Badenoch announces £2.3bn proposal to cut employer national insurance for young workers – as it happened

Kemi Badenoch has declined to criticise the shadow minister who said there are “no-go zones” in Luton where “white people won’t go”.

Asked about the comments by Blake Stephenson, a Home Office spokesperson, Badenoch told ITV News: Blake Stevenson is a very sensible MP. He’s put out a lot of good stuff on immigration. If he is saying there are no go zones, he will have a reason for that and I’m sure that he can explain it. So I’m very happy to stand by him.

Kemi Badenoch has claimed that the Conservative party has changed under her leadership because she is now “captain … coach [and] owner” of the team. In an interview with GB News, asked why voters should believe that the Conservative party is different from the one they rejected, she replied: We are under new management. Your viewers will know that sometimes you have a football team that’s disappointing.

There’s a new captain, there’s a new coach, there’s a new owner, effectively, which is all me. And I’ve got a great team around me. I’ve got a new team of people. We’re changing our policies. We know we got things wrong. You know, immigration was too high.

Kemi Badenoch has said the UK should allow the US to use the Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands for bombing missions whenever they want In an interview with GB News, asked if the UK should allow the jointly-run base to be used “for any bombing missions by US bombers”, she replied: “Yes.” She went on: Why is the US removing its bombers [from RAF Fairford].

I am worried that they think that we’re not a serious country. We’re not taking defence seriously. The government has to focus on defence. While the UK has normally allowed the US to use Diego Garcia when it it wants to dispatch long-range bombers from the base, sometimes it hasn’t.

At the start of the Iran war this year, Keir Starmer refused permission, on the grounds that Donald Trump’s attack was not authorised under international law. Trump was furious. In 1973 Edward Heath did the same when the US wanted help for an intervention in the Yom Kippur war.

Kemi Badenoch has said that, in the event of a hung parliament, she would rather fight a second election than form a pact with Reform UK. Speaking to Sky News, she said she would not do a deal with Nigel Farage’s party before an election. Asked what would happen after an election, if no party had an overall majority, she replied: If there is a hung parliament, then we can have another election. We had this in 1974.

It’s not about, do a deal with Reform or don’t be in government. In 1974, there were two elections. I believe that the public will see who is serious and who is not. Asked to confirm that she would rather have a second election than go into coalition with Reform U, she said: I would rather have another election, yes.

Kemi Badenoch has said that Andy Burnham should stop trying to be “everybody’s boyfriend”. In her interview with Beth Rigby from Sky, Badenoch was asked to accept that Burnham was good at connecting emotionally with the public. She implied that was not important. She told Rigby: The job is about running the country. He’s not applying to be everybody’s boyfriend.