Tory leadership race: Rivals clash on tax and Brexit
So how did it go? Tory leadership contenders Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson faced one another and a studio audience during a debate broadcast on ITV. Brexit took up much of their time, with Mr Johnson calling his rival “defeatist” over the 31 October deadline, and Mr Hunt claiming that Mr Johnson was just telling people what they “want to hear”.
The debate turned tetchy on occasion, with each candidate questioning the other’s tax pledges. Mr Johnson declined to condemn US President Donald Trump over his angry response to the row following the publication of emails from the UK’s ambassador in Washington criticising his administration. Mr Johnson accused Mr Hunt of having a “managerial style”.
With Conservative Party members already voting on their new leader – and prime minister – what has the debate changed? BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg writes that there was “no jaw-dropper, no moment that turned this race upside down”. Here’s her analysis.
Climate change: UK government ‘must act quicker’
The UK government’s advisers on climate change say ministers are not doing enough to cut emissions and need to “get real” about the challenges ahead. Prime Minister Theresa May recently set a “net-zero” target for greenhouse gases by 2050. But the Committee for Climate Change says ways must be found for people to lead good lives despite rising temperatures. Its chairman likened the government to “Dad’s Army” in the way it runs policy on this issue.
US requests help around Iran and Yemen
How espionage and ambition built the first factory
Piedmont, in north-west Italy, is celebrated for its fine wine. But when a young Englishman, John Lombe, travelled there in the early 18th Century, he was not going to savour a glass of Barolo. His purpose was industrial espionage.
Lombe wished to figure out how the Piedmontese spun strong yarn from silkworm silk. Divulging such secrets was illegal, so Lombe snuck into a workshop after dark, sketching the spinning machines by candlelight. In 1717, he took those sketches back to Derby.
Local legend has it that the Italians took a terrible revenge on Lombe, sending a woman to assassinate him. Whatever the truth of that, he died suddenly at the age of 29, just a few years after his Piedmont adventure.
What the papers say
The Times says Boris Johnson put the future of the UK’s ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, in doubt when he refused to say whether he would keep him in the post should he become prime minister, after Donald Trump criticised him. The Daily Telegraph leads on his rival Jeremy Hunt accusing Mr Johnson of “peddling optimism” during Tuesday’s TV debate. Elsewhere, the Sun says the Queen gave a “masterclass” in public behaviour when she planted a tree at an official ceremony, declining offers of help. This contrasted, it reports, with the Duchess of Sussex being “grumpy” with onlookers at Wimbledon.
Daily digest
NHS fees Overseas couple “couldn’t take baby’s body home”
Brexit ferry Deal agreed by government was rushed and risky, MPs say
Nicki Minaj Rapper cancels Saudi Arabia festival appearance after backlash
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Lookahead
09:30 The Office for National Statistics releases its estimated UK GDP figure for May.
13:30 The UN’s nuclear watchdog – the IAEA – holds a special meeting in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the situation in Iran.
On this day
1943 The armed forces of the UK, the US and Canada begin the invasion of Sicily.