‘I will not be a candidate in the Conservative leadership election to come. It isn’t in my nature to do things by half-measure, and I fought the referendum campaign with everything I’ve got. I believed in this cause and fought hard for it. So it is clear that while I completely accept the result, I am not the person to provide the unity my party needs at this time. Instead, as chancellor, I will be 100 per cent focused on providing the economic stability and reassurance Britain needs. And I will do all I can to support the new prime minister in bringing our party back together and tackling the country’s challenges.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: ToryDiary: Who should be the next Conservative leader? And should there be a snap election? Take our monthly survey
>Yesterday: Nick Boles on Comment: I’m a moderniser. I backed Remain. And here’s why I believe Johnson should be the next Conservative leader
‘Support for Theresa May has soared, making her more popular than Boris Johnson in the race to become Tory leader, a poll for The Times shows. The home secretary is the favourite to replace the prime minister, according to a YouGov poll that shows her as the preferred successor among Conservative voters: 31 per cent back her, against 24 per cent for Mr Johnson. In April Mr Johnson was on 36 per cent and Mrs May on 14 per cent. Mrs May is also narrowly ahead among the public, with 19 per cent against 18 per cent for the former London mayor.’ – The Times (£)
>Today: Nicky Morgan on Comment: Lessons from Loughborough. Why our Party needs moderate, engaged, mainstream leadership
‘David Cameron’s successor as Conservative leader and prime minister should be elected by September 2, senior Tories have announced, in a fast-track contest that is likely to help Boris Johnson in his bid to reach Number 10. Nominations for the new leader should open on Wednesday evening and close on Thursday lunchtime, a tight timetable giving little time for low-key candidates to gather support among MPs or Conservative grassroots supporters in the country…The rules of the contest were agreed by the influential 1922 Committee of backbench MPs. “The country doesn’t want us to hang around,” said one who attended the meeting.’ – FT
>Yesterday:
‘A blue collar ‘dream team’ of two working class Tory Cabinet ministers are planning to run to stop Boris Johnson becoming PM. Leadership hopeful Stephen Crabb was last night in talks with Sajid Javid to become his deputy on the ticket. The Work and Pensions Secretary and the Business Secretary are being pushed by younger Tory MPs elected in 2010 and 2015. The duo are being seen as representing a new generation of Tories with humble roots closer to the general public, in stark contrast to the “Bullingdon Club” era of Old Etonians, David Cameron and Mr Johnson.’ – The Sun (£)
‘Oliver Letwin will lead a “Brexit unit” of top civil servants to prepare for Britain’s departure from the EU. The unit, which will report to the cabinet, will draw up a range of options and negotiating advice for the new prime minister, but will have no decision-making powers. It will also advise on transitional arrangements over the next few weeks and explore potential trade relationships with other countries.’ – The Times (£)
>Yesterday:
‘Reforming the rules around free movement is as much in their interests as ours. So our plan must be to encourage them to reform those rules, thereby opening up a space for a “Norway plus” option for us – full access to the single market with a sensible compromise on free movement rules. As their biggest non-EU trading partner, it is in the European interest to do this deal with them as much as it is in our interests to secure it…before setting the clock ticking, we need to negotiate a deal and put it to the British people, either in a referendum or through the Conservative manifesto at a fresh general election. ‘ – Jeremy Hunt, Daily Telegraph
>Today: ToryDiary: Britain’s post-Brexit future. The Iceland option. If you can’t beat them, join them?
>Yesterday: Dan Boucher on Comment: Welsh experience shows why calls to re-run the EU vote are nonsense
‘The former work and pensions secretary told the Daily Mail: ‘It is an absolute red line. We want to have open markets with them and continue with what we’ve got. Freedom of movement if you are a member of the EU is of huge importance – but we won’t be members of the European Union.’ He added: ‘Leave means you get back control – you get back control of your laws, your Government. And that means you control your borders. What the British public voted for was for us to take back a whole range of things, and that included our borders.’ – Daily Mail
>Today: Simon Parker on Comment: Brexit wasn’t just about control. It was about people being left behind by the London elite
>Yesterday: MPsETC: Brexit. The people lean one way. The Commons looks the other.
‘“I think it is absolutely essential that we stay focused on how in this transitional period no one loses their head, nobody goes off half-cocked, people don’t start ginning up scatterbrained or revengeful premises,” Mr Kerry said. Since the Brexit referendum results the European Union’s institutions have struggled to hold the line between two camps. The first, backed by Mr Juncker, is pushing for a punitive reaction by demanding Britain triggers exit procedures amid domestic chaos and threats by the Scottish National Party to hold a second independence referendum. The other more conciliatory approach, led by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, aims to give Mr Cameron time to avoid a major political crisis, perhaps prompting a rethink of the vote.’ – The Times (£)
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: “Back of the queue”? Obama’s empty threat is unravelling already
‘Both sides were exaggerating. I think the Government has to take responsibility for setting the tone for that. We had all sorts of scare stories and I was travelling around the UK a lot at the time and I was struck by how many people said to me that they didn’t like the scaremongering tactics. They (voters) didn’t like to be told that if they were to vote Leave they would be idiots. And if you say to someone: “Well you’re an idiot if you don’t agree with me”, then you are not likely to bring them in your direction’. Lord King said that the Remain campaign were right to say that Brexit would cause economic uncertainty, but claimed they then went too far. He said: ‘I do think they said things that were not easy to sustain or support. It’s true there was a great deal of economic uncertainty about the outcome and that would have been enough to make their case.” – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: WATCH: Osborne – “We have further well thought-through contingency plans if they are needed”
‘The HS2 high-speed rail project has an “unrealistic timetable” and faces major cost pressures, a report by the National Audit Office has said. The £56bn programme has too ambitious a schedule and rising costs could mean that not all its intended benefits are delivered, the NAO said. The NAO said the 2026 target opening date for the first phase was “at risk, despite good progress”. But HS2 Ltd said it was confident that it could achieve its objectives. The first phase of HS2, linking London and the West Midlands, is due to be completed in 10 years’ time.’ – BBC News
‘Jeremy Corbyn’s allies are resigned to losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership today as Labour rebels prepare a formal challenge backed by 50 MPs in an attempt to topple him. The secret ballot comes after the party descended into open warfare last night, with a string of furious MPs demanding Mr Corbyn’s resignation during a meeting of the parliamentary Labour Party. In the 36 hours before the meeting two thirds of Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet resigned in protest at his leadership.’ – The Times (£)
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