UK politics live: Badenoch warns of Tory leadership ‘stitch-up’ as Labour MP quits with attack on Starmer

The 2024 Conservative Party Conference will be a drastically different affair from last year’s gathering in Manchester, when Rishi Sunak’s government was in its dying days.

Back then, ministers announced a slew of eye-catching policies that would reshape the future of the country in a desperate last few roles of the dice – Alex Chalk promising to offshore prisoners, Jeremy Hunt planning to slash the number of civil servants and Rishi Sunak scrapping HS2.

This year, Mr Sunak is a lame duck Tory leader and all eyes will be far from the diminished former prime minister. Instead it will be a four-day battle for the future leadership of the party, with the four remaining contenders thrashing it out to try to win over Tory members.

James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat will be put to the test in a series of hustings and speeches, as well as taking part in intense lobbying and networking behind the scenes in Birmingham with MPs and the party rank and file.

On offer elsewhere will be former Tory MPs, ousted by the public in July’s general election, setting out where they think the party went wrong and what it needs to do next.

High profile names expected to appear are ex-PM Liz Truss, former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and incoming Spectator Editor Michael Gove.

The Independent will be bringing the latest updates and analysis from the conference.

Rosie Duffield is a long-time critic of some of the Labour Party’s policies and its leadership.

And as a staunch defender of women’s rights and women’s spaces, Ms Duffield has repeatedly criticised Labour’s leadership over what she sees as its lack of support for women in trans issues.

Last year, she accused male party colleagues of trying to drown her out during a Commons debate when she spoke against gender reforms proposed in Edinburgh.

She said she felt “cold-shouldered by the Labour Party” and compared her membership to being in an abusive relationship.

She opted not to attend the Labour Party conference in 2021 after receiving threats and being branded transphobic, which she denies.

And when she said only women have a cervix, Sir Keir disagreed.

The Canterbury MP urged Sir Keir to maintain support for biological females to feel protected in prisons and domestic violence refuges, but said she was not confident the policy would be upheld.

The fees will rise with inflation, however, ministers will reportedly introduce maintenance loans of £3,500, which were abolished under the Conservative government.

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James Cleverly has said that no taxpayer should have to hand over more than half their earnings to the state, and warned against Labour’s tax-raising plans which could see people leave the UK.

The shadow home secretary is one of the four final contenders for the Tory leadership, is set to lay out his vision for the party during their annual conference in Birmingham this week. In an article with The Telegraph, he said the party had to restore its reputation for tax-cutting and deregulation.

“Instead of putting people off we should be attracting them, with a low, fair, and simple tax rate. We should send the signal that Britain is open for work, not that you work for Britain.

“Ensuring that no one pays more than half of any pound that they earn to the government should be a common Conservative aspiration.”

With a leadership contest looming and the Conservatives facing tough decisions on the party’s strategy, join John Rentoul, The Independent’s chief political commentator, for a live Q&A.

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This could be the moment that the Labour government started to find its feet. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is “ready to water down” her tax raid on non-doms because the Treasury fears that it may “fail to raise any money”, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The timing of this realisation is interesting, the day after the end of the Labour conference at which the news might have been greeted with howls of “betrayal” from the marginalised, but still vocal, usual suspects.

But what is important about this U-turn is that it means the cold light of realism has been allowed to penetrate the pie-in-the-sky slogans of Labour’s pre-election economics.

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Security measures have been ramped up around Birmingham city centre as the Conservative Party Conference gets under way.

The annual conference is an opportunity for the four candidates in the Tory leadership race to convince members to pledge their support. Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat are all hoping to take over from Rishi Sunak, with MPs due to vote for the final two after they return to parliament.

Armed police and high-visibility patrols are visible around the International Convention Centre (ICC), with access to roads around the centre blocked until Friday, 4 October.

Access to Broad Street, Great Charles Street, Street, Sandpits, Parade, Clement Street, St Vincent Street, Sheepcote Street and Oozells Way will be restricted so those travelling in via bus or tram are being encouraged to allow more time for journeys.

Bus services affected include 9, 12, 12A, 13, 13A, 126, X8, X10, 23 and 24.