Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are set to be grilled by Christopher Hope and audience members on GB News’Decision Time: The Race to Lead. After Hope tossed a coin, Jenrick is first up. It’s the first (and potentially only) televised leadership hustings before voting for Tory members closes on 31st October. Expect some fiery words from Jenrick on immigration and the ECHR. Guido will give you live updates below:
Jenrick’s pitch to viewers finishes. Kemi next up…
Who is his favourite Prime Minister in the last 14 years? Says he won’t pick favourites, but it’s not Liz Truss.
Vows to stop parachuting in candidates the way the Tories did last election. Says if he is leader, members will be able to choose their candidates in their constituencies next election. Says he’s “not sold” on letting members pick the party chairman.
Says he wants to retire Nigel Farage.
Says “let’s get Penny [Mordaunt], Andy Street, Boris and Jacob Rees-Mogg back.”
Should we pay slavery reparations? No.
Would Jenrick vote against a ban on trail hunting? “I would.”
Does he want a smoke-free generation? Says he doesn’t want to tell people how to live their lives.
Has he ever taken drugs? No.
If people want to take Ozempic, they should.
Should we pay stay at home mums? Says he wants marriage to be rewarded in the tax system.
Question on Chope’s comments earlier today. Jenrick says he was wrong.
What is Kemi’s biggest weakness? Refuses to answer. Says he likes Kemi.
Quick fire round now from viewers at home.
Hope asks why we can’t deport people like Germany has whilst remaining in the ECHR. Jenrick says European countries still find it difficult to deport people and that “it doesn’t work for our system”. “We are a different country”.
How will Jenrick make the Tory party the party of stability on the world stage? Begins with funding our armed forces and making good use of NATO. As well as a strong economy and energy security.
Says we should build more prisons. Get the 10,000 foreign offenders out of our prisons. Says the ECHR is blocking that one…
Question on two-tier policing and pro-Palestinian marches. Says police should be dealing with antisemitism and extremism on the streets of Britain. A Britain without its Jewish community “is not Britain.” Police have to enforce our laws without fear or favour. Applause…
Claims professionalism is the way forward. “End the drama”.
Says the Tories must attract more young people. Goes back to home ownership being the main way to appeal to them.
Says it’s wrong to have more alignment with the EU, which is the way Starmer is going.
Jenrick slams Labour giving away the Chagos Islands. Says the Tories shouldn’t have started negotiations. Gibraltar and the Falklands would be safe in his hands.
Recommits to increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP. That is the best way to “keep the British people safe”. Calls to take money from the foreign aid budget and spend on defence instead.Big applause…
Another question: What will Jenrick do to improve levels of home ownership? Says we should be building homes in our big cities and “brown sites”. Applause to that one…
Question from an audience member: What is Jenrick’s vision to grow the economy? Jenrick says his background is in business. Low growth has to change. His plan is get people back into work, cheap and reliable energy by building nuclear power stations and that gas is “here to stay”. He says low tax is the way forward, committing to a 2p reduction on income tax.
Hope points out that under Jenrick’s watch, net migration went up. Jenrick says he’s as angry as anyone about that, and that’s why he resigned from the cabinet. Says he will cap migration to the tens of thousands or lower.
Says he’s for capping migration. The election is a choice between “cap or no cap”, “leave or remain”.
Says the real choice facing the country is the ECHR.
Claims immigration is the reason the Tories lost the election.
He says he wants to end the drama, deliver on immigration, and fix the party.
Jenrick takes the stage to give a 5 minute speech.
In Henry Mance’s piece today for the FT, lunching with Nigel Farage:
“Splendido!” Farage says, when the drinks arrive; I suppose it’s a step to European reconciliation. We clink glasses, and he lights the first of two back-to-back Benson & Hedges. A few minutes later, we’re back downstairs. “Are you drinking? Good.” He orders a glass of Sauvignon blanc for each of us — not a bottle, “because it’s Lent” — followed by a bottle of claret, to have with our meal. They say Farage drinks less than he used to. They say a lot of things.”
