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Tory leadership: Andrea Leadsom says she 'did not like' gay marriage law – live Tory leadership: Andrea Leadsom says she 'did not like' gay marriage law – live
(35 minutes later)
2.41pm BST
14:41
Rowena Mason
The security alert in parliament (see 2.22pm) is over. A House of Lords spokesman said there was a “security incident”earlier but everything was found to be safe and restrictions have been removed.
2.22pm BST
14:22
Lunchtime summary
Leadsom says she's never said she was a fund manager. Nov 2010 in HoC: "I have been in investment banking and funds management for 23 years"
It is most unlikely that the same kind of failures could occur, given the structures we now have in place.
We are seeking time, we asking people to give us time. There’s no haste here, there’s no rush for anybody to declare. So, we are asking for people to give us a little bit of time to see what we can do.
A source close to Angela Eagle, the former shadow business secretary, said she would challenge Corbyn’s leadership “when the time is right”. The source said:
Angela has made her position 100% clear but she will challenge when there is absolutely nothing left to fight for. There will be a challenge unless he goes.
In terms of triggering article 50 [the process that starts the two-year withdrawal process], my judgment is it wouldn’t be in the best interests of the UK to trigger article 50 immediately. Article 50 sets a clock ticking and I don’t think at the moment, for various reasons - not least of which, we don’t have the new prime minister in post - for the moment we are not in a position to begin substantive negotiations immediately and therefore it would be unwise to start the process ticking by triggering article 50.
He said that, although EU officials were opposed to holding informal talks on withdrawal before article 50 is invoked, his fellow foreign ministers were “much more sympathetic to the political circumstances we are in”. And he said that countries currently undertaking “tortuous” negotiations with the EU on trade agreements may find that deals could be sealed more quickly and easily with Britain on its own. Some potential trading partners “may find it easier, if less fruitful in the long run, to make a bilateral agreement with the UK”, Hammond said. This is quite different from what pro-EU ministers were saying during the referendum campaign after President Obama said the UK would go “to the back of the queue” when the US was prioritising trade deals.
Britain’s decision to leave the EU clearly presents economic challenges which we are determined to work together to meet. We will also work together to identify the new opportunities that may now become available so that Britain remains one of the most attractive places in the world to do business. One of Britain’s key economic strengths is that it is a world-leading financial centre.
1.52pm BST1.52pm BST
13:5213:52
George Galloway says that following the Chilcot report he should now be readmitted to the Labour party.George Galloway says that following the Chilcot report he should now be readmitted to the Labour party.
After #ChilcotReport my unjust expulsion from the Labour Party cannot be sustained. It should now be rescinded. @jeremycorbynAfter #ChilcotReport my unjust expulsion from the Labour Party cannot be sustained. It should now be rescinded. @jeremycorbyn
1.29pm BST1.29pm BST
13:2913:29
This is from the Times’s Sam Coates.This is from the Times’s Sam Coates.
Bumped into Tory MP who switched from Leadsom to May this morning following "freaky" procession after her speech and fears of UKIP entryismBumped into Tory MP who switched from Leadsom to May this morning following "freaky" procession after her speech and fears of UKIP entryism
1.26pm BST1.26pm BST
13:2613:26
Q: Cameron says he is very proud of his record on same-sex marriage. You said you did a positive abstention on this. What did that mean?Q: Cameron says he is very proud of his record on same-sex marriage. You said you did a positive abstention on this. What did that mean?
Leadsom says she believes same-sex love is as valid as heterosexual love. But she was not happy with the way the legislation was framed, so she voted both for and against – effectively abstaining.Leadsom says she believes same-sex love is as valid as heterosexual love. But she was not happy with the way the legislation was framed, so she voted both for and against – effectively abstaining.
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at 1.35pm BSTat 1.35pm BST
1.23pm BST1.23pm BST
13:2313:23
Q: You say EU nationals would be able to stay in the UK. But would that apply to people here from now, or up until the moment we leave?Q: You say EU nationals would be able to stay in the UK. But would that apply to people here from now, or up until the moment we leave?
Leadsom says the guarantee would not apply to people coming to the UK right up until the point of withdrawal. She says, after she became prime minister, she would offer a guarantee. But there would be a cut-off point.Leadsom says the guarantee would not apply to people coming to the UK right up until the point of withdrawal. She says, after she became prime minister, she would offer a guarantee. But there would be a cut-off point.
Q: What if EU countries say they will not reciprocate?Q: What if EU countries say they will not reciprocate?
Leadsom says that would be “shameful”. She does not think that would happen.Leadsom says that would be “shameful”. She does not think that would happen.
Q: When would you trigger article 50 if you were prime minister?Q: When would you trigger article 50 if you were prime minister?
Leadsom says they would need to get on with it. It would have to be “as soon as possible”.Leadsom says they would need to get on with it. It would have to be “as soon as possible”.
Q: You said in your speech this morning you want tariff-free trade with the EU. That means being in the single market, doesn’t it?Q: You said in your speech this morning you want tariff-free trade with the EU. That means being in the single market, doesn’t it?
No, says Leadsom. She does not accept that.No, says Leadsom. She does not accept that.
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at 1.36pm BSTat 1.36pm BST
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Leadsom says the markets have been taken by surprise. They were expecting a remain vote. So that is why sterling has fallen.Leadsom says the markets have been taken by surprise. They were expecting a remain vote. So that is why sterling has fallen.
But when sterling falls, that is good for exports, she says. It can be good for the economy.But when sterling falls, that is good for exports, she says. It can be good for the economy.
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at 1.36pm BSTat 1.36pm BST
1.17pm BST1.17pm BST
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Andrea Leadsom's World at One interviewAndrea Leadsom's World at One interview
Andrea Leadsom has given an interview to the World at One which is being broadcast now.Andrea Leadsom has given an interview to the World at One which is being broadcast now.
She says she will publish her tax details if she makes it on to the shortlist.She says she will publish her tax details if she makes it on to the shortlist.
She says she has offered to show Tory MPs her tax returns before she publishes them. But as far as she knows no MP has taken her up on the offer.She says she has offered to show Tory MPs her tax returns before she publishes them. But as far as she knows no MP has taken her up on the offer.
Q: Your CV says you were managing director of De Putron Fund Management. But the records in Companies House say you were marketing director.Q: Your CV says you were managing director of De Putron Fund Management. But the records in Companies House say you were marketing director.
Leadsom says it was a start-up. So people had to fill more than one role, and some roles have to be filled.Leadsom says it was a start-up. So people had to fill more than one role, and some roles have to be filled.
Q: On the Andrew Marr Show you said you managed big teams when you were at Barclays.Q: On the Andrew Marr Show you said you managed big teams when you were at Barclays.
Yes, says Leadsom. That’s right.Yes, says Leadsom. That’s right.
Q: How many people were in the team you were managing?Q: How many people were in the team you were managing?
Leadsom says she cannot remember exactly. Around 40 or 50, she says.Leadsom says she cannot remember exactly. Around 40 or 50, she says.
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at 1.20pm BSTat 1.20pm BST
1.02pm BST1.02pm BST
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May accuses Leadsom of being willing to let foreign criminals stay in the UKMay accuses Leadsom of being willing to let foreign criminals stay in the UK
Theresa May, the home secretary and favourite in the Tory leadership contest, has accused her rival Andrea Leadsom of being willing to let foreign criminals stay in the UK. Picking up on Leadsom’s declaration in her speech that she would let EU nationals who are in the UK legally remain after Brexit (see 9.49am), a spokesman for the May campaign said:Theresa May, the home secretary and favourite in the Tory leadership contest, has accused her rival Andrea Leadsom of being willing to let foreign criminals stay in the UK. Picking up on Leadsom’s declaration in her speech that she would let EU nationals who are in the UK legally remain after Brexit (see 9.49am), a spokesman for the May campaign said:
Andrea Leadsom’s commitment to give permanent residence to foreign criminals is concerning and is exactly the kind of misjudgment that her inexperience can cause. That’s why we need strong, proven leadership – something only Theresa can offer.Andrea Leadsom’s commitment to give permanent residence to foreign criminals is concerning and is exactly the kind of misjudgment that her inexperience can cause. That’s why we need strong, proven leadership – something only Theresa can offer.
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at 1.21pm BSTat 1.21pm BST
12.37pm BST12.37pm BST
12:3712:37
Leadsom says she did not like gay marriage lawLeadsom says she did not like gay marriage law
Andrea Leadsom has given interviews to the BBC, Sky and ITV this morning. Here are the main points:Andrea Leadsom has given interviews to the BBC, Sky and ITV this morning. Here are the main points:
Leadsom; I didn't like the Gay Marriage legislation, would prefer equality ensured by making Civil Partnerships open to all.Leadsom; I didn't like the Gay Marriage legislation, would prefer equality ensured by making Civil Partnerships open to all.
Leadsom; I would review HS2, have no view yet on Heathrow.Leadsom; I would review HS2, have no view yet on Heathrow.
Andrea Leadsom tells me she would hold a vote to bring back fox hunting. pic.twitter.com/Z016cn4JnyAndrea Leadsom tells me she would hold a vote to bring back fox hunting. pic.twitter.com/Z016cn4Jny
I was always very clear; I was senior investment officer working very closely with the chief investment officer. I have been very clear; I’m not a funds manager. I was, in Barclays and BZW, managing huge teams of people and large budgets and responsible for the trading relationships. To be very careful not to mislead, Barclays is a very big player in the large corporate and institutional banking world, and so the trading relationships are enormous – billions and billions and billions of pounds. So, when I was there as the financial institutions director responsible for UK banking relationship, the responsibility was for billions of pounds of trading lines and facilities to those companies … I’ve never said I was a fund manager and I’ve never been a fund manager.I was always very clear; I was senior investment officer working very closely with the chief investment officer. I have been very clear; I’m not a funds manager. I was, in Barclays and BZW, managing huge teams of people and large budgets and responsible for the trading relationships. To be very careful not to mislead, Barclays is a very big player in the large corporate and institutional banking world, and so the trading relationships are enormous – billions and billions and billions of pounds. So, when I was there as the financial institutions director responsible for UK banking relationship, the responsibility was for billions of pounds of trading lines and facilities to those companies … I’ve never said I was a fund manager and I’ve never been a fund manager.
I want to defend my colleagues from the constant pressure to hand out every detail of their private lives.I want to defend my colleagues from the constant pressure to hand out every detail of their private lives.
But she would publish her tax details if she made it onto the shortlist for the Conservative leadership contest, she said. They were “very boring”, Leadsom said.But she would publish her tax details if she made it onto the shortlist for the Conservative leadership contest, she said. They were “very boring”, Leadsom said.
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at 1.22pm BSTat 1.22pm BST
12.13pm BST
12:13
Here’s a Guardian video with an excerpt from Andrea Leadsom’s speech this morning.
And here is some more reaction to it from journalists.
From the Economist’s Jeremy Cliffe:
Brexit vote hasn't hit pound, says Leadsom, then explains: markets simply hadn't correctly anticipated result of referendum.
From the Times’s Patrick Kidd:
I can imagine Andrea Leadsom being a very reassuring pharmacist, if not a prime minister. She has something of the Night Nurse about her.
From the Guardian’s Marina Hyde:
“I want to speak to the markets,” says Andrea Leadsom, with the air of someone who imagines you can negotiate with gravity.
From BuzzFeed’s Jim Waterson:
1. UKIP Flotilla2. UKIP Carnival3. Leadsom's march on parliament
From the Telegraph’s Asa Bennett:
The "Leadsom rally" may have to replace "Sheffield Rally" in the book of political journalese if Michael Gove beats her today.
From Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh:
The real danger for May, (Tory MP tells me): For all the ridicule, Leadsom sounds exactly like every Tory association chairwoman in the land
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at 12.40pm BST
12.03pm BST
12:03
Joe Murphy and Joseph Watts in the Evening Standard have got a great anecdote from what went on at the behind-closed-doors Tory leadership hustings last night.
The justice secretary [Michael Gove] made an emotional speech about how being adopted had affected his life. But when he told the meeting, “my name is not really Michael,” an MP heckled: “no, it’s Brutus!” Later he was attacked by Graham Stuart, a May backer, who said: “Michael, you promised your support for the leadership and then betrayed him.
“You have just claimed to represent the best traditions of the Tory party and said we should vote for whoever we think would make the best prime minister, yet you and your supporters have spent the day doing the opposite.”
Gove was referring to the fact that his birth mother called him Graham before he was put up for adoption as a baby.
Updated
at 12.17pm BST
11.55am BST
11:55
Leadsom says she was never a fund manager
Andrea Leadsom has been talking about her CV, and the allegations that her City career was not quite as high powered as people have assumed.
She says she was never a fund manager, even though a CV released by her office yesterday said that for 10 years she was “senior investment officer and head of corporate governance” at Invesco Perpetual, implying she was a fund manager.
I was never a fund manger - @andrealeadsom on her CV
But she says she did manage large teams and very large budgets.
My responsibility was for billions of pounds of trading lines - @andrealeadsom on her CV
I was managing huge teams of people and very large budgets - @andrealeadsom on her CV
Updated
at 12.18pm BST
11.32am BST
11:32
Hammond says he hopes UK can resolve issue of EU nationals' rights early in withdrawal talks
Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, is giving evidence to the foreign affairs committee. My colleague Patrick Wintour has been monitoring.
Hammond says rights of migrants in both UK & EU a big moving part of the Brexit renegotiation package, but would like it settled early.
Hammond "if the bureaucrats in Brussels would say we are willing to sit down and talk to the UK", rights of EU migrants in UK solvable.
11.22am BST
11:22
Owen Smith says talks aimed at resolving Labour's leadership crisis should be given more time
Turning to Labour, Owen Smith, the former shadow work and pension secretary, has put out a statement this morning about his leadership intentions.
Over the last week, I have been contacted by hundreds of Labour members and MPs deeply worried that the Labour party is truly in danger of splitting apart. I share those fears and call on everyone in our movement to do all we can to avert such a disastrous outcome.
I stand ready to do anything I can to save and serve the party. Yesterday, I spoke directly with Len McCluskey of Unite and met with our leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to explore what I can do to try and heal the rifts that have opened up in our movement. On behalf of the trades unions, Len has reassured me that the talks he has opened up between Jeremy and Tom Watson have been productive and has asked that they are given more time this weekend to see what further progress can be made towards a resolution.
Jeremy has also reassured me that he is engaging in talks with an open mind. I believe that all of us whose priority is to restore unity in the Labour movement and give us a chance to defeat our only true enemy, the Tories, should give these talks every chance to succeed. That is what I intend to do and I urge all my colleagues to do likewise.
Smith and Angela Eagle, the shadow business secretary, have both been canvassing support to mount a leadership challenge against Jeremy Corbyn, but so far it has yet to materialise. That is partly because there is consensus that only one person should challenge Corbyn, and Smith and Eagle cannot agree who it should be, but also because Tom Watson, the Labour deputy leader, is involved in talks with union leaders to try to find a less divisive resolution to the conflict.
11.03am BST
11:03
Tom Phillips
The Chilcot report into Britain’s decision to go to war in Iraq exposes Downing Street’s “blind” support for the United States and the dangers of western hegemony, China’s official news agency has claimed.
China opposed the 2003 invasion and in an English language editorial published on Thursday morning, Xinhua accuses the US of sparing “no effort to intervene in other countries under the cover of democracy”.
“Some western countries, in particular the United States, have always tried to force their values on other countries without any respect for their own development paths,” the Communist party run news agency says. “To protect their interests and maintain their dominance in the world, they can easily wage a war by fabricating an excuse in defiance of the United Nations’ (UN) authority.”
Tony Blair’s decision to join the US-led war was a “blind action” in support of a country which “regards military force as a permissible means to topple regimes that are not submissive, even at the cost of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives and a country’s destiny,” Xinhua claims.
“Looking around, the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups such as the Islamic State group should be blamed on the hegemonism and interventionism perpetrated by the United States and its western allies,” the news agency concludes.
Updated
at 11.23am BST
10.55am BST
10:55
This screengrab from the front page of the Guardian’s website is quite telling.
10.53am BST
10:53
Andrea Leadsom has been speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg. She denied changing her CV or engaging in tax avoidance.
Leadsom tells me she stands by her CV, she does not regret anything about how she has presented her experience before Parliament
Leadsom flatly denies she has changed her CV
She also denies any tax avoidance, says she 'shopped around' for a good deal and it was from a British bank that booked the biz in Jersey
She promises to publish tax return tomorrow if she gets on ballot + it's boring... promises quick airport decision + Trident renewal
10.49am BST
10:49
Here is some footage of the “march” in support of Andrea Leadsom.
Updated
at 11.06am BST
10.39am BST
10:39
Andrea Leadsom's speech - Summary
Rowena Mason
Andrea Leadsom has set out her pitch to be a positive and optimistic Conservative prime minister, promising to the goal would be “prosperity, not austerity”.
In a speech in Westminster, Leadsom, the leading pro-Brexit candidate, appeared to ditch the economic strategy of her former boss George Osborne and sought to reassure the financial markets that Britain could cope with leaving the EU.
She said the lower pound would be good for exports and claimed the stock market had already recovered.
To cheers from supporters, Leadsom said she wanted to “banish the pessimists” in a speech that blended patriotism with aspirational values.
“Together we will write another great chapter of prosperity and tolerance and hope,” she said.
Leadsom did not take questions after the short speech as she rushed out to a waiting car. But a group of her supporters marched from Millbank to parliament, some chanting: “What do we want? Leadsom. When do we want it? Now.”