UK politics live: Centrist Tories reject both leadership rivals as Jenrick attacks Badenoch’s ‘needless drama’

Robert Jenrick has kicked off the final stage of the Tory leadership contest with a series of thinly-veiled attacks on his rival Kemi Badenoch.

The former immigration minister painted himself as the serious contender to succeed Rishi Sunak, in stark contrast with fellow right-winger Ms Badenoch who he suggested would oversee “needless drama”.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story below:

Robert Jenrick has said he is the right candidate to win back Reform voters as he contends with Kemi Badenoch to become Tory leader.

Expressing his ambition to reunite the Conservative Party after years of infighting, he told The Sun: “We have Reform snapping at our heels. All the polling shows that I am the best placed person to bring those Reform voter back.

In fact the polling suggests I’m best placed to win over the Labour voters, the Lib Dem voters and the Reform voters.

“You need a leader who’s capable of doing that and doing it with seriousness and purpose.”

To avoid a return to austerity, the chancellor must find £25bn a year without cutting deep into departmental spending. If only we could rejoin the single market or customs union, says John Rentoul:

Tens of thousands of children face having their education disrupted as a result of the VAT raid on private schools, according to figures from a treasury minister.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Lord Livermore said that the number of pupils who may switch schools is less than 0.5 per cent of total UK school pupils of more than nine million, which equates to up to 45,000 children.

He said: “As far as the state sector goes, to the extent that pupils move at all, the number of pupils who may switch schools represents a very small proportion of overall pupil numbers in the state sector, likely to be less than 0.5 per cent of total UK school pupils of more than 9 million.”

He added that the policy will “raise revenue to fund the Government’s objective that every child has access to high-quality education, including the 95 per cent who are educated in the state sector”.

The money raised will help fund 3,000 new nurseries, recruit 6,500 new teachers and roll out breakfast clubs to all primary schools.

However, peers in Westminster branded these benefits “meaningless” compared with the “enormous” impact on pupils having to move schools mid-year, arguing that the date should at least be pushed back to avoid this “trauma”.

Sources close to Rachel Reeves are strongly denying that she plans to hike capital gains tax by as much as 15 per cent to 39 per cent.

A report in the Guardian suggested that Ms Reeves’ tax raising plans “are in disarray” and she has asked Treasury officials to consider modelling for raising capital gains tax to 33 per cent or 39 per cent.

But a source close to the chancellor hit back claiming the story was “badly sourced”.

“These claims are inaccurate,” they said, adding that they did not comment on “pure speculation” regarding specific tax measures before a budget.

The speculation comes as the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that Ms Reeves will need to find as much as £25 billion to meet her spending commitments.

Currently around 350,000 people a year pay the wealth tax on sales of assets and it raises about 315 billion a year for the Treasury. The Tories reduced the amount paid on residential properties being sold off by landlords to 24 per cent.

The Conservative leadership election has been whittled down to the two final candidates, as Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick face off for a final month of campaigning.

Both MPs are considered to be on the right of the party, with Labour officials reportedly rejoicing that the more centrist – and perhaps more electable – candidate James Cleverly was knocked out in a surprise result.

Anti-migrant policies, social conservatism and Euroscepticism are part and parcel of both the remaining candidates’ views – but there are also a few key differences between them:

Health experts are sounding the alarm as new data revealed the NHS is heading into the winter season “in bad shape”.

Experts at King’s Fund warned the health service has shown deteriorating performance across key measures.

The charity’s chief analyst highlighted a concerning picture of rising financial pressures, ongoing strikes and missed targets.

Siva Anandaciva said: “The NHS is approaching winter in bad shape.

“Industrial action is continuing, financial pressures are rising, and important performance targets continue to be missed.

“Despite the hard work of staff, patient care in the NHS continues to fall short of expectations.

“Today’s statistics show it has been three years since A&E performance was above the current temporary target of 78 per cent of people waiting under four hours and nearly a decade since the official target of 95 per cent of people being seen in four hours was met.”

A bill on assisted dying will have its first debate on 29 November, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has said.

It will be the first time in almost a decade MPs have debated and voted on the subject in the House of Commons in almost a decade.

Her private member’s bill (PMB) on choice at the end of life for people with terminal illness will be formally introduced in Parliament on Wednesday.

The details of the legislation will be published ahead of the first full debate and vote on 29 November, Ms Leadbeater’s office said.