could cost the party at the next general election. “They assume that we [in the countryside] vote Conservative, and that they don’t really need to worry about us. But they should,” he said.
At the 2019 election 46% of voters in rural counties voted Conservative and only 29% voted for Labour. But polling conducted by the CLA before Boris Johnson’s resignation found a sizeable swing of about 7.5% from the Tories to Labour, putting the two main parties neck and neck in some rural areas.
The Liberal Democrats are also making inroads, with strong local election showings and the capture of the formerly safe blue seat of Tiverton and Honiton in the June byelection.
“[The Tories] have taken countryside voters for granted,” said Tufnell. “They’ve shown a lack of interest.”
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Truss leadership win 'not cut and dried', says Tory MP
Good morning and welcome to the UK politics live blog.
We begin with news that Rishi Sunak is not “cut and dried” but probably “neck and neck” with Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race, according to one Conservative MP.
Kevin Hollinrake, a supporter of the former chancellor and MP for Thirsk and Malton, told Sky News:
I’ve seen some of the polls and national polls. I think it’s quite hard for pollsters to determine who is a Conservative member and who is not because there’s not an open database.
But I know who mine are. I polled my 700 members, 239 of them responded, so about a third of them responded, and Rishi got an eight-point lead.
And I’ve seen similar kind of polls around different constituencies around the country. So I don’t think he’s cut and dried. I think he’s probably neck and neck.
Obviously Hollinrake’s opinion doesn’t quite tally with the reality of Truss having dominated all publicly available surveys between the two final candidates for weeks now.
By contrast, bookies have Truss as the overwhelming favourite at 1/20, while Sunak trails behind with odds of 10/1.
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