Politics latest: Former Tory minister launching leadership campaign; poll reveals potential frontrunners (2024)

That's all for our live political coverage for today.

Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips is on its summer break at the moment, so we'll be back on Monday morning.

Answering questions from the media, Robert Jenrick says he hopes to bring back the Rwanda deportation scheme, should he lead the Conservative Party in government.

On other areas, he says he would absolutely leave the European Conventions on Human Rights.

He also says he does not want people to "cower in the face of extremists or violence" when asked if they should avoid going out amid threats of unrest this weekend.

And on the Olympic boxing dispute, Mr Jenrick says he does not think people who have failed gender tests should be able to compete against women.

Former Home Office minister Robert Jenrick is giving a speech as part of his campaign to lead the Conservative Party.

Before he spoke, former common sense minister Esther McVey introduced him.

She repeatedly highlighted Labour's "betrayal" of various groups like pensioners and young people - before praising Mr Jenrick's ability to communicate and speak in public.

Arriving on stage, Mr Jenrick praises those who helped him keep his seat during the general election campaign, before saying he wants to breathe "new life" into the party.

This includes having members choose candidates for elections, and becoming a "mass membership" party.

Mr Jenrick says he believes young people can be convinced to be Conservatives - but this requires being pro-housebuilding.

He says that, during the campaign, he will tell the party some "hard truths", before praising the Cameron era for reforming schools and managing the public finances.

Mr Jenrick also praises Boris Johnson for getting Brexit "done".

He says the Tories lost the election because they broke a promise to the general public to bring down migration - and says that is why he resigned from cabinet last year.

As a Home Office minister, Mr Jenrick was not a full member of the cabinet.

He says he wants to embrace the levelling up agenda, and to get public services working well again - criticising money being poured into things like the NHS with no improvement.

Mr Jenrick says a fear of Labour attacking their intentions meant the Tory government did not take the difficult choices needed.

He quips that the "lions" on the front line were let down by the "donkeys" in the back office.

On migration, the former Home Office minister says the state failed to secure the country's borders, and that high rates of migration were not good for the economy - and he concluded the system was contributing to the UK's "national decline".

He says the party has to change "a lot" to win, and win back voters who they lost to both sides.

Mr Jenrick says the Conservatives need to change alongside the "best traditions and values" of the party - including generosity of spirit, respecting institutions and one another, and a yearning for national unity not division.

He concludes by saying he believes the Tories can win the next election.

Former Home Office minister Robert Jenrick is hosting a leadership event at 3pm today.

The Newark MP is one of six candidates hoping to succeed Rishi Sunak as the head of the Conservative Party.

We know now that he will be introduced by Esther McVey at the event.

Ms McVey, the MP for Tatton, was most recently a minister without portfolio in Mr Sunak's government.

She had previously worked as a housing minister under Boris Johnson, and as work and pensions secretary under Theresa May.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey have been on a visit to the Middle East - including Lebanon.

As part of this visit, both cabinet ministers have called for de-escalation of tensions on the Blue Line - the demarcation line separating Israel and Lebanon.

Mr Lammy said: "This is a worrying time for people in Lebanon: they have been through a lot in the past five years, including the terrible port explosion that claimed so many lives.

"I'm here on the ground meeting with influential figures to call for immediate de-escalation in the region.

"I've raised my concerns about the ongoing tensions between Lebanon and Israel and have highlighted the UK's determination to avoid miscalculation.

Mr Healey said: "De-escalation must be our primary focus as this region stands at a crossroads. The loss of innocent life in recent weeks and months is unbearable. This has to end.

"All sides must step back from conflict and step up diplomacy. We will work with important partners like Qatar as our government leads a renewed push for peace."

You can read more about the situation in the Middle East here:

A judge has made the "exceptional" decision to name the17-year-old suspect charged with the murder of three girls in the Southportstabbing attack,in an attempt toprevent further misinformation about himbeingspreading online.

Reporting restrictions around the identification of a minor left an information vacuum into which disinformationspread, fuelling violence in towns across the country in recent days.

On the Sky News Daily, Liz Bates speaks to our data and forensics correspondent Tom Cheshire to explore how disinformation is spread onlineand Joe Mulhall from Hope Not Hate explains the challenges of tackling the far-rightideology when it'snot identified with a specific group.

👉Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts👈

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has been asked about her feelings on the one of the most controversial parts of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Yesterday, Italy's Angela Carini quit her boxing match against Algeria's Imane Khelif after just 46 seconds.

Khelif's inclusion was controversial due to a previous failed gender eligibility test - you can read more about what happened here.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Nandy said: "It was a very uncomfortable watch.

"It was an incredibly short watch, but incredibly uncomfortable to see.

"And I know from being here in Paris that there are a lot of women competitors who are very concerned, not just about whether we're getting the balance right between inclusion, fairness and safety in boxing, but in other sports as well."

She added that the situation was more complex than what was being portrayed on social media.

In terms of the government's role, Ms Nandy said it was to make sure the right guidelines were in place for the bodies which operate sporting competitions.

She was not able to confirm if the bout would have gone ahead in the UK.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has called for Huw Edwards to return the money he made from the BBC after being arrested.

Speaking to Sky News, the Labour frontbencher said Edwards "ought" to hand back the cash he earned since November last year, when he was arrested over serious indecent images of children.

The disgraced broadcaster has since stopped working for the publicly funded broadcaster, and admitted his guilt earlier this week.

She said it was "wrong" for Edwards to keep taking the salary until he resigned.

The Welsh newsreader was one of the BBC's most highly paid stars.

"It's not a good use of taxpayer's money," Ms Nandy added.

"I think most people in the country would agree with that."

However, she says it is "up to him" on whether he does hand back the cash.

Pollsters at YouGov have done some research on how people feel about the various Tory party leadership contenders.

While the opinion of the general public is interesting - it is not necessarily informative about the way the race could go.

Tory MPs will whittle down the contest to a final two by October, and then paid-up members will get to vote on who they want.

For this reason, the polling on how 2024 Tory voters feel gives greater insight into how the race may go.

Looking at the figures, James Cleverly appears to be the favourite - with a net rating of +16.

He is followed by Tom Tugendhat, just behind on +15.

The order then goes: Robert Jenrick (+8), Kemi Badenoch (+4), Mel Stride (-8) and Priti Patel (-11).

Ms Patel is also the most well-known among the general public - but also has a massive number of people that do not like her, the poll suggests.