Tory leadership race latest news: Truss boosted by Badenoch elimination as Sunak retains lead

Former minister David Davis has accused Conservative leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak’s team of “reallocating” votes to Liz Truss because he believes he can beat the foreign secretary in the run-off.

The senior figure – a key backer of Penny Mordaunt’s campaign to become prime minister – claimed it was the “the dirtiest campaign” he had ever seen, and revealed he had asked for an inquiry.

Mr Davis said he had urged cabinet secretary Simon Case to examine into whether government resources had been used to help Ms Mordaunt’s rivals, claimed she had been subjected to “brutal” smears.

“It’s been the dirtiest campaign I’ve ever seen,” he told LBC. “I’ve written to the cabinet secretary, asked him to do an inquiry of the use of government resources in some respects.”

Liz Truss is now the bookies’ favourite to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, as the Tory leadership race approaches its final stages.

Despite receiving the lowest number of votes of the three candidates to survive Tuesday’s ballot of Conservative MPs, the foreign secretary narrowed the gap between her closest rival Penny Mordaunt to just six – gaining more new votes than her two remaining rivals combined.

Her campaign team is now hoping to hoover up support from backers of newly-eliminated rival Kemi Badenoch ahead of the fifth ballot on Wednesday. They are urging their colleagues to “unite behind a candidate who will govern in a Conservative way and who has shown she can deliver time and again”.

Read the details in this report from Andy Gregory:

Social housing in England has deteriorated so badly that some homes are now “unfit for human habitation”, according to group of MPs calling on the government to improve conditions.

MPs on the levelling up, housing and communities committee urged ministers to commit more funding for regeneration projects, and demanded that social housing providers “up their game”.

In a damning report, the committee said too many social landlords were stigmatising their tenants and leaving them in “appalling conditions and levels of disrepair”.

Social housing providers should face tougher action from a far more active regulator, MPs said – calling on the government to give the ombudsman the power to award far higher levels of compensation to tenants.

The cross-party group recommended that the government empower the sector’s regulator to order providers to award compensation of up to £25,000.

Read the full story from Adam Forrest here:

Boris Johnson was presented with a set of books by his hero Winston Churchill as a farewell present from ministerial colleagues as he chaired his final cabinet meeting today.

Cabinet ministers – who paid for the first edition copies of Churchill’s six-volume history of the Second World War out of their own pockets – applauded the PM as he concluded the weekly meeting for the last time.

Addressing ministers on the first anniversary of the lifting of Covid restrictions, Mr Johnson set out what he clearly hopes will be seen as his legacy as PM, stating that the swift rollout of vaccines and early move out of lockdown had allowed the UK’s economy to recover faster than other countries.

But there was no reflection on the complaints over his performance and behaviour which forced his resignation two weeks ago.

Mr Johnson is expected to divide his time between No 10 and his country residence Chequers until he hands over to a successor on 5 September. No details have yet been released of any summer holiday plans.

Pregnancy loss certificates must be rolled out across England for parents who have lost a child before 24 weeks in an attempt to acknowledge their difficult situation, the government has said.

The measure was unveiled in the government’s first women’s health strategy for England which was specifically designed to address the gender health gap.

Every day, around 14 babies die before, during or soon after birth in the UK, but campaigners have long warned the issue is routinely ignored by society and remains a taboo.

Amy Jacksonson, of the Lily Mae Foundation, which support families impacted by a baby’s death, told The Independent they were pleased “it has finally been recognised that a child born before 24 weeks deserves the acknowledgement that any other human being receives”.

Read the full story from Maya Oppenheim here:

The government is on a collision course with public sector workers including nurses and teachers after announcing pay rises that would not keep wages up with inflation.

One union leader warned of co-ordinated strike action in response to pay announcements by ministers, and members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England will be balloted on industrial action.

More than one million NHS staff, including nurses, paramedics and midwives, will receive an increase of at least £1,400 with lowest earners to receive up to 9.3 per cent, while dentists and doctors will get a 4.5 per cent pay rise, police 5 per cent and teachers between 5 and 8.9 per cent.

Health unions said the announcement amounted to a real terms pay cut.

The wealth gap between the top 10 per cent of households and those in the middle has reached a record £1.2 million per adult, according to the Resolution Foundation.

Once ordinary aspirations such as saving and buying a home are increasingly out of reach for less wealthy households, the think thank focusing on low- and middle-income people said.

In 2006 the average household among the richest 10th held wealth of close to £900,000 more per adult than a family in the middle, or fifth, decile. But by the start of 2020 that gap had increased to over £1.2m per adult, even after accounting for inflation, the Resolution Foundation said.

Persistently high wealth gaps can affect less wealthy people’s ability to save money, own property and boost their lifetime living standards.

Read the full story here:

Millions of public sector workers have been awarded pay rises of between 4 and 5 per cent – prompting unions to prepare for autumn strike action, as chiefs lashed out at ”brutal” below-inflation increases (Adam Forrest writes).

About 2.5 million staff across Britain will soon see a hike in their pay packets after the government accepted “fair and sustainable” increases recommended by state review bodies.

But unions warned that they would ballot members on industrial action, pointing out that the “kick in the teeth” settlements will not keep pace with soaring inflation – currently running at 9.1 per cent.

Most full-time nurses in the NHS will only get a basic pay rise worth 4 per cent, a salary increase of about £1,400, though new nursing staff will see starting pay rise by 5.5 per cent to £27,055.

The vast majority of teachers will get only a 5 per cent increase, while salaries for new teachers outside London will be increased 8.9 per cent to £28,000 as part of a recruitment drive.

Liz Truss is now the bookies’ favourite to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, as the Tory leadership race approaches its final stages.

Despite receiving the lowest number of votes of the three candidates to survive Tuesday’s ballot of Conservative MPs, the foreign secretary narrowed the gap between her closest rival Penny Mordaunt to just six – gaining more new votes than her two remaining rivals combined.

Her campaign team is now hoping to hoover up support from backers of newly-eliminated rival Kemi Badenoch ahead of the fifth ballot on Wednesday. They are urging their colleagues to “unite behind a candidate who will govern in a Conservative way and who has shown she can deliver time and again”.

Read the full story here:

Former minister David Davis has accused Conservative leadership frontrunner Rishi Sunak’s team of “reallocating” votes to Liz Truss because he believes he can beat the foreign secretary in the run-off.

The senior figure – a key backer of Penny Mordaunt’s campaign to become prime minister –claimed it was the “the dirtiest campaign” he had ever seen, as he revealed he had asked for an inquiry.

Mr Davis claimed Ms Mordaunt had been subjected to a “brutal” smears, saying he had urged cabinet secretary Simon Case to examine into whether government resources had been used to help her rivals.

“It’s been the dirtiest campaign I’ve ever seen – it’s been the grubbiest campaign I’ve ever seen,” he told LBC. “I’ve written to the cabinet secretary, asked him to do an inquiry of the use of government resources in some respects.”

Read the full story from Adam Forrest here: