Liz Truss news – live: Tory leadership rivals go head-to-head as Javid backs foreign secretary

On housing, Ms Truss said she wanted a positive renting history to count towards someone’s credentials.

She said the planning system was rigid and cumbersome, which she promised to fix.

She also slated council anti-car policies.

In future she would have fewer public debates but talk to each other in private “rather than wash our dirty linen in public”, Ms Truss said.

She admitted there had been “some unfortunate occurrences” when asked about mudslinging during the election contest.

Asked to describe herself in three words, Ms Truss chose “determined, loyal and fun”.

Challenged over instances when she has changed her mind, such as having voted remain, she said she had done more than most in government to deliver on Brexit.

She was determined to get EU rules off the statute book, she said.

Ms Truss has also repeated her attacks on Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP, saying the Scottish government was being used to campaign for Scottish independence.

Wales was different, she said, but there opportunities were not being taken up. Her government would build the M4 relief road, she said.

Liz Truss has repeated her accusation that “the media” misrepresented her regional pay plans – on which she did a U-turn after they prompted outrage.

It was “never intended to apply to nurses, teachers and doctors”, she said.

This was her press release when she announced it:

Mr Sunak hinted he would consider abolishing inheritance tax if he became prime minister.

He told the hustings crowd that it was “not what he set out a plan to do” but it was something he could look at.

“I’ve set out a plan to consistently cut income tax over time because I want to reward hard work. But I very much, as you heard from my earlier remarks, I’m someone who believes in supporting aspiration,” he said.

“I think that is a Conservative value that many of us in this room will hold dear and inheritance tax is a way to do that.

“So, over time, is that something that we should look at? Of course we should, because people who are working hard should be rewarded for that.

“If they want to build something and leave that for their family, that’s an entirely Conservative instinct and a Government that I’m privileged to lead would very much want to support that instinct. That’s what a Conservative prime minister should do.”

Mr Sunak said he was prepared to consider scrapping an embargo on onshore wind and also to consider fracking to increase homegrown supplies of energy.

He talked of increasing home insulation to save people £300 on their bills.

And he said the party needed to look at unemployment benefits while job vacancies were so high.

Mr Sunak said cutting the size of the civil service would not alone reduce the tax burden, but reforming the NHS was also necessary.

He said radical thinking in public services would cut waiting lists and reduce the size of the state.

Mr Sunak promised to invest “whatever it takes” to defend Britain rather than setting arbitrary targets.

He said as chancellor he had helped weaken Russia.

Asked how his friends would describe him, Mr Sunak said “loyal, honest and hard-working” – in an apparent dig at Boris Johnson.