Tory leadership - live: Sunak warns ‘we’ll lose election if inflation rampant’ as Truss heckled

Former chancellor says he’s ‘particularly worried’ about policies that worsen crisis after protesters interrupt foreign secretary

Sunak boasts of taking money from ‘deprived urban areas’

Rishi Sunak has told Tory members the party will lose the 2024 general election if inflation is not brought under control – in a veiled warning of the risks of electing as leader Liz Truss, who wants to slash taxes immediately.

At a leadership hustings in Eastbourne, the former chancellor said he was “particularly worried about policies that risk making it worse and last longer”.

As the event began, Ms Truss was heckled before resuming her speech to blame “infiltrators” and attack “unfair protests” that “interrupt our democracy”.

Earlier, Mr Sunak was filmed boasting about diverting funding away from “deprived urban areas” towards more prosperous areas that “deserve” it.

Labour’s Lisa Nandy urged the government to investigate the “deeply concerning” remarks made to grassroots Tories in Kent last month – uncovered in footage obtained by the New Statesman .

He told supporters: “I managed to start changing the funding formulas, to make sure areas like this are getting the funding they deserve because we inherited a bunch of formulas from Labour that shoved all the funding into deprived urban areas and that needed to be undone.”

Key Points

• Truss blames ‘infiltrators’ as she is heckled at Tory hustings
• Labour’s Lisa Nandy calls for probe into Rishi Sunak’s defunding boast
• Ex-chancellor boasts of taking money from ‘deprived urban areas’
• BoE defends move to raise interest rates
• Foreign sec insists recession is not inevitable
• Sunak says Truss tax cuts would ‘fuel on the fire’ of inflation

[5 August 2022 10:53 · Matt Mathers]

Labour pledges will be fully costed

Any pledges Labour makes on the economy will be fully costed, an MP has said as he criticised the Tory leadership candidates’ plans for tax cuts.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pensions secretary, has been out on the morning broadcast round for his party following the Bank of England’s dire economic forecast.

He said the people “will see” how and spending commitments Labour makes at the next general election - “the British public expect politicians to be prudent and sound when managing the finances

[5 August 2022 11:03 · Matt Mathers]

Kwasi Kwarteng defends holidaying PM and chancellor saying 'I'm here, I'm in a suit'

Kwasi Kwarteng has defended Boris Johnson’s decision to go on holiday amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.

The business secretary was out on the broadcast round for the government earlier. He said he didn’t know where the PM was but was in constant contact with him.

He also defended the decision of chancellor Nadhim Zahawi to take a break. “I’m here, I’m in a suit, I’m not on holiday and we’re absolutely focused” on tackling rising bills, he told Sky News.

[5 August 2022 11:33 · Matt Mathers]

Suank bragged of diverting public funds away from deprived urban areas'

Tory leadership contender Rishi Sunak proudly told party members he had been working to divert funding from "deprived urban areas" towards prosperous towns.

The former chancellor bragged that he had started changing public funding formulas to ensure more prosperous towns receive "the funding they deserve".

The New Statesman magazine, which obtained video revealing Mr Sunak's remarks, said they were made to grassroots Tories in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on July 29.

Labour said it was "scandalous" that Mr Sunak was "openly boasting that he fixed the rules to funnel taxpayers' money to rich Tory shires".

[5 August 2022 12:20 · Matt Mathers]

World Cup 2022: Expert panel to explore how the world can hold Qatar to account on human rights

Join labour rights defender Malcolm Bidali, FairSquare’s James Lynch, BHRRC’s Isobel Archer and The Independent’s chief football writer Miguel Delaney, hosted by international editor David Harding for an expert panel on how the world can hold Qatar to account on human rights.

You can sign up by following this link:

[5 August 2022 12:50 · Matt Mathers]

The surprise winner of the latest Tory TV battle wasn’t Truss – but Sunak

Liz Truss is all too keen to excuse Boris Johnson’s ‘mistakes’ – she could be as dangerous as him, writes Sean O’Grady.

Read Sean’s full piece here:

[5 August 2022 13:15 · Matt Mathers]

Truss and Sunak are too deep in fantasyland to weather the coming storm

For an extremely long fortnight, they have been fighting it out to be prime minister of a country of which they appear to be hovering above in some kind of spacecraft, without ever having touched down to see what’s actually going on here, writes Tom Peck.

Read Tom’s piece here:

[5 August 2022 13:30 · Matt Mathers]

Why are so many comedians left wing? It’s quite simple, really

The glee with which the ‘Mock the Week’ cancellation was greeted forms part of a narrative that has proved extremely valuable to the right in recent years, writes Andrew Woodcock.

Read Andrew’s full piece here:

[5 August 2022 13:51 · Matt Mathers]

Candidates must tackle inflation and recession, CBI director says

CBI director general Tony Danker said the leadership candidates cannot choose between tackling either inflation or growth and must tackle both, and there is a need to look at the whole tax regime without "cherry-picking".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, Mr Danker said: "I think the candidates are having a debate about stagflation actually. Each candidate is sort of picking their worse evil to focus on first.

"But the trouble with stagflation is you don't get to choose between tackling inflation or tackling recession, you have to tackle both.

"So, that's challenge number one to the candidates, to not pick which one of inflation or recession they care about more, but to come up with a plan that tackles both."

He added: "We need a genuine plan about growth, that when it comes to tax we need to talk about the whole tax regime, not cherry-picking the ones that are most totemic.

"We also need to think way beyond tax, we need to think about regulation that's pro-growth, we need to think about boosting growth markets, and above all, given where most people are in business today, is we need to think about a plan to tackle labour and skills shortages."

[5 August 2022 14:10 · Matt Mathers]

The Bank of England has confirmed the Tory leadership race as an irrelevant sideshow

Their juvenile ‘my tax cuts are bigger than yours’ competition leaves the Tories fiddling while Rome burns, writes Andrew Grice.

Read Andrew’s full piece here:

[5 August 2022 14:40 · Matt Mathers]

Long read: Will a new prime minister destabilise Keir Starmer’s leadership of Labour?

Depending on who wins the Tory leadership contest, Starmer will have to redefine his position, writes John Rentoul. But is he even the right person for the job?

Read John’s full piece here: