Liz Truss beat Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership debate, a new poll of Tory members suggests as they said that they found her more trustworthy, likeable and in touch with ordinary people.
A snap YouGov survey of 507 Conservative Party members found that 50 per cent believed that the foreign secretary was the better performer while 39 per cent said that the former chancellor was better.
Nearly two thirds of those polled — 63 per cent — said that Truss came across as more in touch with ordinary people, compared to 19 per cent for Sunak.
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss tore into each other over their rival visions for the future of the UK economy, in their first head-to-head TV debate.
The two contenders to be the next PM did not hold back from "blue-on-blue" attacks in the hour-long BBC special.
Mr Sunak told Ms Truss her tax cut plan would "tip millions of people into misery" and cost the Conservatives the next election.
Ms Truss said tax rises brought in by him would lead to a recession.
The foreign secretary and former chancellor, who until three weeks ago were in the same cabinet, talked over each other at times and shot angry glances across the stage at Stoke-on-Trent's Victoria Hall.
It led to complaints afterwards by Ms Truss's supporters that the ex-chancellor was being too aggressive and was "mansplaining" - something fiercely denied by the Sunak camp.
The pair were on better terms by the end of the debate, with Ms Truss saying she would "love" to have Mr Sunak on her team if she becomes PM. The ex-chancellor praised her stance on Russia.
But the row over tax dominated the early exchanges.
Ms Truss wants to scrap the rise to National Insurance, a planned rise in corporation tax and would temporarily scrap green levies on energy bills to be paid for through borrowing.
Mr Sunak says he would not cut taxes until inflation was under control.
Mr Sunak - who quit as chancellor earlier this month - said the coronavirus pandemic had created a large bill and that putting it on the "country's credit card" would "pass the tab to our children and grandchildren".
This video can not be played
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Ms Truss insisted that under her plans the UK would start paying down the debt in three year's time - and paying it back straight away as Mr Sunak wanted to do would push the UK into a recession.
Mr Sunak suggested her plans would lead to higher interest rates, but the foreign secretary dismiss this as "scaremongering" and "project fear" - an echo of the criticism aimed at the Remain campaign during Brexit referendum.
Mr Sunak took this opportunity to point out that, unlike him, Ms Truss campaigned against Brexit.
"Maybe I learnt from that," she replied. She later said the Brexit referendum was when she had learnt not to trust Treasury forecasts on the economy.
Other key moments in the debate included:
Both candidates accusing the other of not having been tough enough on China in the past
Ms Truss contrasting her comprehensive school education with that of Mr Sunak's, who attended the fee-paying Winchester College
Mr Sunak said he was "not going to apologise" for his background, adding that his parents' aspirational values were Conservative - something that earned him the evening's first round of applause
Mr Sunak's resignation as chancellor helped trigger the downfall of Mr Johnson.
He praised Mr Johnson's handling of Brexit and the pandemic but said he had quit as a matter of principle over the PM's "conduct" and the fact that they had "very different views about the direction of travel on the economy".
Ms Truss acknowledged the prime minister had made mistakes but said they were not "sufficient" enough for the Conservative Party to have "rejected him".
Neither said they would accept Mr Johnson in their cabinet.
Chief secretary to the Treasury and Truss-backer Simon Clarke told BBC Breakfast that polling after the debate showed the majority of Conservative voters thought his candidate had won the evening - and it had reaffirmed his view that she was the right candidate to lead the country.
He refused to criticise Mr Sunak for interrupting, but said viewers would have to make up their own minds about his debating style. He added he thought Ms Truss had been "cool, controlled" and had made compelling arguments.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told BBC Breakfast the debate showed a Conservative Party which had "lost the plot and lost its purpose".
He said Mr Sunak was acting like he had "just come down from the moon" and discovered the economy was in a bad way when he had been in charge of it until three weeks ago, while Ms Truss was playing "fantasy economics" without explaining how she would pay for tax cuts.
"We do need change in the UK but the change we need is not a change at the top of the Conservative Party, it is more fundamental than that. We need a fresh start for Britain. We need a Labour government," he said.
A Liberal Democrat spokesperson simply said: "Eurgh."
For all the talk of wanting the "blue-on-blue" attacks to subside - this debate showed they haven't gone away.
Liz Truss's campaign accused Rishi Sunak of not letting her get a word in edgeways, and Rishi Sunak continued to slam Liz Truss's tax cut plans for not being economically sound.
Sources close to Sunak said he had "won the argument" on the economy, with his argument that her tax cuts would further fuel inflation and push up interest rates and people's mortgages.
Behind the scenes, Truss's camp feel positive too - claiming that while she stayed calm Sunak was "flustered".
Debates about their backgrounds haven't gone away either. Both are keen to distance themselves from any suggestion they had certain privileges.
Truss pointed to her comprehensive school education but distanced herself slightly, though, from the outright attacks on Sunak's clothing and education from some of her supporters.
But the key battleground - and the biggest dividing line between the two - is still tax.
BBC
What questions do you have about the Tory Leadership debate? Please get in touch by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.
The parents of a 12-year-old boy have lost an appeal against a decision to allow life support treatment to end.
Archie Battersbee was found unconscious at home in Southend, Essex, on 7 April and the Royal London Hospital believe he is brain dead.
Appeal judges supported a High Court ruling that ending his life support was lawful and in his best interests.
A 48-hour delay to ending treatment has been ordered so the family can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
In a statement, his mother Hollie Dance, said: "As long as Archie is alive, I will never give up on him; he is too good to give up on.
"We should not have to endlessly battle the hospital in the courts for what we believe is right for Archie.
"Top judges have told us, however, that this is the law. If this so, the law must change."
She added the family was considering taking the case to the European court in Strasbourg, France.
Archie has not regained consciousness since he was found by his mother Ms Dance, who believes he had been taking part in an online challenge.
James Manning/PA
Court of Appeal judges in London were asked to postpone their ruling as Archie's father, Paul Battersbee, had been taken ill outside court, but they refused.
It is thought Mr Battersbee may have suffered a heart attack or stroke prior to the hearing.
However, judges said it was in Archie's best interests to give a judgement today.
Ms Dance said she thought judges had been "insensitive" in deciding not to adjourn.
Evidence 'cherry picked'
She also wanted appeal judges to adjourn their ruling on the basis that she had "video evidence" that indicated that Archie, who is attached to a ventilator, had twice tried to breathe for himself on Friday and Saturday.
"The hospital seem to cherry pick what they want to put over to the court. Again we've heard today that Archie's losing weight. He put on 0.4 kilos yesterday. How is that losing weight?" said Ms Dance.
The family's legal team indicated they would make a separate application to Mr Justice Hayden, who made the latest High Court judgement, on that point.
Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital in Whitechapel in east London, had taken the case to the courts to get a ruling on what was in the best interests of Archie, who the courts have heard had catastrophic brain injuries.
Judges in two separate High Court hearings had previously ruled against his parents, who wanted treatment to continue while his heart was still beating.
Sir Andrew said medical staff had seen "no signs of life" in Archie and his "every bodily function is now maintained by artificial means".
He said the case had received widespread media coverage - including a photograph of Archie.
"Archie is no longer the boy in the photograph," said Sir Andrew.
Hollie Dance
Mr Justice Hayden delivered his ruling after reviewing evidence in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
He described what had happened to Archie as a "tragedy of immeasurable dimensions", but said medical evidence was "compelling and unanimous" and painted a "bleak" picture.
Archie's parents, who are separated, had argued he made errors and had been appealing for a third hearing at the High Court with a different judge.
Barrister Edward Devereux QC, leading the legal team for Archie's parents, had told appeal judges that Mr Justice Hayden had not given "real or proper weight" to Archie's previously expressed wishes and religious beliefs.
He also appealed on the grounds that Archie's family's wishes were also not given "real or proper weight", that Mr Justice Hayden had failed to carry out a "comprehensive evaluation" of the benefits and burdens of continuing life support treatment, and had that he had been wrong to conclude that treatment was burdensome and futile.
Archie's parents have been supported by a campaign organisation called the Christian Legal Centre.
All arguments were dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
The parents of a 12-year-old boy on life support have lost an appeal to continue treatment.
Archie Battersbee was found unconscious at home in Southend, Essex, on 7 April and doctors at the Royal London Hospital believe he is brain dead.
Court of Appeal judges were asked to postpone their ruling as Archie's father, Paul Battersbee, had been taken ill outside court, but they refused.
The judges said it was in Archie's best interest to give a judgement today.
He has not regained consciousness since his mother Hollie Dance found him. She believes he had been taking part in an online challenge.
Ms Dance also wanted appeal judges to adjourn their ruling on the basis that she had witnessed indications that Archie, who is attached to a ventilator, had twice tried to breathe for himself in the last few days.
Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital in Whitechapel in east London, had taken the case to the courts to get a ruling on what was in Archie's best interests.
Judges in two separate High Court hearings had previously ruled against his parents, who wanted treatment to continue while his heart was still beating.
In the court's ruling, Sir Andrew said medical staff had seen "no signs of life" in Archie and his "every bodily function is now maintained by artificial means".
A 28-year-old who was fatally shot at a gathering in north-east London has been named by police as Sam Brown.
Police were called to Cheney Row Park, Waltham Forest, just after midnight on Sunday to reports of shots being fired.
Soon afterwards, Mr Brown and another man turned up at an east London hospital.
Mr Brown, from Waltham Forest, later died of gunshot injuries, Met Police detectives said. The other man, aged in his 30s, had suffered stab injuries.
He was later discharged from hospital and has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Det Ch Insp Kelly Allen said: "My heart goes out to the family of Sam, who has lost his life in this reckless act of violence.
"I can assure them of my total dedication, and that of my team, to ensuring that they get justice."
Police believe there were 50 to 100 people gathered in and around Cheney Row Park at the time of the shooting.
'They deserve answers'
"I urgently need to speak with everyone who was at that event," Det Ch Insp Allen added.
"Even if you do not believe you saw anything significant, you need to come forward and speak with officers.
"There will have been footage and images captured at the event, and we need to see these.
"Please ensure that all such material is saved - we will provide a link for it to be uploaded shortly.
"To anyone considering whether or not to come forward to police, I ask you to put yourself in the position of the victim's grieving mother and father this morning. They deserve answers."
Liz Truss' team has accused Rishi Sunak of cosying up to China while he was chancellor after he pledged to impose curbs on Beijing and called it the "biggest long-term threat to Britain".
Mr Sunak has promised to close all 30 of China's Confucius Institutes in the UK in a major hardening of government policy on China if he became PM.
The institutes are funded by the Chinese government and are meant to be culture and language centres, but critics claim they are propaganda tools as relations between the West and China worsen.
Mr Sunak accused China of "stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities", while "propping up Putin's fascist invasion of Ukraine", bullying Taiwan and contravening human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, as well as suppressing their currency to "continually rig the global economy in their favour.
Advertisement
He also pledged to lead the world in standing up to China's "technological aggression" by amending the Higher Education Bill to force British universities to disclose any foreign funding partnerships of more than £50,000.
Mr Sunak has also committed to reviewing all UK-Chinese research partnerships that could assist China technologically or have military applications, as well as expanding MI5's reach to provide greater support to British businesses and universities to counter alleged Chinese industrial espionage.
More on Tory Leadership Race
Related Topics:
He said he would look at whether there is a need to prevent Chinese acquisitions of key British assets to address concerns about the scale of Chinese investment in key industries.
"I will stop China taking over our universities, and get British companies and public institutions the cyber-security they need," he said.
"And I will work with President Biden and other world leaders to transform the West's resilience to the threat China poses."
Image:Mr Sunak has chosen to focus policies on Chinese influence
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who backs Ms Truss and has been sanctioned by Beijing, said the "'tough on China' announcement is surprising" as he accused the Treasury, led by Mr Sunak, of pushing hard for an economic deal with China over the past two years despite major human rights' violations and increasing influence in UK universities.
He added: "After such a litany, I have one simple question, where have you been over the last two years?"
A spokesman for Ms Truss said she had "strengthened Britain's position on China" since becoming foreign secretary and "helped lead the international response to increased Chinese aggression", which would continue if she was PM.
Her team accused Mr Sunak of consistently being "soft" on China and of being backed by Beijing state media as they said The Global Times has "effectively endorsed" Mr Sunak as PM.
They added that Ms Truss pushed for projects such as the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk to not be dependent on Chinese companies and funding, and said if she was PM she would focus on tackling aggression seen by China and Russia.
The team provided a list of times she has spoken out about China's attempts to influence other countries and its "economic coercion".
Education Secretary James Cleverly told Times Radio Ms Truss, who he is supporting, has "been talking about this for a long time".
Sunak supporter and former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt told Sky News he thought Mr Sunak was "right to call that out" in terms of his plan to ban Confucius Institutes and added that universities need to have "full freedom of speech".
Foreign Secretary Ms Truss, who continues to be more popular among Tory members, has promised to cut red tape and boost investment as part of her bid to defeat Mr Sunak.
Her latest campaign pledge would see brownfield sites and other locations being turned into "investment zones" - dubbed "full-fat free ports".
The zones would have a low-tax burden, reduced planning restrictions and regulations tailored on a case-by-case basis.
"As prime minister, I will be laser-focused on turbocharging business investment and delivering the economic growth our country desperately needs," Ms Truss said.
"We can't carry on allowing Whitehall to pick the winners and losers; like we've seen with the current freeport model."
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:25
Truss and Sunak get tough on migration
The plan could be seen as an attempt to overshadow Mr Sunak, who has been a big supporter of free ports since he was a backbench MP. He has positioned himself in the contest as the "common-sense Thatcherite" candidate.
In a think-tank report in 2016, before he became a cabinet minister, he said: "Brexit will provide the UK with new economic freedom, and the government should take the opportunity to create free ports across the nation."
And in what could be viewed as an implicit criticism of the former chancellor's record, Ms Truss said she would reform current government policy to "unleash the potential" of current free ports.
"By creating these new investment zones, we will finally prove to businesses that we're committed to their futures and incentivise them to stimulate the investment that will help deliver for hardworking people," she said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:48
Rishi Sunak pulls a pint
'Thatcherite cosplay'
Over the weekend, Mr Sunak revealed his 10-point plan to tackle illegal immigration, including placing a cap on refugee numbers each year.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will use a speech in Liverpool on Monday to condemn the Conservative government's record over the last decade and to hit out at the "Thatcherite cosplay" from Mr Sunak and Ms Truss. Cosplay is normally when people dress up as characters from a film, book or video game.
He will say the priorities for the next Labour government will be "growth, growth, growth" and there will be "no magic money tree economics with us".
Conservative leadership debate: be in the audience
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss will take part in a head-to-head debate on Sky News on Thursday 4 August at 8pm hosted by Kay Burley.
If you would like to be a member of the live studio audience and be in with a chance of asking a question, please apply here.
Firefighters have urged people to stop using barbecues and remove rubbish in open areas to help prevent fires in hot weather - as yet more blazes have broken out.
At least eight hectares of land were affected by a fire declared a major incident on Sunday, at Hankley Common, near Farnham in Surrey, which has previously been used to film part of the James Bond blockbuster Skyfall.
Crews are expected to remain at the scene through Monday.
And fire crews in London had also been battling wildfires - with blazes in Rammey Marsh in Enfield, Cranford Park in Hayes and Thamesmead, all described as "weather related".
Appealing to the public for help, London Fire Brigade urged people to cancel all planned barbecues, remove rubbish, especially glass, from grassland and dispose of cigarettes properly.
The service tweeted: "Please help us prevent further fires by cancelling all planned BBQs, removing rubbish especially glass from grassland & disposing cigarettes correctly. Our firefighters & control officers are doing a fantastic job in challenging conditions. Your co-operation will help us greatly."
More on Extreme Weather
Related Topics:
Surrey Fire Service joined the call. It said: "Speak to young relatives about safety outdoors, pack a picnic instead of a BBQ, dispose of cigarettes and litter correctly."
Temperatures across the southeast of England reached 29C (84F) on Sunday, according to the Met Office.
Image:A fire at Rammey Marsh was the size of four football pitches. Pic: London Fire Brigade
Images of blackened ground were tweeted by the fire service after the Enfield grass fire at Rammey Marsh over an area of 20 hectares was brought under control.
Some 70 firefighters were sent to the grass fire in Cranford Park, Hayes, where around five hectares of grass and shrubland were alight and smoke spread across west London.
Big Jet TV, which live commentates on planes landing at Heathrow, said visibility was reduced at the airport, sharing a picture of a smoke covered runway from the nearby fire.
Meanwhile, in Thamesmead around 65 firefighters and the fire boat dealt with a grass fire on Defence Close.
That day, the fire service saw its busiest day since the Second World War as a result of the extreme temperatures, with crews attending 1,146 incidents on that day alone.
