‘Pathetic’ to blame economic meltdown on me, Liz Truss tells Tory conference - UK politics live

Liz Truss has told the Conservative Party conference that it is "pathetic" to claim she is to blame for the economic meltdown follwoing her mini-budget.

During a fringe event, the unrepentant former prime minister dismissed Theresa May's claim that she destroyed the party's reputation after her economic policies.

She also lashed out at the four Tory MPs vying to replace Rishi Sunak as the party's leader, claiming she will not endorse any of the candidates.

But she agreed with Kemi Badenoch's controversial comments about maternity pay being "excessive", and revealed she would be "really happy" with Robert Jenrick 's suggestion to have the Star of David at UK borders.

It comes after Mr Jenrick described illegal migrants as "terrorists on our streets terrorising our citizens" during a rally at the conference.

During his speech, the former minister said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is a "leave or die" issue for the Tories and urged to exit the convention.

Mr Jenrick also called for the Star of David to be displayed at every point of entry to the UK to show "we stand with Israel" while wearing a "Hamas Are Terrorists" hoodie at a Conservative Friends of Israel fringe event.

The Independent's political team will be reporting live throughout the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

If the atmosphere at the Labour conference was a good deal less euphoric than might have been expected for a party just returning to government on the back of a landslide majority after 14 years in the wilderness, the mood among Conservatives as they assembled in Birmingham was a little more upbeat than might have been predicted, given the scale of the party's election defeat.

This slight uplift, however, largely reflected the missteps of the new government in its first weeks, rather than any achievement of the Conservatives over the same time.

Read the full editorial here:

The UK is in desperate need of an effective opposition Editorial: The country needs not just a strong government with the integrity and service ethic that the prime minister initially promised, but a Conservative front bench capable of holding them to account

Holly Evans

Robert Jenrick has said the Star of David should be displayed at every point of entry to the UK to show "we stand with Israel".

The Tory leadership frontrunner told a Conservative Friends of Israel event he wanted Britain to be "the most welcoming country in the world for Israelis and the Jewish community".

He said that, while immigration minister, he had pushed for Israelis travelling to Britain to be able to use e-gates . He said this would mean that at "every airport and point of entry to our great country", there was a Star of David, as a " symbol that we support Israel ".

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Jenrick says Star of David should be displayed at every point of entry to the UK Tory leadership frontrunner addressed Conservative Friends of Israel event in hoodie emblazoned with words 'Hamas Are Terrorists'

Holly Evans 1727755200 Liz Truss tried to play the ('anyone but me') blame game – but (guess what!) she blew that, too

I don't know which would be worse: if it turned out that Liz Truss didn't actually believe a word she says and was just trying to kowtow to the lowest common denominator – or if she really is just... like that.

At a fringe event held by the Telegraph on day two of the Tory conference , the former prime minister faced questions from journalist and historian Tim Stanley, in a format he jokingly compared to the infamous Frost/Nixon interviews .

While the event itself didn't make any clearer the true depths of her political convictions, what it did make clear is that Truss is on a one-woman mission to "save the Western world" – although, based on the content of her answers, it seems like "the Western world" is just a fun nickname for "her own reputation". Actually, maybe it wasn't so clear after all.

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Liz Truss tried to play the ('anyone but me') blame game – but she blew that, too The former PM tried to defend her disaster of a mini-Budget and claimed she'd be better for her party than Rishi Sunak – and then it just got more embarrassing from there, writes Ryan Coogan

Holly Evans Tell us who should be the next leader of the Tory party We want to hear your thoughts on the direction the Conservatives should take to win back voter support—and who should lead the party's recovery

Holly Evans

Attendees of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham have seen the four leadership hopefuls wanting to replace Rishi Sunak handing out all manner of merchandise - from lollipops to beauty products.

Although freebies and gifts have left Sir Keir Starmer and his government under increased scrutiny recently , the potential future leaders of the opposition have not been able to give merch away quickly enough to draw in Tory support.

While the usual fare of pens, badges and stickers are all available, each one - Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly - has tried to beat the competition with eye-catching gimmicks.

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Fake tan, beads and hats: Leadership candidates' merch handed out to win over Tories News analysis: While freebies and gifts have left Keir Starmer and his new government under scrutiny, Tory leadership candidates have not been able to give merchandise away quickly enough. Here is what it says about each of the four candidates

Holly Evans 1727744400 Unemployed ex-Tory MP blames 'woke agenda' for being unable to find job

A former Tory MP has complained he has not been able to get a teaching job because of the "woke agenda entrenching the education sector".

Jonathan Gullis said he has been unemployed since losing his Stoke-on-Trent North and claimed his political views have stopped him from getting interviews.

The outspoken ex-deputy chairman of the Tories said being a conservative is "treated with disdain" among teachers.

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Unemployed ex-Tory MP blames 'woke agenda' for being unable to find job Jonathan Gullis said he had applied for dozens of teaching jobs since losing his Stoke-on-Trent North seat

Holly Evans 1727740800 Kemi Badenoch praises Israel's 'amazing' defence tactics

Kemi Badenoch has praised Israel's defence tactics, saying that they did an "amazing thing with the pagers".

Earlier this month, Hezbollah suffered an attack on its pagers and walkie-talkies that killed dozens of people and wounded around 3,000 – including many fighters but also many civilians.

Israel has appeared to deny involvement with the fatal incident, with its president Isaac Herzog saying he "rejects out of hand any connection" to the operation.

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Kemi Badenoch praises Israel's 'amazing' defence tactics Speaking at the Tory party conference, Ms Badenoch said she is 'very sympathetic to the Israeli argument' because they are 'always criticised'.

Holly Evans Holly Evans

Liz Truss has claimed that the Tories would have performed better at July's general election if she had clung on as prime minister .

The ex-PM, who sensationally lost her seat in the party's landslide defeat, said that if she had not been forced out of Downing Street in the wake of her disastrous September 2022 mini-Budget, she would have secured a better result for the Conservatives than Rishi Sunak .

In a packed event on the sidelines of the Tory conference , Ms Truss admitted that winning the general election would have been "a tall order".

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Liz Truss claims she would have done better than Rishi Sunak at general election Former PM claims she could have delivered better result for Tories if she had clung on to power

Holly Evans 1727730032 New mums like me should be grateful to Kemi Badenoch – but not because she's talking sense

I didn't expect to feel grateful to Kemi Badenoch this morning.

The Conservative leadership candidate's comments – in which she suggested statutory maternity pay had "gone too far", and that people should take "more personal responsibility" before having children – initially evoked a violent fury made worse by my four-month-old having only allowed me four hours of broken sleep.

After a bit more kip, however, I've decided I actually feel oddly thankful to Badenoch – for inadvertently highlighting an issue that's the bane of many women's lives: that statutory maternity leave is not just insufficient but insulting , too.

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New mums should be grateful to Kemi Badenoch – but not because she's talking sense With her comments about 'excessive' statutory maternity pay, the Conservative leadership candidate has kickstarted a national debate about how little we value mothers, says Chloe Hamilton

Holly Evans

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