Chairman Tom Crowther QC said the abuse had thrived unchecked for decades.
His report makes 47 recommendations for improvement by agencies involved. West Mercia Police has apologised "unequivocally" for past events as has Telford & Wrekin Council.
Gavin Dickson
The report found agencies dismissed reports of child exploitation as "child prostitution".
Mr Crowther said: "The overwhelming theme of the evidence has been the appalling suffering of generations of children caused by the utter cruelty of those who committed child sexual exploitation.
"Victims and survivors repeatedly told the inquiry how, when they were children, adult men worked to gain their trust before ruthlessly betraying that trust, treating them as sexual objects or commodities.
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"Countless children were sexually assaulted and raped. They were deliberately humiliated and degraded. They were shared and trafficked. They were subjected to violence and their families were threatened.
"They lived in fear and their lives were forever changed. They have asked, over the years: how was this allowed to happen?"
Other key report findings include:
Teachers and social workers being discouraged from reporting abuse
Offenders becoming "emboldened" by the absence of police action, with abuse continuing for years without concerted response
Exploitation was not investigated because of nervousness about race, that investigating concerns against Asian men, in particular, would inflame "racial tensions"
Even after an investigation leading to seven men being jailed for child sex crimes West Mercia Police and Telford & Wrekin Council scaled down their specialist teams "to virtual zero" in order to save money
West Mercia Police
The investigation was known as Operation Chalice and saw two Telford brothers among those jailed. A court heard the brothers sexually abused, trafficked and prostituted, or tried to prostitute, four teenagers between March 2008 and December 2009.
The report found the most common way children were exploited was through a "boyfriend" model, where a child would meet a man, who would persuade them to become his girlfriend.
Perpetrators, it said, sought out "vulnerable" children and would begin giving them lifts, buying them food, alcohol or cigarettes which led to the children becoming involved in sexual activity with the men as a "favour" as payment for the gifts.
Most of those responsible for the abuse did not use contraception and "pregnancies were expected to be (and in many cases were) terminated", though some survivors went on to bear children.
In several cases, victims received death threats against them or their families if they tried to end the abuse,
LOWE FAMILY
The report references the case of Lucy Lowe, 16, who died along with her 17-year-old sister and mother in a house fire started by Azhar Ali Mehmood, 26, the father of her daughter. She had become pregnant at 14 to Mehmood.
The report continued to say children were often abused in nightclubs and takeaways with witnesses also describing a "rape house" in Wellington, Telford, to which young people were taken.
Within schools, it said, there was a "reluctance" to report concerning activity without "concrete proof" which was an "overly cautious approach", while "obvious" indicators like absences and changes in behaviour went unremarked by school staff.
The report said, in the most recent figures from the first six months of 2020, police received 172 referrals related to child exploitation.
The "dreadful, life altering crime has not gone away - in Telford or elsewhere," the report said.
It also outlines recent police evidence of "an unacceptable, and quite frankly offensive attitude", towards child abuse victims, with "disparaging language being used".
Gavin Dickson
In his statement, Mr Crowther said he looked back as far as 1989 to draw his conclusions, but had heard from victims exploited as long ago as the 1970s.
"I saw references to exploitation being 'generational'; having come to be regarded as 'normal' by perpetrators and inevitable by victims and survivors some of whose parents had been through similar experiences," he said.
He urged agencies to accept the recommendations made in the report and hoped the report "goes some way" to giving a voice to the survivors.
Mr Crowther recommended the formation of a joint review team to publish an annual report on child abuse in Telford.
Following the inquiry's publication, survivor Joanne Phillips, who gave evidence said: "Victims were being identified as child prostitutes. Once you have been convicted that label will never leave you.
"Prosecutions are damaging to your life.
"Some children went to prison for not paying the fines. Convictions should be completely expunged.
"Today I feel incredibly proud of the girls in Telford....I cannot express enough how proud I am for seeing this through and their resilience and bravery."
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Telford and Wrekin Council has said it "apologises wholeheartedly" to the victims.
"Child sexual exploitation is a vile crime that disgusts us and all right thinking people.
"The independent inquiry acknowledges we have made significant improvements in recent years."
It said it was working day in and day out to provide support for victims and that it was already carrying out many of the inquiry's recommendations.
Getty Images
Assistant Chief Constable Richard Cooper, of West Mercia Police said he would like to say sorry to the survivors and all those affected in Telford.
"While there were no findings of corruption, our actions fell far short of the help and protection you should have had from us, it was unacceptable, we let you down. It is important we now take time to reflect critically and carefully on the content of the report and the recommendations that have been made," he said.
He said the force now has teams dedicated to preventing and tackling child exploitation and works better together with organisations to safeguard children.
West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner, John Campion, said victims and survivors had been let down.
"I cannot say with absolute certainty, just because lessons have been learnt, that it will never happen again.
"However, my drive as PCC remains resolute to ensure the system, that is there to keep people safe, continues building on the progress that has been made."
Mark Berry formerly ran a project which operated a night cafe from a Methodist church in Wellington and street teams operating around nightclubs, supporting vulnerable people, including young girls.
"They would come into the cafe or we would talk to them outside and we began to hear stories about why they felt vulnerable, particularly on the streets, that there were groups of guys who were, what we would call now, grooming them, offering them gifts, wanting to take them to parties, things like that," he said.
He said the staff would see men in cars approaching girls as they left pubs and nightclubs.
"These guys weren't going into the clubs, they weren't part of the normal night time life, the entertainment life, it felt like they were specifically there for this purpose," he said.
He said girls would tell them how they felt "vulnerable", "hassled" and "harassed", which they reported to the police officers who they now know were heading up the Operation Chalice inquiry.
Gavin Dickson
Mr Berry said the town had "pulled together" in the wake of the investigation and added the inquiry was "crucial" for understanding what had happened.
"There needs to be justice and there needs to be resolution for the victims and for the wider community and people want that to happen," he said.
If you have been affected by anything in this report, support is available through the BBC's Action Line.
The Met Office has issued an extreme weather warning for Sunday, as temperatures climbed to 32C on Monday.
The rare amber alert covering much of England and Wales is used to warn people of potential health and transport issues caused by the heat.
It comes as Wales had its hottest day of the year with 28.7C in Cardiff's Bute Park.
Northolt, west London, recorded a high of 32C as temperatures in England soared.
And Heathrow airport, in west London, recorded temperatures of 31.8C. The airport previously was the site of the UK's hottest day so far this year on 17 June when it was 32.7C.
The Met Office's extreme heat warning has only been issued twice before.
Level three heat-health alerts, which are separate to the amber alert, are in place across the south, the Midlands and eastern parts of England.
BBC weather presenter Chris Fawkes earlier said that Monday had a "decent shout at being the hottest day of the year so far", as he predicted highs of 34C in eastern parts of England, including Cambridgeshire.
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Temperatures are set to remain high overnight going into Tuesday, making it an uncomfortable night for many.
The Met Office is advising people to stay indoors where possible and to drink plenty of fluid to cope with the heat.
Parents are also being encouraged to limit their children's exposure to the sun.
The heat-health alerts, issued jointly by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office, are expected to stay in place until next weekend.
Heatwaves are becoming more likely and more extreme because of climate change.
The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK was 38.7C on 25 July 2019 in Cambridge Botanic Garden.
Scotland and Northern Ireland had their hottest days of the year so far on Sunday.
On Monday, Aboyne in the Highlands hit highs of 27.5C, while Armagh reached 24.2C.
Sweltering temperatures are also affecting the north of England, with Manchester set to reach a high of 28C.
A heatwave is sweeping across Europe, with a plume of hot air coming up from Africa and northwards through Spain.
Temperatures are expected to hit 38C in Madrid and 47C in Seville on Monday.
France, Germany and Italy could see the heat exceed 40C over the coming weekend.
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Dr Agostinho Sousa from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has urged people to stay hydrated and try to find shade when the rays are strongest in the afternoon.
The agency said the elderly, people with underlying health conditions and those who live alone are particularly at risk.
It suggests people shade or cover windows exposed to direct sunlight, check fans and fridges are working properly, and that medicines are correctly stored.
The Met Office declares a heatwave when it records at least three days in a row with maximum temperatures exceeding a set temperature - which varies in different areas of the country.
The UK's four-level heat-health system highlights the potential health impacts of high temperatures.
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The level three currently in place requires health and social care workers to pay particular attention to high-risk groups of people such as the elderly and vulnerable.
Train services were suspended between Victoria and Brixton in south London earlier when a fire broke out on tracks at Battersea Bridge.
Network Rail believes the fire was caused by a stray spark touching the bridge's timbers.
High track temperatures meant fewer trains could run because of a speed restriction, West Midlands Railway said.
Hampshire County Council is preparing to deploy gritters to deal with road surfaces being melted by the sun.
The machines are normally used to tackle snow but will instead be spreading light dustings of sand to help drivers.
Dog owners are being advised to avoid over-exercising their pets in hot weather.
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home said taking your pet for walks in the early morning or early evening when temperatures have cooled can prevent heatstroke.
It also added that dogs should never be left in parked cars when temperatures go above 21C - in a locked car this can jump to 40C.
Some weather models are predicting extreme heat for the UK next weekend.
BBC weather presenter Chris Fawkes said temperatures could rise to the high 30s due to hot weather across Spain and Portugal being drawn to the UK - boosting temperatures through the week and into next weekend.
Weather forecasting models suggest it is possible - though not likely - temperatures in the UK on the weekend could reach 40C (104F).
But a Met Office spokeswoman said it did not believe the warmest weather would reach 40C - UK temperatures have never reached that point.
Some weather models are showing extreme heat for the UK from next weekend.☀️🌡️ #UKWeather
BBC Weather presenter Simon King said this was a low possibility - though not impossible - and an indicator of a changing climate.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, climate scientist Ella Gilbert said heatwaves and hot spells are increasing in frequency, intensity and duration because of climate change.
The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began in the latter half of the 18th century, and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
In England, there were 2,500 excess deaths in the summer of 2020 as a result of hot weather, while heat-related deaths in the UK could treble in 30 years, the British Red Cross predicts.
An ally of Priti Patel has admitted sharing a “dirty dossier” sent around Tory WhatsApp groups branding Rishi Sunak a liar who cannot be trusted on tax.
Patrick Robertson, a lobbyist who has worked in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, is thought to be helping to run Patel’s campaign to become Tory leader.
His previous work includes lobbying to prevent the extradition of Augusto Pinochet to Spain to face trial for human rights abuses, and acting as an adviser to Imran Khan, the recently ousted prime minister of Pakistan.
The memo, which set Tory WhatsApp groups abuzz over the weekend, accuses Sunak of “wasting” money during the pandemic, breaking Conservative manifesto commitments not to raise taxes and “publicly lying” about his wife’s non-dom tax status.
It raises questions about his loyalty to Boris Johnson by saying that the former chancellor’s resignation came “within minutes” of Savid Javid stepping down, and asks if this should be seen as “an unplanned coincidence”.
It also notes that Sunak “launched his campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party with a website domain registered in December 2021”.
“Getting ‘Ready for Rishi’ means supporting a candidate who, like Boris, landed a Partygate fine from the police for breaking lockdown rules,” the memo says.
The memo’s author is listed as Robertson and it was created on Saturday night, according to the document properties. However, he denied writing the text.
“You won’t find my properties on it or my name on it because it wasn’t from me,” he told The Times. “I received it myself and sent it to other people. It’s got nothing to do with me.”
Patel is expected to launch her leadership bid imminently after sounding out the support of the European Research Group, the Brexiteer caucus of backbench Tory MPs. The home secretary already has the backing of 12 Tory MPs even though she has not officially declared her intention to run.
A source close to Patel said: “We hope that all candidates will run a clean campaign to be party leader, and avoid this election providing the Labour Party with leaflet fodder. We have no knowledge of or involvement in producing this document.”
14 minutes ago
4.05pm
Reheated Thatcherism not enough, says Braverman
“Reheated Thatcherism” will not be enough to turn around the crises faced by Britain, Suella Braverman has said (Geraldine Scott writes).
Setting out her pitch to be Conservative leader, the attorney general told the relaunch of the Conservative Way Forward campaign group that she was committed to cutting taxes, dismissing suggestions that it was not “the serious thing” to do.
She said the drivers of a high-tax economy were “an ageing population putting strain on the NHS and social care sector, long-term unemployment [and] overflowing prisons”.
She said: “These are the challenges that we can’t just wish away. We can’t cut public services just like that when so many people depend on them.
“No, we need a more deep-rooted approach. Rather than just reducing the supply of government, we need to reduce the demand for it.”
But she said: “If we believe anything as Conservatives, we believe in low taxes. But we need a plan for this decade, not the 1980s. Reheated Thatcherism is not going to be enough.”
Braverman suggested she would reform public services, for example putting an emphasis on primary care in the NHS to take pressure off hospitals, and giving prisoners training for a trade.
She said: “The way to build a dynamic, low-tax economy isn’t just about taxes, or about the economic supply side — vital though that is — it’s about the social supply side, too. We need a more resilient society.”
She said: “Don’t vote for me because I’m a woman, don’t vote for me because I’m brown. Vote for me because I love this country and because I will do anything for it.”
34 minutes ago
3.45pm
Westminster springs a leak
Westminster has always had a problem with leaking – and now it seems to be bringing the whole broken edifice tumbling down.
A debate in the House of Commons has been delayed this afternoon after water began leaking into the chamber.
A video shared on Twitter showed the leak coming through the ceiling
MPs have been unable to agree a plan to fix the myriad issues affecting the Houses of Parliament, including asbestos hazards and leaking roofs.
A recent report estimated that repair works would take up to 76 years and cost £22 billion if politicians refuse to move out.
Even if MPs were to move out for 19 to 28 years, the construction costs are expected to amount to £13 billion.
Michael Fabricant, the Conservative MP for Lichfield, said that the leak meant “democracy [had been] suspended until further notice”. He said: “Only in a heatwave can the House of Commons be suspended because of a flood in the chamber!”
The roof leak has left wet patches on the carpet in the Commons
PA WIRE
49 minutes ago
3.30pm
Rees-Mogg told not to enter leadership race
Jacob Rees-Mogg has been urged not to enter the Conservative leadership race in a public attack by a former minister who was once his closest ally (Patrick Maguire writes).
Amid increasing divisions on the Tory right, Steve Baker, the influential Eurosceptic organiser, said Rees-Mogg, who is considering a late bid for the leadership, risked splitting the Brexiteer vote.
Baker, who abandoned his own leadership bid to run the campaign of Suella Braverman, the attorney general, last week, told The Times: “Suella has my complete and unequivocal loyalty.
“As her campaign manager, I go where she decides. Jacob ought not to stand. He can’t win and he’d lose a general election. But he would probably stop Suella getting through.”
Baker’s intervention — a rare criticism of the man with whom he plotted to defeat Theresa May’s Brexit deal — brings mounting rancour on the right of the party into the open.
Tory Eurosceptics are mostly divided between Braverman, who commands the support of the party’s most dogmatic Brexiteers, Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, and Priti Patel, the home secretary, who is yet to formally declare.
A Rees-Mogg candidacy would render an already divided right bloc more fissiparous still, splitting the vote four ways.
Allies of Boris Johnson already fear that this group of MPs risks inadvertently handing the contest to Rishi Sunak if it does not consolidate behind one or two candidates before the first ballot.
1 hour ago
3.00pm
Zahawi pledges to cut income tax and energy bills
Nadhim Zahawi has promised cuts in income tax, corporation tax and energy bills as he tries to shake off “smears” about his financial affairs (Henry Zeffman writes).
Making his first speech as a Conservative leadership candidate, the new chancellor attempted to outbid the rest of the field by pledging that tax would fall as a percentage of GDP every year if he became prime minister.
Zahawi was promoted from education secretary to chancellor on Tuesday, but the next day joined cabinet calls for Boris Johnson to resign. Since he entered the leadership contest at the weekend it has emerged that he has faced investigations by the National Crime Agency and HM Revenue & Customs. Zahawi has denied knowledge of any probes.
Nadhim Zahawi set out his policies in the Tory leadership race during a speech in London this afternoon
STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA
He said today: “Tax as a percentage of GDP will fall year on year if I become prime minister. That is a promise.
“I have a simple solution. Let people keep more of their money and let them choose how to spend it. Today, I can announce that, as prime minister, I will cut the base rate of income tax to 19p in 2023 and 18p in 2024. That will give households back £900 a year on average.”
He added: “I will abolish VAT and green levies on energy bills temporarily for two years. It is simply not right that the Government stands by and profits from skyrocketing energy costs while families struggle.”
He also said that “as chancellor I have set the wheels in motion to abolish the planned corporation tax rise.”
Torsten Bell of the Resolution Foundation said that Zahawi’s pledge to cut 1p in the pound from income tax would cost £6 billion next year.
2 hours ago
1.30pm
Truss sets up HQ at famous address
Liz Truss has taken over one of Westminster’s most famous addresses in her bid to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister.
The foreign secretary has set up camp at 11 Lord North Street — the town house belonging to the Tory peer and donor Baron Howard of Rising (Oliver Wright writes).
Michael Portillo — then defence secretary — ran his doomed campaign against John Major from the address in 1995. Expecting Major to be ousted by the right of the party, Portillo decided to get ahead by setting up a secret HQ in the Georgian townhouse.
11 Lord North Street has a long history of hosting Conservative leadership campaigns
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
His machinations were revealed when BT engineers were spotted installing 40 phone lines, despite his public declarations of loyalty to the prime minister.
The house was next pressed into service in 2001 when Iain Duncan Smith was granted its use for his successful campaign to succeed William Hague as leader.
Truss got to know the house well when she backed Johnson for the leadership in 2019. As head of policy, she was based at Lord North Street when it became one of two bases used by Johnson for his successful campaign to succeed Theresa May.
The house, which dates from the 1720s, is next door to Jacob Rees-Mogg’s townhouse in a street that has a history of intrigue and power-broking.
Harold Wilson lived down the street when he was prime minister in the 1970s, and other locals have included the disgraced Tory MP Jonathan Aitken, the Eurosceptic MP Teresa Gorman, and the former Tory party chief whip Alastair Goodlad, from whose house John Major’s leadership campaign was run in 1995.
3 hours ago
12.30pm
Johnson avoids giving ‘damaging’ endorsement
Boris Johnson has said his endorsement would “damage” any candidate to succeed him, as a leading northern Conservative urged Tory rivals to focus on levelling up as well as tax cuts (Chris Smyth writes).
The prime minister refused to say whether he felt betrayed by his MPs after criticising the Tory “herd” in his resignation speech. “There’s a contest under way and it’s happened, and, you know, I wouldn’t want to damage anybody’s chances by offering my support,” he said during a visit to the Francis Crick Institute in London to highlight the importance of science to Britain’s future.
Ben Houchen, Conservative mayor of the Tees Valley, said he was “frustrated” that candidates to succeed Johnson were not talking about how to boost growth in neglected areas.
The prime minister would not say if he felt betrayed by MPs
LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
He told Times Radio: “I just find it really frustrating as a contest at the moment that we’re just deciding whether cutting taxes or not cutting taxes is the right or wrong thing. As I’ve just said, it depends on the rest of the policy.”
Criticising a “very narrow” focus on tax cuts, he argued: “Whether you want to cut taxes or not is informed by the policy that you want to implement as a government. Now, one of those key policies is levelling up. And at the moment, I am frustrated that there is little to no conversation about levelling up.”
Boris Johnson declines to endorse any candidate running to replace him
Johnson’s allies are considering whether to back Liz Truss or Priti Patel as a candidate to beat Rishi Sunak, and Truss is pitching to be a lower-tax version of Johnson.
Her allies insist she will continue Johnson’s levelling-up plan, but is likely to use a different name to emphasise the goal of spurring private sector investment rather than using government money.
A spokesman for her campaign said: “The next prime minister has to be someone who unites the red and blue wall, has a clear vision for the country and economy based on Conservative principles and has the experience and track record to deliver that vision and hit the ground running on day one. Liz is the only candidate who ticks all of those boxes”.
4 hours ago
11.30am
Truss started campaign website a month ago
Liz Truss registered her official website to become the next Tory leader almost a month before Boris Johnson resigned (Oliver Wright writes).
The website lizforleader.co.uk went live at the weekend as part of the foreign secretary’s campaign to succeed Johnson as prime minister.
But a search for the domain name — first carried out by Sky News — shows that it was registered on June 8, 2022.
This was two days after Boris Johnson narrowly won the 1922 Committee vote of confidence, during which Truss publicly supported him.
Liz Truss registered the site two days after Boris Johnson won a vote of confidence
JOSHUA BRATT FOR THE TIMES
Rishi Sunak and Tom Tugendhat both registered their websites last week on July 6 and 9 respectively. Most of the candidates do not appear to have campaign websites yet.
Penny Mordaunt’s pm4pm.com was registered on May 24, 2019 — the day that Theresa May announced her resignation. Mordaunt did not end up running in that contest but kept the domain name.
Using the tagline “trusted to deliver”, Truss kicked off her campaign with a slick video highlighting her work on trade deals and the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. She said that a prime minister with “experience, who can hit the ground running from day one” was needed, in a possible dig at rivals without cabinet experience.
While such Machiavellian tactics are unlikely to damage her campaign among Tory MPs — who were well aware of her longstanding leadership ambitions despite protestations of loyalty to Johnson — it could cause her difficulty later in the race.
A good proportion of Tory members still support Johnson, and the actions of the final two candidates in the days leading up to his resignation are likely to come under scrutiny.
4 hours ago
11.20am
Chancellor rows back plans to slash government budgets
Nadhim Zahawi has rowed back on proposals to cut every government department’s running costs by 20 per cent to fund his tax-slashing promises (Geraldine Scott writes).
The chancellor had suggested on Sky News that he would force all departments to make cuts, pointing to his record at the Department for Education. When asked how he would cut taxes as pledged he said: “Nothing’s off the table.”
The majority of those vying to be Conservative leader have pledged tax cuts, except for Rishi Sunak, who has said the country cannot tell itself “fairytales” over the state of the economy. But few have set out how they would achieve the promises.
Zahawi told Sky News: “I think it’s only right that across government we do this exercise, it’s an important exercise. It’s only right that we exercise fiscal discipline when it comes to public-sector pay.”
However, the team behind his leadership bid sought to clarify that he meant a 20 per cent reduction in civil servants, which has already been proposed by Boris Johnson.
Sajid Javid said yesterday that his plans would cost about £39 billion a year and insisted he did not “believe in unfunded tax cuts”. He promised a “scorecard” showing how it could be achieved, and said he would ask for “efficiency savings” from all departments by 2024.
Liz Truss has promised to “start cutting taxes from day one”. Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary who is backing Truss, said it was accepted that public spending would need to be reduced.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned the candidates that to avoid having to hike taxes again in coming years they would have to scrap certain benefits or make cuts to the NHS.
Robert Jenrick, who is backing Sunak, said that Tory “credibility” was at risk by candidates promising cuts. “Announcing fantasy tax cuts to help get through a leadership election, I think, is unwise.”
5 hours ago
10.25am
Analysis: candidates must play to two galleries
The Tory leadership election has two audiences, Tory MPs and Conservative party members. It would be risky to assume they want the same thing (Chris Smyth writes).
It is often assumed that Tory members are more unbendingly right-wing than MPs, yet although polling suggests there is some truth to this idea on social issues the reverse is true on the economy.
While Rishi Sunak is being pilloried by rivals over his tax rises and spending, the evidence suggests that this could hurt him more in the first round of the contest. If he gets to the final two, members could be more understanding.
Surveys by the British Election Study and others, published in the journal Political Studies last year, show that on questions about redistribution, big business and the fate of ordinary working people, Conservative voters are slightly to the right of the average voter, members are further right but MPs are significantly more likely to hold classical right-wing positions. Hence the clamour today to offer tax cuts.
Priti Patel is likely to enter the race today
JESSICA TAYLOR/UK PARLIAMENT/AP
On values, it is a striking finding that the average Conservative MP is more socially liberal than the average voter. Tory MPs are far less likely to support the death penalty, bemoan young people’s lack of respect and call for stiffer sentences than voters as a whole. Members, by contrast, are far to the right of voters on most of these issues.
No surprise, then, that all candidates in the leadership election have pledged to keep the policy of deporting some asylum seekers to Rwanda, which has caused significant queasiness among many Tory MPs.
The views of Tory voters on such issues may boost the hopes of Priti Patel, who is likely to enter the race today and will feel she has a chance as the “authentic” right-wing candidate if she can make it to the final two.
Yet both Tory MPs and members will be selecting a leader with half an eye on the wider electorate: they know they need a leader who can win the country as a whole. They will be second guessing each other and the voters. They will also need to be mindful that what might be wildly popular in some constituencies will be toxic in others.
Added to that is the fact that, as Jeremy Corbyn discovered, even espousing policies which might themselves be individually popular can contribute towards painting a leader as extreme or dangerous.
These overlapping layers of calculation mean that it is still very hard to predict who will become Britain’s next prime minister by the end of the summer.
6 hours ago
10.10am
I’m being smeared with tax rumours, says Zahawi
Nadhim Zahawi has said he is “being smeared” by stories about his tax affairs as senior Tories become alarmed about the bitter tone of campaigning in the leadership election (Chris Smyth writes).
The chancellor has denied claims that the National Crime Agency or HMRC have been investigating irregularities in his finances — but promised to release his tax returns as prime minister, in a move aimed at Rishi Sunak.
Nadhim Zahawi has said he will publish his tax accounts each year if he becomes prime minister
HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS
With innuendo and unsubstantiated allegations about rival camps being thrown around, already Sunak has had to deny claims by Nadine Dorries, a close ally of Boris Johnson, that he is working with Dominic Cummings, formerly Johnson’s chief adviser. Yesterday Tory MPs were sent a 400-word attack on Sunak that said there was “nothing Conservative about [his] big tax and big spend agenda”.
This morning Zahawi lashed out at reports of investigations into his business career. “I was clearly being smeared. I was being told that the Serious Fraud Office that the National Crime Agency that HMRC are looking into me. I’m not aware of this . . . I’ve always declared my taxes. I paid my taxes in the UK,” he told Sky News.
He joined Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt in promising to publish his tax returns if he progressed in the contest, saying: “We need to take this issue in many ways off the off the table. I will publish my accounts annually. That’s the right thing to do. It’ll make a difference to the country going forward if all prime ministers publish their tax returns.”
Sunak, who has been damaged by revelations of his wife’s non-dom tax status and faces scepticism about whether he is too rich to lead a country suffering a cost of living crisis, has not made a similar pledge. Allies said it would be “presumptuous” to consider what he would do if he made the final stages of the contest.
This morning George Eustice, the environment secretary, who is backing Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said that “of course” he was worried by negative campaigning. “We are all colleagues in the same party and it’s incredibly important for people, whoever wins, to put the party back together to pull things back together and therefore the tone that people adopt in this campaign really matters,” he told LBC.
6 hours ago
9.30am
Tax row dominates debate
The Conservative leadership election begins formally today, dominated by an increasingly bitter row over tax that could well decide Britain’s next prime minister.
Liz Truss, Nadhim Zahawi, Sajid Javid, Suella Braverman will all be speaking publicly and demanding tax cuts in a full-frontal attack on Rishi Sunak’s economic policy.
Sunak, the early frontrunner, will not appear today but Robert Jenrick, one of his leading supporters, accused rivals this morning of “fantasy tax cuts” and warned them against making promises they could not keep in the race to succeed Boris Johnson. He criticised “entirely unfunded tax cuts in the heat of a Conservative leadership election which has been partly caused by a lack of trust”.
Jenrick insisted that big tax cuts would require an increase in borrowing or spending cuts, arguing that Tory members “understand that these are difficult times and they do require somebody who’s highly economically literate and has a proper plan”.
But Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, who until recently sat at the cabinet table with Sunak and Jenrick but is backing Truss, said: “Tax rates are very, very high. Do we want to continue on that path or reset or try something else?”
Kwarteng said that the priority was boosting growth, and “we don’t do that by rising taxes to the highest levels since 1949. That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever”. He said Truss had argued privately against the national insurance rise introduced by Sunak to fund the NHS.
Tom Tugendhat, who is pitching himself as a fresh start having never served in government, pointed out that he was one of a few Conservative MPs to vote against the national insurance “tax on jobs”. “I certainly think that we should be looking to lower taxes across every aspect of society,” he added.
As the contest begins in earnest, the prime minister has spent the morning on a visit to the Francis Crick Institute
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An expedited timetable is expected to be agreed after elections to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers this afternoon. This will set a high bar for candidates to get on the ballot paper — with the backing of 20 to 36 MPs, or 10 per cent of the parliamentary party, being suggested — in an effort to thin out of a field of 11 declared candidates so far. MPs will winnow them down to a final two so that a choice can be put to members once parliament’s summer recess begins on Thursday next week.
The accelerated debate will become a battle for the future of the party’s economic policy: if members accept Sunak’s argument, then he is on course to win. But if they insist on faster tax cuts, the contest is wide open to become the standard bearer of the right.
7 hours ago
9.00am
Conservative leadership election formally begins
Good morning and welcome to The Times’s live coverage as the Tory leadership election formally begins today. Elections to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers will be held this afternoon, following which the committee is expected to agree the timetable for how the leadership contest will take place. Meanwhile, several of the 11 contenders are out and about this morning, pushing their low tax credentials.
Jeremy Hunt is among those who have entered the race
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