Brexit news - live: Minister urges Tory leadership candidates to withdraw, as Conservative MP decries 'shambolic' contest'
The race to succeed Theresa May as prime minister has been described as a "shambles", and is in danger of becoming a "tragic farce", according to a senior Tory.
With at least 13 candidates now in the Conservative leadership race, the former minister Ken Clarke said the party has "never seen such a crisis", and said there are too many contenders in the contest.
Echoing views of some of his colleagues in the party, the Tory MP said: "It is all a shambles and is in danger of becoming a rather tragic farce unless some order is brought into it. There is nothing I can do about that; the 1922 Committee perhaps should have tightened up the rules before we started."
It came as Donald Trump, the US president, arrived in the UK for an official state visit, and before even landing at Stansted Airport referred to the London mayor Sadiq Khan as a "stone cold loser".
But cabinet minister James Brokenshire said those politicians boycotting Mr Trump's visit were "fundamentally mistaken".
"It's important that we engage seriously and sensibly with one of our closest allies," he said.
"People will have different views, and indeed that relationship allows us to have conversations on a range of different issues - I think the responsible thing to do is to actually engage with that process, to actually have that conversation.
"Those that are saying they don't want to see the president, I think that is fundamentally mistaken and is not in the best interests of our country or indeed, here in London, the best interests of our capital city."
This live blog has now closed, but you can read Monday's events below
Welcome to The Independent's politics live blog - we'll be bringing you the latest from Westminster, the Conservative leadership race, and, of course, Brexit.
Former Tory minister Ken Clarke has said he fears the Conservative Party is "tearing itself apart" and that both the Tories and Labour are facing a "very dangerous moment".
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Clarke said he thinks there are too many candidates running to be the next prime minister.
He said: "It is all a shambles and is in danger of becoming a rather tragic farce unless some order is brought into it. There is nothing I can do about that; the 1922 Committee perhaps should have tightened up the rules before we started."
He went on to say that international development secretary Rory Stewart "has a chance" of succeeding Theresa May as the next prime minister and "shake up the present establishment of the party".
Mr Clarke said the idea that Parliament would be unable to stop a push to leave the EU without a deal would be a "constitutional outrage".
He said: "I think the British constitution is stronger than that. A no-deal?Brexit?is attractive to a lot of people, including a lot of Conservative members, by the sound of it because it sounds like 'Oh, let's cut through all this nonsense, I'm tired of it. Three years of nonsense. Just let's leave', and the assumption is not much would change.
"But leaving means WTO rules - that means tariffs of 20% on our steel exports through Europe, 10% on our cars, and much higher figures on our agricultural exports, it means no agreement on the licensing of medicines, security, policing. It is a dangerous shambles, this no-deal thing.
Speaking to the Today programme, Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary who is standing in the Tory leadership race, has suggested the government could look at some of Donald Trump's policies as the US president arrived in the UK for a state visit.?
"America under President Trump has got double the GDP growth that we have and he's done that through some big business cuts in tax, and we could look at that," he said.
Mr Hunt also insisted the UK will "take careful notice" of US concerns over the Chinese telecommunications giant?Huawei in building part of the UK's 5G network.
He continued: "We would take careful notice of everything the US says on these issues.
"We haven't made our final decision, but we have also made it clear we are considering both the technical issues, how you make sure there isn't a back door so that a third country could use 5G to spy on us, but also strategic issues, that you make sure you are not technologically over-dependent on a third country for absolutely vital technology.
"We will certainly listen carefully to what they say on that."
Donald Trump?has launched an extraordinary attack on London mayor?Sadiq Khan- just moments before touching down in the UK for?his state visit.?
"Sadiq Khan,?who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly 'nasty'?to the visiting President of the United States, by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom," Mr Trump tweeted on Monday morning while aboard?Air Force One.?
"He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me."
Frontrunner Boris Johnson has released his Tory leadership race campaign video this morning.
The clip, promoted by fellow Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, involves Mr Johnson speaking to various voters on their doorsteps and at a retail park.
"Now is the time for us to believe in ourselves and what we can do - and that's why I am standing to be leader of the Conservative Party," he says.
Two Tory leadership contenders?have suggested they would reconsider?Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s?5G?network, as?Donald Trump?also waded into the debate ahead of his state visit.
Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, and?Sajid Javid, the home secretary, both expressed concerns – on the eve of?Mr Trump’s trip – about allowing the Chinese tech firm to join the project.
It came after the US president urged Britain to be “very careful” because of national security issues and the potential implications for intelligence sharing between the allies.
A take on Boris Johnson's official campaign video from the Indy's political sketch writer, Tom Peck.
Donald Trump's British?envoy?has sparked fury with claims that?access to the NHS would be "on the table" in post-Brexit?trade deal with the US.
Woody Johnson, the US ambassador?to the UK, said the "entire economy" would be included in transatlantic?negotiations, which could include allowing American private firms to bid for NHS contracts.
In an interview ahead of Mr Trump's state visit, Mr Johnson said the US was already "looking at all the components of the deal and trying to get everything lined up so when the time comes we’re ready to go".
Theresa May?has said she hopes to build on the “strong and enduring ties” between the UK and US?ahead of?Donald Trump‘s much-anticipated state visit.
The prime minister issued a warm welcome to Mr Trump ahead of his three-day visit, which she said would “further strengthen” the special relationship between the two countries.
But the pomp and pageantry of the visit will?mask deep tensions, after the president defied diplomatic convention to make a series of extraordinary interventions into British politics.
Esther McVey - the former work and pensions secretary running to replace Theresa May - is currently being interviewed on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme.?
On Trump's state visit, she says of course if the president wanted to endorse an individual in the leadership race,??"of course that would be positive".?
She says Sadiq Khan is "virtue signalling" and "distracting" from the London mayor's "lack of leadership" in London.?
"What I'm very good at doing is putting a team together - you get the best people there," she says on Brexit.?
Asked whether she would end austerity if she won the premiership, McVey says it will already be ending "very shortly".?
On the foreign aid budget, she says it was the only budget that nearly doubled when others were being cut. She confirms it would be less than 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI).
"I have never, never, ever attacked disabled and vulnerable people," McVey says when tackled on her time as employment minister, and work and pensions secretary.
She is also confronted by deaths of claimants who are having problems with benefits - and as a result of delays.?
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