Watch live as the Conservative Party conference 2023 gets underway in Manchester on Sunday 1 October.
Britain’s Foreign Minister James Cleverly and Minister for Defence Grant Shapps are expected to open the annual Conservative Party conference at around 1.45pm on Sunday.
Rishi Sunak compared himself to Margaret Thatcher as he resisted calls from Tories to commit to tax cuts in a pre-election giveaway.
The Prime Minister vowed to prioritise measures to reduce inflation rather than taxes, insisting his is a “deeply Conservative” approach.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove on Sunday called for taxes to be cut before the next election, while former prime minister Liz Truss is among dozens of Tory MPs who have said they will refuse to vote for new tax rises.
Mr Sunak said “we’re all Conservatives, of course we want to cut taxes”, but he insisted: “The best tax cut, though, that I can deliver right now for the country is to halve inflation.”
It is a “deeply Conservative approach”, he said, adding “this is what Margaret Thatcher did, this is what Nigel Lawson did”.
He added: “This is in the tradition of great Conservative governments, bringing inflation down, because that’s the bedrock on which you build a strong economy. And that is the best way to help people with the cost of living.”
