Conservative leadership hopefuls clash over Brexit stance
Video report by ITV News Political Correspondent Paul Brand
Infighting among Conservative leadership hopefuls has broken out over Brexit, as the race to replace Theresa May enters its first full week.
Following Mrs May's resignation last week, ten MPs have put themselves forward to take over the reins as leader.
Brexit remains the key issue the leadership contest will be fought on, with leadership hopefuls beginning to detail their plans if they were to take over as party leader.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who supported remain during the referendum but has been increasingly Eurosceptic, has seemingly changed his tone again after claiming leaving the EU with no-deal would be "political suicide".
ITV News Political Correspondent Paul Brand gives his analysis on the Tory leadership race and the key issue of Brexit
Mr Hunt had previously advocated keeping no-deal on the table, as he believed keeping it as a viable option was the UK's best way of striking a deal with Brussels.
On Tuesday, Mr Hunt clarified his statement, saying he thought it was best to come to an agreement with Brussels.
He said: “We must not go back to the electorate asking for their mandate until we’ve delivered what we promised we would do last time, which is to deliver Brexit, it would be absolutely catastrophic for us as a party.”
Speaking on Wednesday afternoon, Theresa May said the issue of Brexit is a job for her successor to deal with, cleaning her hands of the UK's divisive departure from the EU.
As she arrived for a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, making her first public appearance since a traumatic night for the Conservatives in the European elections, Mrs May conceded the results were "deeply disappointing" for the Tories and showed "the importance of actually delivering on Brexit".
On Brexit, Mrs May added: "I think the best way to do that [leaving the EU] is with a deal, but it will be for my successor and for Parliament to find a way forward to get a consensus and I hope those election results will focus Parliament on the need to deliver Brexit."
Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey have all refused to rule out the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, while Rory Stewart and now Jeremy Hunt appear to support striking a deal with the EU.
Hunt's "political suicide" remarks were immediately attacked by Tory leadership hopeful Esther McVey, who tweeted: "Political suicide actually lies in not having a clean break from the EU and not leaving on October 31."
Sajid Javid, who has positioned himself as the unity candidate, outlined his leadership credentials to journalists on Tuesday morning.
The Home Secretary said: "What we need in this country now is to rebuild trust, to promote much more unity and to create a lot more opportunities, particularly for younger people, and I believe I'm in a very good position to do that."
Mr Javid also refused to rule out the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.
He added: "Brexit is clearly going to be one of the big issues which has to be address properly and every candidate has to come forward with a credible plan, so I will have much more to say on that in the coming days."
Who's in the running?
There are now ten Conservative MPs who have officially put their name forward to take over from Mrs May.
Kit Malthouse is the latest to put his name forward for the top job.
Writing in The Sun, he said: “This leadership campaign cannot be about the same old faces, scarred by wars that have split the Tory party over three years.
“We need to end the Brexit paralysis, and while I voted to leave the EU, I know that without unity across the UK, we cannot get a deal over the line.
“It’s time for a new generation to lead the charge into our future with boldness and vision.”
Michael Gove has also offered up his own proposals should he become leader, offering free UK citizenship to three million EU nationals who have arrived in Britain at the time of the June 2016 referendum.
The full list of declared candidates to replace Mrs May include: Sajid Javid, Matt Hancock, Jeremy Hunt, Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey, Dominic Raab, Michael Gove and Kit Malthouse.
International Secretary of State for Defence, Penny Mordaunt, refused to rule out running for Conservative Party leadership when quizzed on Tuesday morning.
What next for the Conservatives and Labour?
Both Labour and Conservatives have been left reeling following their poor showing at the European elections.
The Tories and Labour were roundly beaten by the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats at the election, finishing fifth and third respectively in terms of the percentage of the vote won.
Following the results, each party has been put under pressure to adopt a clearer stance on Brexit.
Jeremy Corbyn has faced increasing calls from within his own party to back a second referendum, while many of the next Conservative leaders have voiced different opinions on whether to go for a no deal.
Labour deputy Tom Watson, shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer have all called for a shift in stance to back a second referendum over Mr Corbyn's preference for a general election.
Mr Watson was among members of Mr Corbyn's shadow cabinet calling for him to change tack and move away from his compromise position on Brexit, which seemed to have been punished by voters leaving the official opposition in third place.
"We've lost many hundreds of thousands, if not millions of potential votes in that election because we got it wrong," he told the BBC.
"And the time is now to show some humility, to listen and to move very, very quickly."
Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said the party was "moving towards a clearer line" on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
“Now, at minutes to midnight on these negotiations, the Tories plunged into their leadership contest so we get no sense out of them for a few months, we think it’s important to foreground the People’s Vote.”
She went on: “Our position is that ideally we want a general election – if we can’t get a general election in time, we would support a People’s Vote.”