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Tory leadership: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt face members at party hustings - live news
Tory leadership: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt face members at party hustings - live news
(32 minutes later)
Q: What is your plan to encourage entrepreneurs?
Q: What do you think the impact of the green economy on the economy?
Hunt says he thinks tuition fee interest rates are too highs. When he set his first business, he did not have student debt. That is what he wants to get rid of tuition fees for people who set up small businesses. Only a relatively small number of people would benefit.
Hunt says he is about to say something unpopular; he thinks we need to dig up the roads, so that we can install ultra-fast broadband.
Q: Boris Johnson says everyone will claim to be an entrepreneur.
But at the same time the government could install electric car charging points.
Hunt says he will only waive fees for people who set up a business employing 10 people for five years. If too many people apply, that will be excellent.
The Conservatives are practical, he says - doers and not just talkers.
Q: What relationship do you have with your foreign counterparts?
Hunt says he has good relationships with his counterparts. But they are direct relationships. A friend tells you how things are.
Q: The Japanese foreign minister is telling you not to go for no-deal? (See 9.23am.)
Hunt says the Japanese do say that. But he tells them that the British fought for democracy in the second world war. The Brexit decision must be honoured. If people think the UK will cancel Brexit to avoid no-deal, they are wrong.
Hunt says he would do everything possible to ensure Nicola Sturgeon could not exploit Brexit.
But he says more than 1m people in Scotland voted for Brexit. Their wishes have to be honoured.
Q: Why do you want to be prime minister?
Hunt says he wants to change the country.
He says it is a great country. If you are British, you have won the lottery ticket of life. But it could be better.
Q: Are you worried you could be the shortest-serving PM in history?
Hunt says that could happen if we get it wrong.
Q: If a no-deal Brexit was worse than you expected and it wall went wrong, would you resign?
Of course, says Hunt.
He says he does not want no deal.
But if he gets to October and there is no prospect of a deal, he would go for no-deal.
He says, as an entrepreneur, he wants to kick start the economy.
He says, as foreign secretary, he also wants Britain to walk tall in the world.
His dad was in the navy. His generation won the cold war. And he says he wants to increase defence spending. Britain is back, and its voice will be strong in the world.
He would be the first PM who had been responsible for the NHS. He has always thought the Tories need a social mission as well as an economic mission. And social care is crucial. He wants every older person to be treated with respect.
And he wants to help young people too. He wants to abolish illiteracy.
And he says he knows what it is like to win a marginal seats, he says.
He says he would aim to attract more young voters.
We can’t be the party of aspiration unless the most aspirational people are voting for us.
And he would promise not to hold an election until Brexit has happened.
He says, faced with Jeremy Corbyn, the Tories can do better. They can choose their own Jeremy.
He ends by saying he wants to deliver Brexit and unleash the potential of the UK.
Jeremy Hunt is speaking now.
He says it has been an amazing campaign. And he suggests it is time to bring the Tory conference back to Bournemouth.
Hunt suggest bringing Tory conference back to Bournemouth.
He says the internet has been kind to him. People have suggested various hashtags. One was HuntyMcHuntface. Be careful how you say that at home, he says.
He says the Tories are at a crucial moment. If they get it right, they can send Jeremy Corbyn packing.
He says the Tories have not talked enough about how to deliver Brexit. He is an entrepreneur. He asks the audience how many of them have set up a business. That is the Conservative party, he says - the party of business.
He says entrepreneurs know how to negotiate. And the first rule of a negotiation is being willing to walk away.
A Jeremy Hunt campaign video is now being shown.
Q: I’ve been thinking about the collective noun for Conservative members. A division, I think. What will you do to unite the party?
Johnson says sadly this is true.
But the problem has been caused by a lack of decision.
Once the UK is out of the EU, it will be easier to bring people together.
Voters think they cannot trust the Tories or Labour on this.
Q: Can they trust you?
Yes, says Johnson.
He will take people forward with his vision, including trust in the market and trust in private enterprise.
They have not been selling it properly. But it is time to get back to that tune, he says.
And that’s it.
And that’s it.
Johnson expresses surprise it is over so soon.
I will post reaction and a summary soon.
Q: What can you do to help schools?
Q: What would you do to encourage more diversity in higher education?
Johnson says the number one thing he will do when he gets into Number 10 will be to increase schools funding.
Hunt says some degrees are good, some aren’t. There are degrees that cost £50,000, but that don’t give young people back the earning power they need.
He says his core message is about “levelling up” this country.
He says in Switzerland and Germany every young person gets a qualification that will get them a decent job.
Brexit happened because too many places felt left behind, he says.
This is something that requires huge reform. The Conservatives should be the party that provides ladders of opportunity. Whether people climb those ladders is up to them.
He says there are 500 towns in the UK that could be doing so much better.
Q: How would you improve intra and intercity travel?
Q: How much extra will you spend on education?
Hunt says he will say something unpopular with some Tories:
Around £5bb, says Johnson.
I will deliver HS2.
Johnson says he would increase education spending by around £5bn.
He can understand why some people might not want it. But, at the time of Brexit, the UK has to show confidence.
Q: I have been waiting 40 years for Brexit. Would you be willing to prorogue parliaement to get Brexit through?
He says he lived in Japan for two years. They launched their first high-speed rail in 1964.
Johnson says he would rather trust the common sense of MPs.
And he says the Tories have to show they can spread prosperity. Projects like HS2 are seen as proof of the Tories’ commitment to the whole country.
Q: Yesterday you said you were not attracted to archaic devices like prorogation. Will you rule it out?
Q: The NHS has taken on the status of a national religion, and is often said to be beyond sensible management. Do you agree? And do you agree that people should take more responsibility for their health?
Johnson says he is not attracted to a no-deal either, but he won’t rule it out.
Hunt says the NHS cannot do everything. But he is proud of it, and he wants it to go on doing everything it currently does. He says it is very important to know that, if people need healthcare, they can get it for free.
He is not attracted to the idea of proroguing parliament, and he does not think it will be necessary.
He says personal responsibility is important.
Q: [From a councillor who lost her seat at the election] What will you do to give the country a good transport system?
But he compares it to other health systems around the world.
Johnson apologises to the woman for her losing her seat. He says it was the fault of MPs for not delivering Brexit.
He says he would like the NHS in a decade’s time to have the best cancer survival rates in Europe. He knows that can be achieved.
He says the UK has been a world leader in transport in the past.
Q: So what role does personal responsibility play?
Rail needs to be affordable. You need to have governments that can take tough choices, that can get reforms without causing the system to collapse.
Hunt says he does not favour rationing services.
As London mayor he modernised the Tube. Some jobs had to go. The unions did not like it. Ticket offices were closed. But he got it done because he put his arm around Transport for London.
But there is a big role for personal responsibility. He launched a childhood obesity strategy involving parents.
You have got to love up the people you lead.
Q: Would you use our nuclear deterrent in extreme circumstances?
If you are a leader, you cannot just be a consumer. You have got to extol the service.
Hunt says his father, in his last job, was responsible for the nuclear deterrent. They thought about this a lot in his family. If you have a deterrent that you are not willing to use, it is not a deterrent. The lesson from this is that you have to be strong to be safe.
(The RMT would probably contest this account of Johnson’s mayoralty.)
Q: [From a police and crime commissioner candidate] Will you increase police funding?
Q: How would you fix the care crisis?
Hunt says the government had to cut spending to get the budget under control. It was right to do that. But in two areas the cuts went too far - in social care, and in policing, where there has been a delayed impact. Crime falls for a while when you cut police numbers, but then goes up.
Johnson says this is probably the biggest challenge facing the country (which is what he said about housing a moment ago).
Q: What about stop and search?
He says there should be a cross-party consensus. He would “literally” bring the parties together.
Hunt says he agrees with Sajid Javid and Boris Johnson about the need for stop and search.
Johnson calls for cross-party solution to adult social care.
Q: You need all available talen in your Brexit negotiating team. Would you include Nigel Farage?
He says two principles should apply: that no one should be at risk of losing their home, and that everyone should be treated with dignity in old age.
No, says Hunt - to applause.
Q: What will you do to all more people to own their own homes?
He says Farage does not want a deal. But Hunt says he does want a deal. It won’t be easy, “but we Conservatives have done more difficult things in the past”.
Johnson says this is the great challenge of the age.
Q: So how will you deal with the Brexit party?
He says infrastructure is key. He says Crossrail should be extended. He cites the huge amount of building going on in the Vauxhall area of London. Why is that? Because George Osborne agreed to build a new tube station there, funded by future revenue.
Hunt replies:
Q: What do you think of Jeremy Hunt’s plan to cut tuition fees for students who become entrepreneurs?
There is only one way to deal with the Brexit party. And that is to Brexit.
Johnson says, under that plan, you would get a lot of people calling themselves entrepreneurs.
He says the Conservative party has always been best when it has had radical reformers and one nation Conservatives in it at the same time.
Q: Where will the money come from?
He says it is “dangerous” to label people as remainers or leavers. He voted remain, but he wants to deliver Brexit.
Johnson says there is ample headroom.
Someone from the audience is shouting a question about no-deal. (We can’t hear from the live feed, because he does not have a microphone.)
And he says there are some taxes you can cut, leading to an increase in revenue.
Hunt says he would expect all his ministers to follow cabinet policy.
He says he will adopt a “very, very progressive approach” to taxation.
Q: What would you do about student debt? The interest rates bear no relationship to what the government pays?
Johnson claims he will adopt a ‘very, very progressive approach’ to taxation. In an analysis out yesterday (pdf), the Institute for Fiscal Studies said almost the opposite about Johnson’s plans. It said one of his two main tax proposals would give £9bn to mostly the richest 10% of the population.
Hunt says the system feels unfair. The government ends up paying a large sum.
Q: What will you do for special educational needs?
He says cutting student loan interest rates to about 3% would cost about £1.3bn. That sounds like a lot of money. But unless the government acts on this, Jeremy Corbyn could win an election.
Johnson says every kid should have the best education.
Q: Will you have a policy equivalent to Thatcher’s right to buy scheme. How about exempting homes worth less than £1m from stamp duty?
He wants to level up, and fund education properly.
Hunt says he has a plan called right to own. It would help 1.5m young people buy homes.
He says that is fundamental to Conservatism - giving people opportunity.
Hunt is now taking questions from the audience.
And he includes further education in that - it can transform people’s lives.
Q: What would your first three piece of legislation be?
Johnson is now taking questions from the audience.
Hunt says first he would pass a no-deal bill to prepare the UK for no-deal. We will have to expand capacity at ports like Dover.
Q: I will have to decide who is best for the country and who is best for the party. Who should be it?
Second, he would have a budget, so those tax cuts happen straight away.
Johnson says he would be best for both. Delivering Brexit will lighten up the economy.
Third, he has said he would abolish illiteracy. Nearly a third of primary school pupils not able to read or write to the appropriate level.
Q: What comes first - country or party?
Q: Would you spend more on this?
Both, says Johnson.
Yes, says Hunt.
Q: But what about the threat to the union.
But he says it is not just about spending.
Johnson says the SNP will have their “guns spiked” by Brexit. They would have to promise to join the euro, join the Schengen area and give up control of fishing - just after getting it back.
He says he would make extra spending conditional on reform.
Johnson claims Brexit will make it harder for the SNP to argue for independence.
Q: You are going to spend £15bn more on defence. How much would you spend on education.
Q: Are you in contact with EU negotiators?
Hunt says he would keep reducing debt over the economic cycle.
Johnson says he is in contact with people around the world who are wishing him well. But he is not in contact with Michel Barnier. That would be “presumptious”.
He says it is time for “a slight change in our approach”.
He is a “very irenic kind of guy”, he says.
But in the end this is a great country. We have made a great offer to the EU, with the £39bn. There is a a
I think a little bit more resolve is called for and a little bit more sense that we can get this done.
Johnson says he wants to show “a little bit more resolve” in negotiations with the EU.
Q: Yesterday you said the chances of a no-deal Brexit were a million to one. Do you stand by that?
Yes, says Johnson.
He claims there has been a “change of mood” at Westminster. MPs now know they have to get this over the line. If they don’t, there will be democratic retribution.
