UK politics live: Kemi Badenoch insists she believes in maternity pay as Tory rivals jump on ‘excessive’ claim

Following the appearance of the four Conservative leadership candidates on the morning media round, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader has expressed come concerns.

Daisy Cooper accused the contenders of trying to “defend the indefensible” on their pitches.

She added: “As James Cleverly said himself, people wanted the Conservatives out of government and this dire set of candidates has made it crystal clear why. “From the Conservative’s Partygate and PPE scandals to their disastrous mini budget, every one of the Conservative’s leadership candidates has spent years defending the indefensible.

“The British people have had enough of Conservative sleaze and scandal. They’ve had enough of seeing their health services and economy trashed. And that’s why so many former life-long Conservative voters backed the Liberal Democrats at the last election.

“People want urgent action to fix the health and care crisis not Conservative leadership candidates sniping from the sidelines. That’s why Liberal Democrats are calling for a Budget to Save the NHS and Care and working day in day out to be the constructive opposition the country needs and deserves.“

Kemi Badenoch has called for the need for clarity around Britain’s national identity.

Speaking on Times Radio about the challenges posed by migration, she said: “People are running away from terrifying regimes and coming here. We cannot allow the things they’re running from to spring up here.

“Immigrants come here to build their lives, not to build this country. We should ask them to contribute to this country.

“But at some point if you just become a mix of everything that’s just going on around the world, what is it that you’re uniting around, what is your national identity?”

Tom Tugendhat has rejected claims that he is the “tailender” in the Tory leadership race.

Asked on Times Radio if he was the “tailender”, he said: “No I don’t think that’s right. I think what we’re seeing is that this is a massive reset moment for the party and actually for the race.

“The reality is that we need to restore trust in this party, we need to restore trust in politics across the country, and we need to offer the leadership that the British people need.

“And you know, I’ve demonstrated over 25 years serving our country in different ways, on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Parliament and recently in cabinet, that you know, service is absolutely essential to what we need, and it defines who I am, and we need to be offering that same level of service and that same offer of leadership to make sure we’re delivering for the British people.”

In a quick-fire round of questioning, Mr Tugendhat answered “yes” to questions “can you win” and “would you appoint your final contenders to your shadow cabinet if you do win” and “do you think this contest should be cut short so you can respond to the budget”.

Asked, “if not you, who”, Mr Tugendhat did not answer and said “that will be a matter for the Conservative voters”. Pushed on the question, he said: “Look, I’m standing because I think I’m the best placed to offer the leadership this country needs.”

Pat McFadden has rejected Rosie Duffield’s claim that “the lads” were in charge in Downing Street.

Asked whether he was one of “the lads”, he told the BBC: “I think I’m a bit too old to be a lad.

“Some of the stuff in the letter [from Rosie Duffield] I just don’t accept.

“I see ministers turning up to work every day and what’s on their mind is how to stabilise the economy and get it growing again, how to turn around the NHS, how to get more houses built, how to improve rights at work for people, how to get more opportunity into schools.

“That’s what the ministers around that Cabinet table are focused on. They believe in public service.”

Labour will tighten rules to ensure ministers declare hospitality they receive in the same way as backbench MPs, Pat McFadden has said, claiming the current rules were a “Tory loophole” to protect Conservative ministers.

He told the BBC: “We will make clear going forward in the ministerial code that both ministers and shadow ministers should be under the same declaration rules.”

He added: “This was a Tory loophole, brought in so that you would have an event where the Tory minister, as it was under the last government, there, the Labour shadow opposite number would also be there, and the Tory minister would not have to declare.

“That was the Tory rules, we don’t think that’s fair, so we will close that loophole so ministers and shadow ministers are treated the same going forward.”

Details of hospitality received by ministers in their ministerial capacity are published by departments, but the information is released quarterly and does not include the value of the hospitality, unlike MPs’ interests which are declared fortnightly and include the cost of the hospitality.

Labour cabinet minister Pat McFadden has addressed Rosie Duffield’s recent criticisms.

Acknowledging her long-sanding disillusionment with the party and its leader, he told the BBC: “It’s not something that’s developed in the last few months.”

On the controversy surrounding donations accepted by Labour members, McFadden defended them as standard contributions, adding that “presentation” is part of any campaign.

He also dismissed any notion of “give x to get y,” and highlighted Lord Alli as a “long-term” Labour supporter.

Rosie Duffield has accused Sir Keir Starmer of having a problem with women.

She told the BBC that many women backbenchers she’s friends with refer to the “young men that surround him [Starmer] as ‘the lads’ and it’s clear that the lads are now in charge”.

Ms Duffield added: “They’re the same lads that were there briefing against me in the papers. I was really hoping for better, but it wasn’t to be.”

Following her resignation letter attacking the prime minister, the Canterbury MP has hit out at Keir Starmer for accepting gifts from donors while axing the winter fuel payment for pensioners.

Ms Duffield told the BBC: “I’m ashamed of the fact that we stood up and condemned the last few years of Tory sleaze and all of the things that brought politics into disrepute and here we are and it’s daily revelations of hypocrisy and grubby presents. I can’t believe what I’m reading every single day.”

She added: “It’s greed. Why else would someone on so much more money than most people take free gifts? Why?

“He can absolutely afford his own clothes, we all can and I’ve seen journalists asking him and he hasn’t answered, he hasn’t explained.”