Robert Jenrick issues attack on ‘tired’ Labour as he outlines SIX failures within WEEKS of election

Starmer sets out support package for Southport 

The Prime Minister said: "As a nation, we stand with those who tragically have lost loved ones in the heinous attack in Southport, which ripped through the very fabric of this community and left us all in shock.

"It is truly inspiring to hear of all the ways in which people have come together in the face of such horrors to demonstrate true bravery, resilience and solidarity.

"I cannot begin to imagine the pain that people are going through right now, but I am determined to make sure that Southport and its leaders have all the support they need to preserve and nurture this strength of community spirit - not just in the immediate aftermath, but also in the years to come."

Sir Keir Starmer also announced further support for Southport, including mental health support for those affected by the attack and a programme of events to help build community cohesion.

Jenrick SLAMMED by Liberal Democrats - 'a terrible record of failure'

Deputy Lib Dem leader Daisy Cooper said: “As a minister, Robert Jenrick oversaw a housing crisis and failed to address immigration, he has a terrible record tainted by failure. Only in today’s Conservative Party could someone with such a terrible record of failure think they could lead it.

“Jenrick is now a symbol of the way the Conservative Party has moved further and further away from lifelong Conservative voters in the Blue Wall.

“People right across the country are instead putting their faith in the Liberal Democrats to get a fair deal for them.”

Sir Keir Starmer back in Southport

Sir Keir returned to Southport on Friday, visiting the town for the second time this week after Monday’s knife attack.

The Prime Minister met with members of the local community, according to the Liverpool Echo, along with metro mayor Steve Rotheram, Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy and representatives from the police, faith groups, health services and the education and voluntary sectors.

He also paid a visit to Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool, where many of the victims of Monday’s attack were treated. Starmer thanked staff for their hard work and professionalism in responding to the attack.

Robert Jenrick says the Tories can win the next General Election

Closing his speech, Jenrick said: "Our victory here in Newark a few weeks ago tells us a lesson. Each of those MRP polls that said we were going to lose, all the pundits and the commentators who said it was impossible to win here, they were wrong. They got it wrong, we won.

"And those same pundits, those same pollsters and talking heads down in Westminster, they now say that our party cannot win again. They say that our problems are too intractable, they say we’re too divided, they say that Keir Starmer is destined to be our nation’s prime minister for a decade or more.

"Well if there’s one lesson of our success here in Newark, it’s this. Nothing in politics is certain. Just as there are no final victories, there are no final defeats.

"Enough of defeatism. We can win."

​Jenrick would be 'open to' a cap restricting immigration to less than 10,000 people a year

Asked to put a number on his proposed immigration cap, he said: "I said that it would be in the tens of thousands. I’m open to it being less. But the key thing is that Parliament decides the cap and every Member of Parliament votes for it, so you can hold them to account.

"Do they believe in lower migration or not? And we can finally begin to restore public trust and confidence in our legal migration system."

He added that he would "hope" to bring back the Rwanda scheme scrapped by the new Government, but this would be "four or five years away"

Jenrick refuses to say whether Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson would be welcome in a Tory party under his leadership

Asked if the two Reform UK MPs and Suella Braverman would “feel comfortable” in a Conservative party he led, the Newark MP said: "It will definitely be a party in which my good friend Suella Braverman is comfortable. I want to build a big church, a big tent for this party. But it has to be a strong tent. I want to ensure that we are a big church, that it has a common creed.

"So we have to believe in Conservative principles again. I never want to be going onto a doorstep in a general election in the future and people not know what our party stands for.

"That is the essence of my campaign. If a member in this room would put on a blue rosette under my leadership they would know what it stood for, and they would have pride in wearing it."

Jenrick says there are 'lessons to be learnt' from Southport stabbings

He said: “On Southport let me say this. I am a father of three young daughters and this was the most horrific crime.

"I think that there is an important lesson from this, which is in this incident and in others across the country, they are revealing that there is too much disrespect for our police and for law and order.

“I want to back the police, I want to ensure that they can take the robust action they need against these individuals and against people like them in all of the incidents we have seen in recent months, right across the country.

“Because I do not want to live in a country where incidents like this, where disturbances are happening, ever again.”

Jenrick says there is too much 'disrespect' for the police

He said: "In this incident and in others across the country they are revealing that there is too much disrespect for our police and for law and order.

"And I want to back the police. I want to ensure that they can take the robust action they need against these individuals and against people like them in all of the incidents we have seen in recent months right across the country."

​Robert Jenrick suggested the British state was not working for the British people and calls for a 'rethink'

The Tory leadership hopeful told the audience at his campaign launch: “Despite spending more money than ever before, too much of the British state simply wasn’t working. Nowhere exemplifies this challenge more than the NHS.”

Mr Jenrick took aim at spending and quangos in the health service, adding: “We allowed the lions on the frontline of the NHS to be let down by the donkeys in the back offices.”

He later said similar problems were faced by many western countries, but added: “The particular problems we face as a country stem from the fact that the British system is not working for the British people.

Robert Jenrick said the party needs to tell 'hard truths' following the General Election defeat

The Newark MP said: "But the principal one, the primary one, is that we broke our promise to the British public to deliver controlled and reduced migration and the secure border that the public rightfully demand.

"We allowed the cycle of broken promises to continue.

"And as a minister, when I concluded that I couldn’t secure any more changes to our legal migration system, I resigned from Cabinet last year because I for one was not willing to be just another minister who makes and breaks promises on immigration."

Robert Jenrick enters with praise for activists and Tory campaigners

The Tory leadership hopeful started by thanking the local Tory activists who had helped him to win re-election last month in his seat of Newark.

He said they had “defied the national tide” and secured a Tory victory.

He told activists at his launch event that he was determined to "breath new life into our party" and that if he becomes leader he would "respect the role of the membership of this party."

He said the next leader will have to get the Tory campaign machine “back into fighting shape”.

Tatton MP Esther McVey backs Robert Jenrick

The Tory former Cabinet minister said: “If [Labour] have done that in four weeks, what will they do in four years?”

She said Robert Jenrick will listen to the concerns of voters and will act on them. She added: "Robert Jenrick is the man. I know he can do it."

McVey added: “I will tell you, I know Robert well, I have seen up up close so as to speak – apologies Mrs Jenrick.

“That was because he was my PPS (Parliamentary Private Secretary) in the Department of Work and Pensions during the period that we halved unemployment.”

Channel crossings teeter towards 17,000 for 2024 so far

Nearly 17,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in 2024 so far.

Crossings resumed today, with yesterday registering no fresh arrivals.

The provisional total for the year so far stands at 16,903, with more than 1,000 crossings recorded within the last week

'They're unpopular!' Tory leadership hopefuls suffer blow in new poll

All six Tory leadership hopefuls have unfavourable ratings, a new YouGov poll has shown.

Priti Patel has a net favourable rating of -51 per cent, with 17 per cent not knowing who the former Home Secretary is.

James Cleverly's rating is slightly higher at -26 per cent, with Kemi Badenoch also at -26 per cent.

Cleverly and Patel were the only two contenders known by more than half of respondents.

Mel Stride and Robert Jenrick have struggled to receive as much cut through, with 77 per cent and 65 per cent respectively not knowing about either hopeful.

Sir Keir Starmer's hopes of rapid new EU deal shot down by Brussels

Brussels bureaucrats have shot down Sir Keir Starmer's plan to rush through a new defence and security pact with the EU.

Europe Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds was briefing ambassadors last week about the need for substantive talks.

However, with poisitions in the European Commission and European Council still being allocated, it will be difficult to make progress until later this year.

EU officials also do not understand quite what the UK is looking for, with French President Emmanuel Macron quizzing the Prime Minister last month.

An EU diplomat told The Telegraph: “It’s an ambitious timeline and stuffing all kinds of things into a security pact isn’t going to make it easier."

However, the European Commission does hope to build on the cross-Channel relationship post-Brexit.

A European Commission spokeswoman said: “The EU is committed to a positive agenda with the UK, based on the full respect and the faithful and timely implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Windsor Framework, and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which are the cornerstone for the EU-United Kingdom relationship.”

Nandy hints at intervention over Olympics gender row

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has hinted at future intervention after Imane Khelif battered Angela Carini within the first minute.

Nandy said: "The decision that successive governments have made is that these are complex decisions that should be made by sporting bodies.

"In this case, for example, I understand that the biological facts are far more complicated than is being presented on social media and in some of the speculation."

She added: “I think as sporting bodies try to get that balance between inclusion, fairness and safety, there is a role for Government to make sure that they’ve got the guidance and the framework, and the support, to make those decisions correctly and it’s something that I’ll be talking to sporting bodies about over the coming weeks and months.”

Khelif had been banned by the International Boxing Association from competing in the last Women's World Championship for failing to meet the "eligibility criteria".

However, Khelif reportedly has a condition called Swyer Syndrome which means she has some female reproductive organs but also much higher levels of testosterone than women.

Starmer dragged into Olympic boxer row

Sir Keir Starmer has been dragged into the Olympics gender saga after it was revealed the official behind the boxing row was the Prime Minister's best-man. Mark Adams, who serves as spokesman for the International Olympic Committee, knew the Prime Minister since the two men were at school together.

Adams came under fire yesterday after warning against a "witch hunt" given Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting both previously failed gender eligibility tests. Khelif defeated Angela Carini after less than a minute in the ring, with the Italian boxer being forced to abandon the clash over a suspected broken nose.

Adams said: "Testosterone is not a perfect test. Many women can have testosterone which is in what would be called ‘male levels’ and still be women, and still compete as a woman.

“So this panacea, this idea that you do one test for testosterone, that’s not the case I’m afraid. But each sport needs to deal with its issues, they know their sports and their disciplines the best and they need to target and tailor I should say the testing and so on.

“But I hope we’re all agreed we’re not calling for people to go back to the bad old days of sex testing, which was a terrible thing to do and I’m sure we all agree that’s not the way forward in this situation.”

Adams, who was one of four best men at the Prime Minister's wedding in 2007, previously described Starmer as his "old mate" and congratulated him on his selection as Labour's candidate in Holborn & St Pancras in 2015.

Tory MSP launches bid to replace Douglas Ross

I’m standing to be the next leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. Here’s why 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/ky6wZubn1x

— Meghan Gallacher MSP (@MGallacherMSP) August 2, 2024

Meghan Gallacher has announced she is standing to succeed Douglas Ross as Scottish Tory leader.

The Central Region MSP, who serves as deputy leader, released a two-minute campaign video this morning.

She appeared to suggest it was time for a "reset" and for the Tories to "renew" its offering to the people of Scotland.

A new Scottish Tory leader will be in place by September 27.

Jenrick slams 'tired' Labour at leadership rally

Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick will slam Labour as "tired" at a launch rally later today.

The former Immigration Minister is expected to say: "But for a Government so fresh, their solutions are so tired.

"Already, just a few weeks in, Labour have misled Parliament about public spending and in the autumn they will break their election promises not to raise taxes.

"They won’t commit to a timetable to raise the defence budget. They’ve scrapped the ambition to build homes in the places where we need them most.

"They’ve released dangerous criminals early. They’ve sacrificed the north sea oil and gas industry at the high altar of net zero zealotry.

"They’ve scrapped the only credible plan to secure our borders."

BBC's Tim Davie read riot act as Lisa Nandy demands Huw Edwards lose licence fee paid pension

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has read the riot act to BBC director-general Tim Davie as the broadcaster was urged to recoup money from Huw Edwards' pension after the veteran presenter pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.

Nandy spoke to the BBC boss to raise concerns about the corporation's internal investigation and discuss what further action may be taken when it comes to the "handling of licence fee payers' money".

In a statement, a spokesperson from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: “The Culture Secretary is, like the whole nation, shocked by Huw Edwards’ abhorrent actions, and her thoughts are with the victims whose lives have been destroyed. It is now for the judiciary to decide on an appropriate sentence."

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