Starmer pushed on EU youth mobility as Tory leadership rivals make final pitch – live

Tom Tugendhat, who is doing the morning media round, has doubled down on his criticism of Robert Jenrick’s special forces comments.

It comes after the former immigration secretary said the SAS was “killing rather than capturing terrorists”.

Responding to his claim, Mr Tugendhat told Times Radio: “I’m afraid what has been said in that video, it’s just factually inaccurate, it’s not true.”

Asked if the comments were dangerous, the shadow security secretary said they were “unwise”.

Conservative leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch said people who want to move to the UK need to be “very committed”, adding the country is “not a dormitory”.

Asked how she would make culture part of an immigration strategy, the former business secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s all about doing everything in tandem. I said numbers matter, culture matters more but leadership is key and we need to think about all of it together.

“What we did previously was just leave the Home Office to look at people coming in and out, but we need to make sure that when people are coming to this country they are people who are coming to contribute and also who want the success of our country.

“Of course there will be others who are passing through, like student visas, for example, but if people want to stay here, we live in an age where you need to be very committed: we are not a dormitory, we’re not a sponge.

“I’m somebody who came to this country at 16 and I did so wanting to be here, wanting to be from here, so culture matters.”

Pressed on what her integration strategy would be, Ms Badenoch said: “It is about making sure that we keep our values… it’s values like citizenship, being more than just having a passport, it’s an expectation that you create for people, and government does need to talk about that.”

The Conservative Party conference is coming to an end with Tory candidates set to address delegates to make their final pitches.

Tom Tugendhat will be the first to take the stage at 10.45am. The shadow security minister will set out his plans for a “new Conservative revolution” in areas such as the economy and housing.

James Cleverly will speak second and Robert Jenrick will make the third pitch amid backlash from his rivals for claiming that UK special forces were “killing rather than capturing” terrorists.

Kemi Badenoch, tipped as grassroots favourite, will be the one to close out the conference with her keynote speech.

We will bring you all the updates and analysis live from the Conservative party conference throughout the day.

James Cleverly has signalled he is willing to axe stamp duty on home purchases in order to help the economy “thrive”.

Asked if he would pledge to slash the tax should he win the Tory leadership contest, the Conservative former minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme stamp duty “stagnates the market”.

He added: “At the last general election, my party – the Conservative Party – was being criticised by the Labour Party for taxing too much.

“If we don’t start cutting taxes, we stifle the economy and we will ultimately not be able to thrive as a country.”

When put to him that the measure was explored by Liz Truss in her short tenure as prime minister, Mr Cleverly replied: “Your argument is because one of my predecessors proposed it, we can never propose it?

“This is why we have now got the highest tax burden since the war. Higher than many of our international competitors and high enough that the Labour Party felt liberated to criticise us.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the Conservative brand is “completely damaged” and he has no intention of doing a deal with the next Tory leader.

Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Mr Farage said of the four Conservative Party leadership candidates: “They all think with a new leader ‘it’ll all be fine, all the voters will come back to us’, and what they don’t understand is the Conservative brand is completely damaged, they have no chance of winning the next election.”

He added: “There would be no deal with them, I wouldn’t trust them anyway, they have a pattern of behaviour pretending to be one thing and then when they’re in government being quite the opposite.

“And, frankly, what I’m trying to do with Reform is replace them.”

Pressed on the Tory record on Brexit and asked if he was proud of the UK’s exit from the EU, Mr Farage said: “Do I think getting back our independence was the right thing to do? You bet your life.

“Do I think we’ve handled it well? Good Lord, no.”

British forces “played their part” in attempts to prevent further violence in the Middle East, the Defence Secretary has confirmed, after Sir Keir Starmer said he stands with Israel following an attack on the country by Iran.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, John Healey said he “completely condemn(s) Iran’s attack against Israel”.

“British forces have this evening played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East,” he added.

“I want to thank all British personnel involved in the operation for their courage and professionalism.”

Earlier the Prime Minister had said he was “deeply concerned that the region is on the brink” and again urged British nationals in Lebanon to leave amid escalating violence in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Britons fleeing Lebanon were set to board a UK Government-chartered flight to safety on today.

Mr Healey is visiting Cyprus to meet troops who are preparing for the possibility of evacuating British citizens from Lebanon.

Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to open the door for the European youth mobility scheme during his visit to Brussels today.

The prime minister will hold a bilateral meeting with president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

He aims to reset Britain’s relationship with the European Union but is facing early demands from leaders on migration, fishing and youth mobility.

Sources close to his senior negotiator – european affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds – say he is unwilling to agree to a youth mobility scheme too quickly and will want to use the EU’s enthusiasm for the project as a negotiating chip.

Such demands for concessions by the EU leades are likely to be raised this week before detailed negotiations later this year.

Keir Starmer kicks off his bid to reset Britain’s relationship with the European Union on Wednesday morning – but is facing early demands from leaders on migration, fishing and youth mobility.

The prime minister wants to tackle defence and security, crime and immigration, and then trade under a “three pillar” strategy for the crunch talks with EU leaders in Brussels, as revealed by The Independent last week.

But Sir Keir will also arrive in Belgium under growing pressure to agree to a youth mobility scheme to allow under-30s to travel more freely between Britain and the EU.

Our political editor David Maddox has the full story below: