Jenrick addresses Tory conference after being accused of racism over ‘no white faces’ comments about Birmingham – UK politics live

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Jenrick says he admires Heseltine for his combative approach to Labour in Thatcher era

Jenrick says his audience will be wondering who the fourth Tory blonde is.

It is not Boris Johnson or Margaret Thatcher. It is Michael Hestline, he says.

He says, although he disagrees with Heseltine on many things, there is one aspect of his charcter he admires.

[Heseltine said] when he was a young man in opposition, back in the 1970s under Margaret Thatcher, he would wake up every morning and he’d ask his wife, how am I going to fight, fight, fight Labour today?

And at the end of the day, he would lie in bed again, and he would ask his wife – well, he obviously wasn’t a very romantic man – tomorrow, how am I going to fight, fight, fight Labour.

Jenrick says the Tories would restore of office of lord chancellor to its former glory.

The lord chancellor would take control of appointing judges again, he says.

Jenrick claims he has 'uncovered dozens of judges' biased in favour of migrants

Jenrick takes out a prop – a judge’s wig.

He says this is meant to symbolise the fact that judges are unbiased.

But he says he has discovered there are many judges who are not unbiased.

Today, I’ve uncovered dozens of judges with links to open borders charities who take to social media to broadcast their open borders views, who spent their whole careers fighting to keep illegal migrants in this country.

Some even continue to do so, whilst, astonishingly, serving as judges.

It’s like finding out halfway through a football match that the ref is actually a season ticket holder for the other side.

The public rightly ask how independent are they. They dishonour generations of independent jurists who came before them, and they undermine the people’s trust in the law itself. Judges who blur the line between adjudication and activism can have no place in our justice system.

Jenrick compares attorney general, Lord Hermer, to mafia lawyer, and calls him 'useful idiot for our enemies'

And Jenrick is now attacking Starmer’s friend and attorney general, Lord Hermer.

He says:

Like one of those infamous mafia lawyers of yesteryear, Hermer always chose a particular type of client, Shamima Begum, Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man, terrorists involved in 7/7.

Since taking office, the advice we’re told Lord Hermer has given to Starmer and his cronies, like to give away the Chagos islands to an ally of China, and to pay billions of pounds for the privilege – in each and every one of these incidents, he’s wasted no time establishing himself as a useful idiot for our enemies.

His rise symbolises the central truth of Keir Starmer’s government – Labour is just not on Britain’s side.

Jenrick says one of Hermer’s clients was Gerry Adams. But the IRA tried to blow up the cabinet table – the same one Hermer now sits round.

Jenrick is now vilifying Keir Starmer.

We all knew that Keir Starmer would be a bad prime minister, but I don’t think anyone anticipated he would be this bad.

He’s combined the management style of David Brent with the administrative grip of Baldrick from Blackadder.

He has proven himself to be a freebie-grabbing, free speech-stifling, criminal-releasing, tax-raising, farmer-hating, Brexit-betraying, aspiration-sapping sorry excuse for a leader.

This is someone who makes a hole in the air look substantial, Peter Mandelson appear trustworthy, and Mr Bean look like a model of competence and grip.

Jenrick recalls the IRA bombing of Manchester. He remembers it because his grandparents were in the city centre at the time, he says.

Labour wants to repeal the Legacy Act, and if that happens that will allow veterans to be dragged through the courts, he says. He says the Tories won’t allow that.

Jenrick says he is proud of the way the Conservatives have stood up for the Jewish community in Manchester.

Jenrick goes on to joke about David Lammy, the new justice secretary, which he does quite easily just by reminding people of some of Lammy’s Mastermind answers in an episode 22 years ago.

Jenrick starts speech with joke about how little time Liz Truss lasted as PM

Robert Jenrick is speaking to the conference now.

He is speaking as shadow justice secretary, but he is also widely seen as a probable party leader before the next election given the widespread assumption that Kemi Badenoch will be replaced.

Jenrick says he wants to talk about four famous blondes.

He starts by mentioning – Michael Fabricant – probably not the person they were expecting. Fabricant entered the Big Brother House, but only lasted four days.

Then there was Emily Hewertson – but she only lasted four hours.

Jenrick says he has heard a third blonde is negotiating with Big Brother. But talks have broken down because Liz Truss wants to be paid by the minute, he says.

A London assembly member has heckled a debate on gender identity at the Conservative party conference, PA Media reports.

Andrew Boff, who was sitting in the front row, said the event was “not a debate” and views being presented by the panel, which included former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies were “one sided”.

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho was chairing the session.

Boff is deputy chairman of the London assembly and previously led the Tories in the assembly.

Davies said she would not apologise for standing up for women’s and girls’ rights.

Two years ago Boff was removed from the Tory conference after heckling Suella Braverman over a speech he described as transphobic and homophobic.

Farage claims Tory party 'finished', after Reform UK announces 20 councillor defections

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, says 20 Tory councillors have defected to his party. There have been a series of announcements all morning.

He says:

This morning we announced that 20 Conservative Councillors have defected to Reform UK.

The Conservative Party is finished.

Chris Philp says Tories would allow stop and search without grounds for suspicion in crime hotspot areas

Here are more lines from Chris Philp’s speech to the conference this morning.

• Philp, the shadow home secretary said the Tories would allow the police to stop and search people without needing grounds for suspicion in crime hotspot areas. He said:

It’s insane that the smell of cannabis alone, or somebody wearing a menacing mask alone, does not generally allow, legally, a stop and search.

Now in my view, a single suspicion indicator should be enough.

So, in our hotspot areas, we will allow routine stop and search without suspicion. Anyone can be searched.

We will change the law to do this, and we will triple the use of stop and search.

• He said a Tory government would deliver “sustained negative net migration” by setting a binding annual cap on immigration, voted on by parliament.

• He said the Tories would abolish non-crime hate incidents if they won the next general election.

It is time to end the madness of police showing up on someone’s doorstep because they have offended someone online – the police should catch real criminals, not off-colour tweets.

Policing non-criminal social media posts is a catastrophic waste of time, and it tramples on free speech.

In government, we would end this nonsense, and we will abolish non-crime hate incidents. So you can tweet away!

• He said the Tories would scrap the anti-racism commitment plan published by the College of Policing and the Police Chiefs’ Council, branding it “absurd”.

What I’ve got to tell you now will shock you.

There is a so-called anti-racism commitment plan published by the College of Policing and the Police Chiefs’ Council that literally says policing should not be colour blind. Let me be clear, yes, it should!

Treating racial groups differently to engineer the same arrest rate, even if the offending rates are different, is immoral, plain wrong. People should stand equal before the law. It is that simple.

Woke nonsense in policing has to end and, as home secretary, I will scrap that absurd document.

• He said under the Tories people who express racial or religious hatred, or support for terrorism, would be removed from the country if they are not British citizens.

Chris Philp giving his conference speech. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian