Bank of England interest rate cut joy for mortgage holders as Reeves blames mini-Budget for inflation - live

Kemi Badenoch asked officials to pay for a flight to go on holiday to the US using taxpayers’ money, sources have claimed.

Department for Business and Trade (DBT) sources told The Guardian the request was rejected by the top civil servant at the time.

Officials reportedly ended up booking her travel to Texas for a family holiday in February 2023 but the then Cabinet minister paid for the trip herself.

Mrs Badenoch, who is standing to be the next leader of the Tory party, had travelled to Mexico on a taxpayer funded business class flight for an official visit to discuss the UK’s bid to join the CPTPP Indo-Pacific trade bloc, as well as wider discussions about bilateral trade with the nation.

Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full story:

Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s £3.57 billion takeover deal for the owner of Royal Mail has been called in by the UK government under security rules.

International Distribution Services, the parent company of Royal Mail, agreed a takeover deal by Mr Kretinsky’s EP Group in May.

The PA news agency understands that the Cabinet Office has now launched a review process into the bid under the National Security and Investment (NSI) act.

Mr Kretinsky’s EP Group and the Cabinet Office declined to comment.

The process will assess whether the sale to Mr Kretinsky, who is already IDS’s largest shareholder, could affect the UK’s economic infrastructure or pose a security risk.

The BBC reported that government officials will particularly look into links to Russia, with the billionaire investor owning stake in a major gas pipeline from Russia to Europe.

Government officials could block a deal or ask for specific commitments from the suitor if the review raises major concerns.

The review process is expected to take up to two months.

Sources close to the process told PA that a review under the NSI act is “not a surprise”, with the government taking a similar process when Mr Kretinsky increased his shareholding in Royal Mail’s owner to 27.5 per cent in 2022.

Suella Braverman has claimed the Tories have “no chance of winning” the next general election as long as Reform UK still exists.

The former home secretary said her party and Nigel Farage’s Reform “cannot co-exist”.

She told GB News: “There is not enough room in British politics for two conservative parties. Reform and the Conservatives cannot co-exist in the way that they are.

“We will have no chance of winning the next general election as long as Reform is a viable alternative.”

But she the Conservative MP for Fareham and Waterlooville was unsure how to fix the situation.

Suella Braverman has ruled out running to be a Tory leader in the future.

Asked if she had given up on the idea, she told GB News: “I won’t put myself forward again. I am very happy. I have had a go.”

Mrs Braverman added she believed “that will be it for me I think”.

It comes as the rightwing struggled to get the 10 MPs needed to put her on the ballot paper to become the next Conservative leader as Brexiteers look at Robert Jenrick as an alternative candidate.

Allies warned that a “Stop Suella” campaign is running among parliamentarians because of the “uncomfortable truths” she spoke about the state of the party and her enormous support among ordinary members.

Suella Braverman has said she will not defect to Reform UK unless she is “driven out” of the Conservative Party.

In her first interview since abandoning her bid to replace Rishi Sunak as party leader, the former home secretary warned that the Tories have “no chance of winning the next general election” as long as Nigel Farage’s outfit “is a viable alternative”.

Asked about speculation that she might join Reform UK, Ms Braverman told GB News: “I’m not going to defect to Reform, no.

“I hope I’m not driven out to Reform by my colleagues.”

Describing Tory-to-Reform defector Lee Anderson as a “good friend,” she continued: “We should not be hounding out Conservatives, right-wingers, Eurosceptics, people who want to stand up for our flag and our faith as if they are somehow swivel-eyed loons.

“Lee Anderson should be a Conservative MP.”

Ms Braverman also warned her party against “complacency” over the threat from Reform.

“I am absolutely confident that Reform can do better,” she said.

“Young people are voting more for Reform than they are for the Conservatives.”

“These facts alone should seriously alarm any Conservative leader and all Conservative MPs.

“I’m just concerned that there’s still a level of complacency.”

Britain’s manufacturing sector saw activity jump to a two-year high in July amid surging optimism after Labour’s landslide victory, a report has shown.

The closely-watched S&P Global UK manufacturing PMI survey recorded a reading of 52.1 for July, up from 50.9 in June and above the 51.8 indicated in last month’s “flash” estimate.

The sector has now remained above the 50 mark – which indicates growth – for the past three months.

The report said growth in production lifted to its highest level since February 2022, while new orders likewise strengthened.

It also revealed workforces in factories rose for the first time in nearly two years, with the survey showing a boost to confidence levels since the election result in early July.

Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “Hopes for an economic revival and reduced political uncertainty took confidence to one of its highest levels for two-and-a-half years, with 60% of companies surveyed now forecasting output will rise over the coming 12 months.”

But he added: “Inflationary pressures remain a blot on the copybook, however, with input costs rising to the greatest extent in one-and-a-half years.

“The ongoing Red Sea crisis and associated freight issues are having a severe impact on prices, which are then sustaining a focus on cost-caution and cash flow protection at manufacturers.”

During the election, Labour committed to overhauling the ‘Cinderella service’ of adult social care – yet, in one of her first acts as chancellor, Rachel Reeves has removed the ceiling that limits an individual’s costs to £86,000. Will the public settle for another sticking-plaster solution, asks Andrew Grice:

Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins has said it was “no surprise” that GPs have voted for industrial action after Labour granted junior doctors a big pay rise.

The Tory MP said: “After appeasing junior doctors with a budget-busting 22 per cent pay rise, it comes as no surprise that other healthcare workers are feeling shortchanged by the new Labour Government.

“Instead of caving in to unaffordable union demands, the Labour Government must resolve this dispute or it is patients and the public who will pay the price with more strikes and higher taxes.”

It comes as family doctors announced industrial action in protest at the previous Conservative government increasing their budget by only 1.9 per cent this year.