Tory leadership race - live: Mordaunt criticised for supporting homeopathy on NHS

Foreign secretary vows to axe tax hike and national insurance rise

‘Borrowing your way out of inflation is a fairytale’: Sunak and Truss clash over economy plan

Tory leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt has been criticised for her support of homeopathy on the NHS.

Homeopathy is a treatment based on using diluted amounts of natural substances, but is not currently funded by the NHS due to its “lack of effectiveness”.

Ms Mordaunt has advocated the practice according to an analysis of her parliamentary record and past comments, and was one of 16 supporters of a motion in the House of Commons criticising the British Medical Association for withdrawing NHS support for homeopathy, in June 2010.

Meanwhile, Liz Truss has pledged that families could receive tax breaks of up to £2,500 to help them take time out of work to look after children or other family members.

Ms Truss has promised a radical overhaul of the taxation system if she gets into Downing Street that would also include ditching green levies on energy bills and reversing an increase to national insurance.

It comes after the five contenders to become the UK’s next prime minister clashed over tax cuts and Boris Johnson’s honesty in a debate on Friday night.

A snap Opinium poll found 36 per cent of viewers believed Tom Tugendhat performed best – while just 10 per cent of Tory voters said the same of Ms Truss.

Key points

• Penny Mordaunt under fire for support of homeopathy
• Truss promises £2,500 tax break for families
• Snap poll puts Tugendhat as clear winner of debate – as Truss stumbles
• Mordaunt says rivals fear her the most and she is not scared of becoming PM
• Truss campaign not involved in ‘black ops’ onslaught against Mordaunt, Shapps insists
• Lord Frost calls on Kemi Badenoch to withdraw and back Truss
• Who is backing whom in race to replace Boris Johnson?

[14 July 2022 15:23 · Andy Gregory]

Watch: Suella Braverman eliminated from race

Here is the moment that Suella Braverman was knocked out of the race:

[14 July 2022 15:22 · Andy Gregory]

Tugendhat vows to fight on after receiving just 32 votes

Tom Tugendhat has insisted that his “campaign for a clean start” continues – despite him receiving just 32 votes in the second round of the leadership race.

“We need trust back in our politics. I will be putting my vision for Britain forward to the public at the TV debates next week,” the foreign affairs committee chair said.

[14 July 2022 15:13 · Andy Gregory]

Liz Truss campaign claims she is attracting support from across Tory Party

Liz Truss’s leadership election team claimed she is attracting a wide range of support from across the Tory party, as they indicted Suella Braverman’s supporters should now back the foreign secretary.

“Suella Braverman ran a campaign that she can rightly be proud of,” a spokeswoman for Ms Truss said.

“As Liz set out in her speech now is the time for MPs to unite behind the candidate who will cut taxes, deliver the real economic change we need, continue to deliver the benefits of Brexit and ensure Putin loses in Ukraine.

“Liz Truss has the experience to deliver from day one, grow our economy and support working families and then beat Labour.”

[14 July 2022 15:05 · Andy Gregory]

Sunak receives more than 100 votes in second round of voting

Our deputy political correspondent Rob Merrick has this breaking report on the results of the second Tory leadership vote:

[14 July 2022 15:04 · Andy Gregory]

Suella Braverman eliminated as second round results announced

Suella Braverman has been knocked out of the race in the second round of voting, with Tom Tugendhat only narrowly ahead of her.

The results are as follows:

Rishi Sunak: 101

Penny Mordaunt: 83

Liz Truss: 64

Kemi Badenoch: 49

Tom Tugendhat: 32

Suella Braverman: 27

[14 July 2022 14:59 · Andy Gregory]

Tory leadership candidate says she will ‘eliminate’ right to protection from torture and inhumane treatment

A Conservative party leadership candidate has said she would “eliminate” human rights law protecting people from torture and inhuman treatment, our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports.

Suella Braverman, who has made it into the second round of the contest to replace Boris Johnson, said Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights was tying the government’s hands.

She argued that the government’s policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda could be found illegal under the protections Britain committed to in 1953, and they would have to go.

Article 3 stipulates: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”