UK politics live: Badenoch arrives at Tory HQ to unveil shadow cabinet amid anger over Partygate comments
Kemi Badenoch has arrived at the Conservative Party headquarters to unveil her new shadow cabinet after winning the Tory leadership contest.
In her first media appearance as Tory leader, Ms Badenoch claimed to the BBCâs Laura Kuenssberg that the Partygate row was âoverblownâ, prompting swift condemnation from her political opponents and people whose loved ones died during the Covid pandemic.
Lobby Akinnola, a spokesperson for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice who lost his father during the pandemic, described Ms Badenochâs remarks as âcruelâ and showing âjust how detached politicians can be from the people they representâ.
With Ms Badenoch set to name her shadow cabinet ahead of its first meeting on Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer is setting his sights on small boats, announcing a move to double the funding for his new Border Security Command at an Interpol conference in Glasgow, taking its total funding to ÂŁ150m over two years.
Key Points
Badenoch arrives at Tory HQ to unveil shadow cabinet
Kemi Badenoch has arrived at the Conservative Party headquarters to unveil her new shadow cabinet after winning the Tory leadership contest, ahead of its first meeting on Tuesday.
Ruth Davidson gives just 40 per cent chance of Kemi Badenoch leading Tories into next election
Ex-Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has said she believes there is a 35 to 40 per cent chance that Kemi Badenoch will lead the Conservative Party into the next General election.
Speaking on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Ms Davidson said: âWe donât hang around with this sort of thing. We want the leader to be a net plus any time we go to the polls. And if theyâre not, we donât mess about.
âI would say, to put a figure on it, 35 per cent, 40 per cent? Sheâs got every opportunity to start the rebuilding. But there are things you really have to do when youâre in opposition, and part of that is youâve got to put in the legwork, youâve got to be humble. Youâve got to ask people for their vote, listen to them about what they need.
âYouâve got to show that the partyâs changed. You donât just stand up there and try and scold them into submission and become Conservatives. And I am yet to see any evidence that that is going to be her approach.â
Yvette Cooper says new Border Security Command funding is from Budget
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said that the additional ÂŁ75m announced today for Labourâs new Border Security Command is new funding from the Budget.
She told BBC Breakfast: âItâs in addition to the ÂŁ75m weâd already talked about, which is only just starting to be invested now.â
Yvette Cooper refuses to commit to targets on reducing Channel crossings
The home secretary has avoided committing to specific targets on bringing down Channel crossings.
Pressed on when a drop in the number of migrant crossings could be expected, Yvette Cooper told BBC Breakfast: âWe obviously want to make progress as far and as fast as possible. The prime minister has said we need to see significant progress being made.
âWe know, of course, it does take time to get the investigators in place, to make sure that we can get the new technology in place. So weâre going to try and make progress as rapidly as possible.
âWhat Iâm not going to do is what Rishi Sunak did … [and] just, you know, set out slogans and say everything was going to be solved in 12 months, and all on the basis of a slogan, because I donât think people will take that seriously anymore.â
She said high numbers of crossings in October were âlinked to the weatherâ but that âweâve actually got to go after the criminal gangs at the heart of this, rather than it simply being dependent on the weatherâ.
Politics Explained | Who will fill new Tory leader Kemi Badenochâs shadow cabinet?
One of the main reasons the Tories suffered so heavily in July was division. Divided parties do not win elections, and since Brexit Tory politics has been a soap opera, with the Conservative ranks riddled with infighting.
In a piece setting out what Kemi Badenoch needs to do to get the party back on track, pollster Luke Tryl tells The Independent that ending the infighting and picking a united top team will be one of her most important tasks.
On Sunday her first shadow cabinet appointment was revealed when interim chief whip Stuart Andrew tweeted that he was being replaced by Rebecca Harris, the MP for Castle Point in Essex. Dame Rebecca has been an MP since 2010 and a Conservative whip since 2018.
But Ms Badenoch is picking from a depleted pool, with the Tories having returned just 121 MPs in July. And a slew of Tory heavyweights including Rishi Sunak, James Cleverly, Jeremy Hunt and Oliver Dowden have said they will not serve in Ms Badenochâs shadow cabinet, opting for stints on the backbenches instead.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has more analysis in this latest Politics Explained piece:
James Dyson condemns Rachel Reevesâs first Budget as âspitefulâ
Sir James Dyson has condemned Labourâs Budget as âspitefulâ, warning her so-called tractor tax will be the âdeath of entrepreneurshipâ.
The leading British businessman â who employs more than 2,000 people in the UK – claimed that the new government will âkill off home-grown family businessesâ, dubbing the changes an âignorant swipe at aspirationâ.
Yvette Cooper condemns âappallingâ tweet shared by Labour MP
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said she strongly disagrees with a tweet that a backbench MP appeared to have reposted saying Kemi Badenoch represents âwhite supremacy in blackfaceâ.
Ms Cooper told LBC she did not see the post that Dawn Butler appeared to have shared, saying: âI didnât see the post, I clearly strongly disagree with that.â
Pressed on why no action had been taken against Ms Butler, she said: âAs I said, I havenât seen the post and I think those sorts of issues around party issues, those are always ones for the Whip.â
Asked whether the words in the post had a âracist sentimentâ, Ms Cooper said: âThe words that you have read out are clearly appalling and I would strongly disagree with them. So, I havenât seen the post. I donât know the circumstances around it but I think we should congratulate Kemi Badenoch on her election.
âI will continue to disagree with her on all sorts of issues, but, nevertheless, I congratulate her on her election.â
Badenoch appoints new chairs of Tory party
Kemi Badenoch has appointed Nigel Huddleston and Lord Dominic Johnson as joint chairs of the Conservative Party.
They will reportedly join the new Tory leader at party headquarters on Monday morning to meet staff.
Full appointments are set to be announced in time for the first meeting of Ms Badenochâs shadow cabinet on Tuesday.
Badenochâs Partygate claim labelled âinsultingâ by Covid bereaved
Lobby Akinnola, a spokesman for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice who lost his father during the pandemic, told The Independent Ms Badenochâs comment was âcruel and highlights just how detached politicians can be from the people they representâ.
Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor whose older brother Umar died of Covid while self-isolating, told TheGuardian: âMs Badenoch needs to remember that people were dying and being stored in industrial fridges while those in government partied in breach of the rules that they created for the rest of us.
âIt was a question of trust and integrity and such a failure cannot ever be overblown.â
Naomi Fulop, whose mother Christina died in January 2021 told the outlet that Badenochâs comments were âinsulting and extremely painfulâ.
Ms Fulop, who is a member of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said: âIt is not possible to overblow the impact of those in government partying while my mother died alone. We then had to have a very restricted funeral, as did thousands and thousands of other people.â
She added: âBadenoch said the Tory party needs to have an honest conversation about whatâs gone wrong and one of the big things that went wrong was Partygate so Iâm quite mystified that she doesnât realise the impact thatâs had on families like mine and the wider public.â
Starmer to double funding for new Border Security Command
Sir Keir Starmer is set to double the funding Labourâs Border Security Command as he fixes his sights on ending small boat crossings.
The prime minister is expected to use a speech to the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow on Monday to kick off a week-long blitz on the issue that will see him travel to Hungary for talks on tackling people smuggling.
Mondayâs speech will see Sir Keir pledge another ÂŁ75m for his new border command, taking its total funding to ÂŁ150m over two years, with the new money to be used to fund high-tech surveillance equipment and 100 specialist investigators.
The PM will say: âThe world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge. I was elected to deliver security for the British people. And strong borders are a part of that. But security doesnât stop at our borders. Thereâs nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the Channel.â