Tory leadership race live news: Rishi Sunak woos Brexiteers as Penny Mordaunt defends gender ID stance

Rishi Sunak is pledging to scrap hundreds of remaining EU laws and regulations if he wins the race for the Tory crown in a fresh pitch to win over Brexiteers.

The former chancellor has said, if elected, he would appoint a Brexit minister to go through the remaining 2,400 EU laws still on the statute book.

Meanwhile, leadership frontrunner Penny Mordaunt has hit back at fresh claims that she supported gender self-identification when she was a government equalities minister.

In the first public debate Kemi Badenoch and foreign secretary Liz Truss, claimed Ms Mordaunt had backed a push for self-ID for those who wish to transition.

Ms Mordaunt has denied the claims and said while she had ordered a review of the Gender Recognition Act, she was not in favour of self-identification and would “not have divorced it from healthcare”.

However, The Sunday Times said it had seen leaked government papers which appeared to suggest she was in favour of removing at least one element of the medical process required for transgender people to legally transition.

It comes as the remaining five contenders still in the contest are preparing for the second televised debate to be screened on ITV on Sunday evening.