Brexit news - LIVE: Rory Stewart attacks Boris Johnson as Labour reveals plan to block no deal

Nicola Sturgeon has claimed that Scotland and the rest of the UK are on "different political paths".

Speaking at the European Policy Centre think-tank in Brussels she said:

"The people of Scotland have to have a choice before it's too late to stop the damage of Brexit being done.

Increasingly, Scotland and the UK are on different political paths. We have to confront whether the better response to that is to have the ability to be independent and shape our own future."

Boris Johnson's supporters appear to be claiming that his weekly column in the Daily Telegraph means he is facing sufficient media scrutiny in his bid to be prime minister...

William Hague, the former Conservative leader, has criticised candidates in the current leadership contest for not having a proper Brexit plan.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Lord Hague said that without a proper strategy for delivering Brexit, the next prime minister would head a "sandcastle administration" which would quickly fall apart

He wrote:

"It is by no means clear as things stand that all of the leading candidates have that plan in their head, and are ready for what is going to hit them if they win the leadership.

"The risk is that they will make tactical decisions and statements in the opening hours that will progressively enfeeble them over the subsequent weeks."

Boris Johnson's campaign to succeed Theresa May received another boost this morning as he was endorsed by former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Duncan Smith said of Mr Johnson:

"I believe of all the candidates he is the most likely to deliver on the requirement to leave the EU by October 31. He has grasped that imperative. While there are other good candidates standing, too many speak of how damaging this would be. How, I wonder, will the EU take their discussions seriously if they see frightened negotiators from the UK sitting in front of them?

Boris has also made it clear that he believes that we should offer a trade deal and, while that is being negotiated, we should seek an implementation agreement with the EU under which we will both go to the WTO and invoke Article 24, which allows us to continue tariff free trade until the final deal is agreed.

We can work urgently on our proposals for alternative customs arrangements to replace the backstop at the Northern Irish border prior to our departure. To do this we need leadership and Boris is, as he showed in London, capable of also capturing a mood of optimism for too long missing in our message to the electorate."

Mark Harper started his campaign launch this morning by promising to answer whatever questions were thrown at him.

Perhaps inevitably, that led one journalist to test how truthful this was, and ask the former Tory chief whip who he thought would win a fight between a bear and a lion. 

He replied:

"On the basis that the lion is the symbol of Britain, I am going to say the lion."

Equally inevitably, that has sparked some debate on Twitter (if you ask me, quite clearly the bear would win).

Cabinet minister and leadership contender Michael Gove has used an interview today to criticise Boris Johnson, who yesterday pledged a tax cut for workers earning over £50,000. 

"You can come from my own background but if your priorities seem to be skewed towards the already fortunate in society that's insane," he said.

Pressed at The Times CEO Summit on whether he was discussing Mr Johnson's tax proposals, Mr Gove was received with laughter when he replied: "I wasn't thinking of any one particular candidate, but I do think his tax proposals are mistaken.

"I think that there are two tests that I would apply to any tax cut. Does it par economic growth and does it help the most disadvantaged in our society?

"A tax cut that concentrates on helping the wealthiest pensioners most of all is not a tax cut which either improves productivity or generates a greater level of social equity."

Boris Johnson is under pressure to come clean over his drug use after leadership rival Michael Gove’s cocaine admission threatened to derail his bid for No 10.

Mr Johnson’s conflicting statements about his past use of cocaine are expected to come under scrutiny when he launches his campaign to succeed Theresa May on Wednesday.

All of the Tory leadership hopefuls are facing intense scrutiny following the row over Mr Gove’s use of the class A drug more than 20 years ago, when he was working as a journalist.

Mr Johnson, who is the frontrunner in the 10-strong race, has previously said he took cocaine at university but then also claimed he had not actually snorted the drug in a separate interview.

Michael Gove has renewed his attack on Boris Johnson, suggesting his rival's tax cut plans are "mistaken".

On Monday, Mr Johnson promised to cut income tax for people earning between £50,000 and £80,000.

Speaking an at event organised by The Times, Mr Gove said: "You can come from my own background but if your priorities seem to be skewed towards the already fortunate in society that's insane."

Asked if he was referring to Mr Johnson, he replied:

"I wasn't thinking of any one particular candidate, but I do think his tax proposals are mistaken.

"I think that there are two tests that I would apply to any tax cut. Does it par economic growth and does it help the most disadvantaged in our society?

"A tax cut that concentrates on helping the wealthiest pensioners most of all is not a tax cut which either improves productivity or generates a greater level of social equity."

Story: Jeremy Corbyn could become prime minister without a general election, warns Tory leadership hopeful Mark Harper

Andrea Leadsom has criticised the BBC's decision to make over-75s start paying the license fee. More on that shortly.