Keir Starmer responds to Manchester airport police video as Tugendhat and Jenrick enter Tory leadership race – live

Rachel Reeves has vowed to “bang the drum for British business” at the G20 in Brazil during her first international trip as Chancellor.

She will arrive in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday to attend the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors.

She will press business leaders to “take another look at Britain” and talk about the Government’s plans to boost international investment.

Ms Reeves said: “Over the coming days my message to international leaders is simple: after years of uncertainty and instability, Britain is open for business once again.

“This new Government’s number one mission is to boost economic growth so we can make every part of the country better off. That can only happen by working alongside business from around the world to encourage them to invest in the jobs and industries of the future.

“That is why over the coming two days I will be banging the drum for British business and urging leaders to take another look at us.

“I’m ready to take my seat at the table alongside fellow finance ministers, steering the world economy and representing our national interests on the major issues of our time, including grasping the growth opportunities of the net-zero transition and putting pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.”

Mr Stride said the Conservative Party has “substantially lost the trust of the British people” as well as its “reputation for competence”.

He told BBC Breakfast: “What we know from the general election is that we’re in a very, very difficult place as a party, and I worry about that because I care about my party and I care about my country.

“We’ve substantially lost the trust of the British people and we’ve lost our reputation for competence, and I believe that I’m in a very good position to address those issues going forward.

“In terms of trust, I think (the party) needs somebody who is going to be able to unite the party.

“People are not going to vote for a party that’s at each other’s throats all the time.

“I am respected, I think, right across the parliamentary party, I was chair of the Treasury Select Committee, the leader of the House of Commons, all of those things are roles about bringing people together.”

Mel Stride has announced he is running on the Tory leadership contest to replace Rishi Sunak.

The shadow work and pensions secretary said he has managed to secure the endorsement of the 10 MPs he needed to make it onto the ballot paper.

The MP for Central Devon told BBC Breakfast this morning: “I’m fully nominated. I was nominated yesterday morning and my candidacy has gone forward.”

The Labour government has used flights scheduled to deport migrants under the Tories’ scrapped Rwanda scheme to return failed asylum seekers to Vietnam and Timor-Leste.

The Home Office has announced that a charter flight took 46 migrants to the Asian countries on Wednesday.

Sir Lenny Henry is among the celebrities who have called on the new Government to reverse laws that require voters to bring photo identification to polling stations.

The actor and comedian, 65, backed an open letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying that the legislation, which was introduced by the last government, is “an attack on the democratic rights of people of colour”.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the department responsible for voting rules, says that there will be a “thorough evaluation of voter ID rules”.

The letter to Sir Keir, organised by campaigning group Operation Black Vote and the equality think tank, the Runnymede Trust and posted online on Thursday, was also backed by other famous faces.

Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh, artist Anish Kapoor, Homeland actor David Harewood, Star Wars star Hugh Quarshie, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody actress Naomi Ackie and Hotel Rwanda actress Sophie Okonedo were among the more than 50 signatories.

They urge Sir Keir to “repeal the unfair Voter ID laws brought in under the last government”, citing more than 400,000 people being turned away during the 2024 General Election.

Sir Keir Starmer has warned it will “take time” to reap the benefits of clean power initiatives but stood by a claim that Labour’s plans will eventually drive down household bills by £300 a year amid confusion over the commitment.

The Prime Minister said the Government is “moving at pace” with the development of the publicly-owned GB Energy company but said “problems that have been left to fester for years” cannot be fixed “overnight”.

Hitting out at the Conservative record, he said chances to boost energy security had been missed by the previous government, leaving a “rot of short-sightedness and self-service” for Labour to clear up.

In a speech in Runcorn, Cheshire, Sir Keir said “every day” his administration is finding “more mess” that the Tories left behind.

“The hard graft of rebuilding this country has well and truly started, and it is vital that we begin immediately because the last government dropped the ball,” he said.

“They left us the worst inheritance since the Second World War, and every day – every day – we’re finding more mess that they’ve left for us to clear up, the rot of short-sightedness and self-service that has weakened the foundations of our country.”

Sir Keir’s speech was aimed at setting out new plans to team up with the Crown Estate, which owns the vast majority of Britain’s seabed, to boost the building of offshore wind farms.

It comes after the Tories cast doubt on a previous Labour pledge to help cut household bills by £300 a year, in part through GB Energy, its flagship green initiative.

Threats faced by Britain are no longer theoretical or a distant possibility but are “alive and well” in Ukraine after Russia’s brutal invasion, the head of the UK’s defence review has said.

Former Nato secretary general Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, who served as defence secretary under Tony Blair, highlighted the “depraved conduct” of Vladimir Putin’s occupying forces to highlight what was at stake.

The Labour peer said it was imperative the UK military was able to deter any threat to the nation.

Lord Robertson also made clear the problems facing Britain’s overstretched armed forces were known and what he was inviting through the review was solutions “and the trade-offs that will be involved”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer recently reaffirmed his commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP (gross domestic product) at the Nato summit in Washington.

But he is under pressure over the timescale on funding given the present threats to national security.

Speaking during the defence debate on the King’s Speech, Lord Robertson said: “This will be my second strategic defence review but probably the more difficult.

“The world has changed dramatically since the last one in 1998 and in the intervening period the range of challenges, threats, complications, instabilities and fragilities has multiplied.

“The sheer volatility of events today in the world combined with the velocity of dynamic change have both combined to produce new vulnerabilities in our society.

“And we must all face that new global turbulence with serious intent.

“Therefore, our armed forces must be agile, lethal, survivable and robust enough to deter any threat to our country and that is the imperative.”

Tom Tugendhat has joined James Cleverly in publicly declaring his candidacy in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as Conservative Party leader.

There will potentially be a crowded field in the contest as Mr Cleverly acknowledged he was not the only one giving it “serious thought” ahead of nominations opening on Wednesday evening.

Mr Sunak, who led the Tories to their worst general election result, will remain as leader until a successor is appointed.

The winner will be announced on November 2. Here are the key contenders to watch:

• James Cleverly
• James Cleverly
• Kemi Badenoch
• Suella Braverman
• Priti Patel
• Robert Jenrick
• Mel Stride

Tom Tugendhat said he had been surprised by Liz Truss’s recklessness as he was quizzed about previously backing her.

“I stood against every other leadership contender at the last time and then I was left with the choice of two,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

He added: “Liz demonstrated a recklessness that surprised all of us.”

The contender for the Conservative leadership dodged questions of whether backing Ms Truss and her economic plan showed a lack of judgment on his part.

He said: “What we need to be doing is focusing on the challenges that are facing us in the future. Over the last three, four years – you’re absolutely right. We have failed to deliver. That’s exactly why I’m standing because I think we need to unite this country. We need to rebuild that trust, and we need to deliver.”