Boris Johnson says he is out of Tory party leadership race after Gove challenge – as it happened

The Guardian’s Lisa O’Carroll has been watching Newsnight so we don’t have to.

Daily Mirror associate editor Kevin Maguire notes:

Friday’s front page of the Sun sticks the knife into Boris Johnson, following the lead of Michael Gove:

Neither is the Telegraph any kinder to Johnson:

As the five candidates for the Tory leadership sought to win support from MPs tonight, David Cameron and his wife Samantha popped into Il Posto on Vauxhall Bridge Road near Victoria station for a spot of dinner. He had earlier attended a memorial service to commemorate the Battle of the Somme at Westminster Abbey.

The PM declined to comment on Thursday’s twists and turns in the race to succeed him.

No word, either, on what the Camerons ate at the Italian restaurant, which - according to its website - was established in 1892. “The ambiance (sic) is friendly and relaxed,” it also notes. “A favourite haunt for locals and visitors.”

Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman responds to ITV News presenter Tom Bradby’s quip about BoJo.

If you’re looking for a laugh - if that’s quite the right word - take a stroll back through Boris Johnson’s Twitter account, full of gems like this one:

Election analyst and blogger Mike Smithson says Andrea Leadsom is moving up the ranks.

More on the surge in Labour party membership from political editor Heather Stewart:

Theresa May is at the US ambassador’s London residence, Winfield House, for the annual Fourth of July celebration tonight. I ask her if she’d give Boris Johnson a job in her cabinet. “I’m not offering any jobs at the moment,” she replies.

ITV political editor Robert Peston tweets:

And for balance, something on Labour too from Peston:

The bloc of 13 Scottish Labour MSPs who have backed demands for Jeremy Corbyn to stand down includes two former Scottish party leaders – Iain Gray and Johann Lamont – who both resigned after suffering humiliating election defeats, and Anas Sarwar, formerly deputy leader under Jim Murphy and once acting Scottish Labour leader.

Their decision to support the Corbyn rebellion en masse, following party leader Kezia Dugdale’s lead from yesterday, opens up a schism inside the Labour group at Holyrood.

Three leftwing colleagues – deputy leader Alex Rowley; Nick Findlay, a former leadership hopeful; and former GMB official Richard Leonard – issued their own joint statement backing Corbyn earlier on Thursday. Earlier this week, Corbyn was backed by the only openly pro-Brexit Labour MSP in Holyrood, Elaine Smith.

The new anti-Corbyn letter refers to the rebellion against his leadership at Westminster: “As parliamentarians, and the elected representatives in a parliament representing millions of people – including Labour voters – across Scotland, we would expect any leader to reflect seriously on such a substantial vote of no confidence. As Kezia Dugdale rightly said, if she could not command the confidence of 80% of her Labour Group then she would consider her position …

“[It] is deeply regrettable that we have to make such a statement, but for the good of the party and, more importantly, the country, we believe Jeremy Corbyn, who is a principled man, must do the right thing and allow the party to once again provide effective opposition and regroup as a credible party of government.”

The other signatories include Jackie Baillie, Claire Baker, Claudia Beamish, Neil Bibby, Mary Fee (Scottish parliament Labour group chair), Mark Griffin, Daniel Johnson, James Kelly, Lewis Macdonald and Colin Smyth.

With the first vote to whittle down the five Conservative leadership candidates to two coming on Tuesday, the five hopefuls are frantically wooing fellow MPs for support.

Michael Gove, the surprise last-minute entrant to the race, spent Thursday meeting colleagues to persuade them to back him, with a series shifting their support from the departed Boris Johnson to him, including Dominic Raab, Nick Boles and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Theresa May was also busy gathering pledges of backing. A Guardian interim tally of which Tory MPs had publicly backed the five candidates showed May was by far the leader with about 70 supporters.

Gove had little more than a dozen backers, though more than 30 former Johnson supporters had yet to reveal their new choice. About half the 330 Conservative MPs had said either nothing or promised to consult constituents and ponder the various candidates’ merits before deciding, so this total seems set to rise.

Stephen Crabb, the work and pensions secretary, was also doing well, with about 20 MPs saying they would back him. The other two candidates are lagging behind: Andrea Leadsom, the fiercely pro-Brexit energy secretary, has about 10 backers; Liam Fox, the other hopeful, had just four – the MPs who had nominated and seconded him, and two others.

Several Tory MPs have been speaking to Channel 4 News.

Kwasi Kwarteng switched his support from Boris Johnson to Theresa May, accusing Michael Gove of “student politics”. The MP for Spelthorne added: “I think Michael Gove has behaved in an extraordinary way. I feel very let down.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who switched from backing Johnson to Gove, told Channel 4: “I think [Gove] wanted to support Boris and decided he couldn’t. I think people in politics are entitled to change their mind.”

Meanwhile Nadhim Zahawi, who had been a prominent supporter of Johnson, also switched his support to the home secretary. In a Huffington Post article he said: “I have been convinced today by Theresa May that she is the one to deliver. This is a time for experience, and Mrs May has the most of those on offer.”

Labour MPs have been urged to contact the police about threatening behaviour amid reports that the attempted coup against Jeremy Corbyn has resulted in some politicians receiving death threats.

Sarah Mulholland, the parliamentary Labour party’s director of political services, writes in an email: “It is clear that some of our MPs are currently experiencing abuse and threats. As per the security briefings, this information should be passed to the police immediately.”

She says the party wants to monitor the situation so is asking MPs to pass on information. In the note, seen by the Guardian, she acknowledges that many Labour MPs are facing a challenging time.

Vicky Foxcroft MP revealed that she had been threatened with violence if she refused to back Corbyn, Lisa Nandy said that colleagues had been bullied and harassed, while John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, responded to complaints by urging supporters not to protest outside MPs offices.

Author and former Telegraph journalist Robert Colville gets a football analogy into the mix:

Jeremy Corbyn - who is still the Labour leader in case you were wondering - was engulfed in a fresh row over Israel earlier today when he appeared to compare the government of Binyamin Netanyahu to Islamic extremists. His comments came at the launch of an independent review into antisemitism in the Labour party.

Paul Waugh, the Huffington Post’s politics executive editor, tweets:

Turning back to the Labour turmoil for a moment, BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones makes an interesting observation:

Europe now has yet another reason to grumble about the UK’s Brexit vote: it has prompted credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to cut its credit rating for the European Union.

S&P Global Ratings said it was lowering its long-term rating on the European Union from AA+ to AA after the vote to leave triggered “greater uncertainty” over the EU’s revenue forecasting, long-term capital planning and adjustment to key financial buffers.

The agency said it had to review its “previously favourable opinion of solidarity within the EU” from positive to neutral because its previous view was based on all 28 member states remaining inside the EU. The outlook was stable despite the “greater uncertainty”, S&P added.

In Wroclaw in west Poland, the UK’s Brexit decision has been met with bewilderment and regret. Szymon Rozwadowski, a 25-year-old welder, said he had been shocked by how British politicians had fought the Vote Leave campaign.

“It feels like the British politicians lied and none of them actually wanted to leave, but they won anyway. I hope people realised that the politicians didn’t care about them, just their own careers,” he said.

Rozwadowski said he was also surprised by the political response in the week since the referendum: “Now Cameron has put down the whole thing and run off. Everyone has run off. It was a democratic choice, though, and that is important.”

Michal Draszanowski, 27, a bank worker, said that his friends had been shocked by the British vote and were now concerned that the EU might break up. “We were all very surprised. The British people didn’t think about the long-term effects. I think the decision will affect us all and it is very sad,” he said.

Rafal Bielewicz, 28, a colleague of Draszanowski, said that he hoped that European leaders would work together to resolve the situation. “It was not a good decision by the UK at all,” he said. “I think they voted without thinking about the effects, for Europe or the UK.”

“It is very bad for Poland because a lot of people travel to Britain and now they may have to come back to Poland,” Bielewicz added. “It is important for Europe to work together, because of the political situation, but I worry that everything could be destroyed now.”

Ilona Krlol, a 32-year-old florist working at her stand in the town square said that she was concerned for her friends and family in England. Arranging flowers for a bouquet, she said that her Polish friends in the UK were worried about their future in England.

Krlol was astonished by reports that people were trying to find out the implications of voting to leave Europe only after they had cast their vote: “People voted to go out and then they were trying to work out what it means,” she said. “You look at them and you say, ‘What are you doing?’”

With Johnson out of the race, Theresa May appears to have built a commanding lead in winning the support of the 329 Tory MPs to become the next Tory leader and thus prime minister. She and her four rivals – Michael Gove, Liam Fox, Andrea Leadsom and Stephen Crabb – have until Tuesday to drum up support.

Whichever of the hopefuls proves least popular is eliminated until just two remain from whom the wider Conservative party membership will choose. Bookmakers make May the odds-on favourite to be the next PM, with Gove the clear favourite to be her rival. Fox is set to win the fewest backers, behind Leadsom and Crabb.

Here’s a list of MPs whose allegiances have been verified by the Press Association so far:

Theresa May (42 MPs):
Peter Aldous, Lucy Allan, Stuart Andrew, Caroline Ansell, Edward Argar, Harriett Baldwin, Karen Bradley, Robert Buckland, James Cartlidge, Damian Collins, Tracey Crouch, Byron Davies, Mims Davies, Caroline Dinenage, Mike Freer, Edward Garnier, Mark Garnier, Nusrat Ghani, Chris Grayling (Proposer), Justine Greening (Seconder), Oliver Heald, George Hollingbery, John Howell, Ben Howlett, David Jones, Brandon Lewis, David Mackintosh, Alan Mak, David Mundell, Mike Penning, Claire Perry, Chris Philp, Sir Eric Pickles, Mark Pritchard, Amber Rudd, Julian Smith, Sir Nicholas Soames, Anna Soubry, Mark Spencer, Caroline Spelman, Maggie Throup, Stuart Andrew.

Michael Gove (7 MPs):
Michael Fabricant, Andrea Jenkyns, Daniel Kawczynski, Nicky Morgan (Proposer),
Dominic Raab (Seconder), Ed Vaizey, Shailesh Vara.

Stephen Crabb (10 MPs):
Alun Cairns, Sajid Javid (Proposer), Johnny Mercer, Mark Pawsey, Chloe Smith (Seconder), Gary Streeter, Julian Sturdy, Craig Williams, Mike Wood, Jeremy Wright.

Andrea Leadsom (9 MPs):
Steve Baker, John Baron, Julian Brazier, Penny Mordaunt (Proposer), Anne Marie Morris, James Morris, Tom Pursglove, Martin Vickers, William Wragg (Seconder).

Liam Fox (2 MPs):
Robert Goodwill (Proposer), Scott Mann (Seconder).

Newsnight’s political editor, Nick Watt (formerly of this parish), tweets this insight from Nadhim Zahawi (the Tory MP for Stratford-on-Avon) ahead of tonight’s programme:

Guardian political editor Heather Stewart tweets:

Gove has told the BBC he only made his decision to run last night.

He said:

There were a number of people that said to me during the week: ‘It should be you.’

Gove repeats his assertion that he did not think Johnson was up to the job and claims he will be a unifying candidate. He claims people from both sides (leave and remain) have commended his decision to stand, so affirming it.

He wants to lead a government with “wise heads and generous hearts”.

There are far too many people who feel left behind ... I want to heal and unite.

It never rains, it pours:

Three senior and influential Labour MSPs on the left of the Scottish parliamentary party have attacked critics of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, accusing them of “exploiting” the membership and treating it as an electoral plaything.

Alex Rowley, the party’s deputy leader at Holyrood, Neil Findlay, a previous Scottish leadership contender, and Richard Leonard, a senior GMB Scotland official who joined Holyrood in May’s election, issued a joint statement saying the current feud has “broken the hearts” of party members across the UK.

In a riposte to the unified position taken against Corbyn by Scottish party leader Kezia Dugdale and her ally Ian Murray, Scotland’s only Labour MP, who resigned as shadow Scottish secretary in the first stages of the shadow cabinet rebellion on Sunday, the trio said:

Labour party members are not passive onlookers to be used and exploited at election time, only to be ignored thereafter – they are the lifeblood of our party, we are nothing without them.

Democracy wherever it is found is a precious thing – we therefore want to make it clear that we wish to uphold the democratic rights of Labour party members and support the democratically elected leader of the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn.

Barack Obama has suggested Brexit may not actually happen:

Shami Chakrabarti, the chair of Labour’s antisemitism inquiry, has accused the media of spinning Jeremy Corbyn’s comments at today’s event, which have seen him accused of comparing Israel with Islamic State.

The former Liberty chair told LBC radio:

I’m sorry that there are a few things that have been spun in the media ... have kind of cast a shadow over two months’ really hard, open-hearted work ...

I learned something today.

I’ll take my chances in the broadcast media ... if things get spun in print, whether in the old-fashioned papers or online. Trust your ears or your eyes ... it’s harder to spin in broadcast than it is in words.

I read the leader’s speech five minutes before we went into the main room ... I listened very carefully to what he said.

He reflected my report.

His point was: when you have Jewish neighbours or friends, or Muslim neighbours or friends and something bad happens in the world, don’t ask them to be the first to explain or defend or condemn.

She also said that he had no editorial control over his speech.

The chief rabbi has joined in the criticism of Corbyn. Ephraim Mirvis said:

The comments by the leader of the Labour party at the launch, however they were intended, are themselves offensive, and rather than rebuilding trust among the Jewish community, are likely to cause even greater concern. Full and unhesitating implementation of the report’s findings must now follow. I call upon the Labour party to guarantee that there will be zero tolerance of antisemitism.

Jeremy Corbyn has struck a defiant tone in an email to Labour party members, which includes a plea for unity.

He writes:

United we stand, divided we fall is one of the oldest and truest slogans of the Labour movement.

After last week’s referendum, our country faces major challenges. Risks to the economy and living standards are growing. The public is split.

The government is in disarray. Ministers have made it clear they have no exit plan, but are determined to make working people pay with a new round of cuts and tax rises.

Labour has the responsibility to give a lead where the government will not. We need to bring people together, hold the government to account, oppose austerity and set out a path to exit that will protect jobs and incomes.

To do that we need to stand together. Since I was elected leader of our party nine months ago, we have repeatedly defeated the government over its attacks on living standards. Last month, Labour become the largest party in the local elections. In Thursday’s referendum, a narrow majority voted to leave, but two thirds of Labour supporters backed our call for a remain vote.

I was elected leader of our party, for a new kind of politics, by 60% of Labour members and supporters. The need for that different approach now is greater than ever.

Our people need Labour party members, trade unionists and MPs to unite. As leader it is my continued commitment to dedicate our party’s activity to that goal.

The Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, has signalled possible interest rate cuts following the Brexit vote, saying some monetary policy easing will likely be required over the summer. You can follow Carney’s speech on our business live blog.

You might see this replayed quite a lot in the coming weeks:

Israel’s former foreign minister has joined in the criticism of Jeremy Corbyn over his choice of words at the launch of Labour’s antisemitism report earlier today.

There’s been another resignation by a shadow minister, accompanied by a call for Jeremy Corbyn to go.

This time it’s Rob Marris, who was appointed shadow financial secretary to the Treasury in September.

And the Labour resignations are continuing. This is from the Sun’s Craig Woodhouse.

I’ve got to finish for the day now. But my colleague Haroon Siddique is still here and will be blogging for the rest of the day.

Here is more on the Johnson/Gove fallout.

From Sky’s Sophy Ridge

From the BBC’s Ross Hawkins

From ITV’s Chris Ship

From the FT’s Sebastian Payne

The Tory grandee Michael Heseltine has really put the boot into Boris Johnson for pulling out of the leadership race, accusing him of ripping the party apart and creating “the greatest constitutional crisis in peacetime in my life”.

Theresa May will be pleased with this.

Here is an extract from George Parker’s account of the Gove/Johnson fallout for the Financial Times.

Stories circulated that Mr Johnson had failed to attend a meeting with about 50 pro-Remain Conservative MPs. Key people, including the prominent pro-Brexit minister Andrea Leadsom, had failed to commit to his campaign. “Michael tried to make Boris’s campaign work but it was becoming clear it wasn’t going to work,” the ally said. “He wasn’t giving people the love or attention or making the offers to people that were required.”

Mr Gove’s friends say that a convoluted Daily Telegraph article written by Mr Johnson on Monday had added to a sense of concern among Conservative MPs about his leadership qualities, but allies of the former London mayor said the piece was “sub-edited by Michael”. Mr Johnson’s backers also deny he was responsible for chaos in the leadership bid, saying that Mr Gove was in charge of the campaign, including arranging meetings with MPs and signing up new backers.

Boris Johnson’s father has likened Michael Gove to the assassins who murdered Julius Caesar.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s The World at One, when asked about Gove’s intervention, Stanley Johnson quoted Caesar’s supposed last words after he was stabbed by his former friend Brutus.

‘Et tu Brute’ is my comment on that. I don’t think he is called Brutus, but you never know.

Johnson senior said his son had been taken by surprise by Gove’s disparaging assessment of his ability to lead the country.

This has obviously been a very, very stressful time. I think he was probably very surprised by Michael Gove’s sudden move as indeed many people are.

He backed the remain campaign but maintained that his son had made a brilliant “career move” in putting himself at the head of the leave campaign.

Boris’s career move I think was in a sense an absolutely brilliant move in one way because it did put on the table crucial issues for the British electorate.

It put on the table the immigration issue, the direction of travel issue, the sovereignty issue - all those things.

The Labour MP Ruth Smeeth has urged Jeremy Corbyn to resign immediately, accusing him of a “catastrophic failure of leadership”, after he failed to defend her when she was abused at the launch of a report into antisemitism in the party. In a statement she said:

I was verbally attacked by a Momentum activist and Jeremy Corbyn supporter who used traditional antisemitic slurs to attack me for being part of a ‘media conspiracy’. It is beyond belief that someone could come to the launch of a report on antisemitism in the Labour party and espouse such vile conspiracy theories about Jewish people, which were ironically highlighted as such in Ms [Shami] Chakrabarti’s report, while the leader of my own party stood by and did absolutely nothing.

People like this have no place in our party or our movement and must be opposed. Until today I had made no public comment about Jeremy’s ability to lead our party, but the fact that he failed to intervene is final proof for me that he is unfit to lead, and that a Labour party under his stewardship cannot be a safe space for British Jews.

Smeeth said that she has written to the general secretary of the Labour party and the chair of the parliamentary Labour party to complain about the events. She continued:

No one from the leader’s office has contacted me since the event, which is itself a catastrophic failure of leadership. I call on Jeremy Corbyn to resign immediately and make way for someone with the backbone to confront racism and antisemitism in our party and in the country.

Smeeth resigned as parliamentary private secretary the shadow Northern Ireland and Scotland teams on Monday.

The former German chancellor Helmut Kohl has warned European leaders against applying too much pressure on Britain, in the wake of the vote for Brexit.

In an account of an interview for the tabloid newspaper Bild by its editor-in-chief, Kai Diekmann, Kohl, 86, is indirectly quoted as warning against “unnecessary severity and haste” in the post-referendum negotiations.

The man who was one of the driving forces behind European integration in the 1990s believes that slamming the door on Britain would be an “enormous mistake” and that the country needs time to decide what it wants to do next, Diekmann writes.

Kohl, who oversaw the reunification of Germany and the introduction of the euro, is calling for Europe to “take a breather” and take “one step back before taking two steps forward”, at a pace that is manageable for all member states, the article says.

I’m hearing strong rumours that some of the “core loyal” Corbyn supporters are planning to tell him that they think it’s time to go.

Emma Reynolds, chair of the parliamentary Labour party’s (PLP’s) health committee, has written to the party’s general secretary Iain McNicol to complain about John McDonnell in response to an article in the Guardian about the shadow chancellor setting up a secret group of advisers to help shape Labour’s stance on the NHS.

She writes:

It has been reported in today’s Guardian that John McDonnell has set up a parallel organisation to formulate health policy. As you can see from the article, members of other political parties, including somebody who stood in competition with one of our party’s parliamentary candidates, are members of this organisation:

I would like to formally complain against John McDonnell. I would also like to seek your advice as to whether, in setting up this parallel organisation and working with members of other political parties, he is breaking any of the party rules or the PLP code of conduct.

This is a video of Jeremy Corbyn at Labour’s anti-semitism event earlier today, when he was accused of comparing Israel with Islamic State:

At least one person thinks his future is secure for the forseeable future:

Discussions on transitional arrangements for an independent Scotland to remain in the European Union (EU) after the UK leaves are taking place in Brussels, a former senior adviser to the European Commission (EC) has disclosed.

As the Press Association reports, Dr Kirsty Hughes told MSPs discussions are taking place about putting Scotland in a “transitional holding pen” after Brexit to avoid “an absurd out and then in process”.

She urged MSPs to hold a second independence referendum by summer 2017 at the latest, if it is judged to be in the best interests of Scotland, to allow the EU to start work on these transitional arrangements.

However, she warned the EU “does not want a mini-UK” and said Scotland is unlikely to keep the UK’s “awkward squad” opt-outs of the euro, justice and home affairs and the UK budget rebate.

Hughes, now an associate fellow of the Friends of Europe, told Holyrood’s European and External Relations Committee:

I talk to people in Brussels, off the record, who are talking about Scotland being in some sort of transitional holding pen.

It wouldn’t have a seat in the council of ministers until ratification of the treaties, but it wouldn’t have to go through an absurd out and then in process.

I go through all that for now because I think there is a timing issue.

If Scotland waits until nearly the end of the two years to say, ‘This isn’t okay and now we’re having an independence referendum’, you might not have had that and had time to have the negotiations with the rest of the UK on dissolving the union before the whole of the UK has left.

So, it’s obviously a very big political judgement about whether and when to call an independence referendum.

If it was only a question of logic, you would call it as soon as possible in my view.

You would call it, anyway, let’s say, by next summer because then you would have actually had the dissolution talks - if it was successful - with the UK before the UK left.

That would make it much easier for the EU to get into some of these transitional holding pen arrangements than otherwise.

For what it’s worth, here’s a snapshot from what’s going on in the Labour party. A source (who is not well disposed towards Jeremy Corbyn) says that Holborn and St Pancras Labour party debated a motion supporting Corbyn last night and that it was defeated by 44 votes to 35. Apparently soft left members who have supported Corbyn in the past swung against him because of his performance in the EU referendum. Sir Keir Starmer, the MP, criticised Corbyn not just for being lacklustre during the campaign, but also for saying on Friday morning that the government should trigger article 50 (starting the withdrawal process) immediately. That would limit the government’s room for manoeuvre, Starmer said. The Momentum organiser James Schneider was there and apparently was none too pleased ...

Here is the Guardian’s panel - Jonathan Freedland, Zoe Williams, Mary Dejevsky and Mark Wallace - on how Boris Johnson’s departure will affect the Conservative leadership contest.

And here’s an extract from Jonathan’s article.

The choice now is between, in Gove, a true Brexit believer and, in May, a candidate who today declared “Brexit means Brexit”. Those who had hoped that the next prime minister might look for a fudge, a way out of the 23 June verdict, need to lower their expectations – and accept that out might really mean out.

Turning to the Labour party for a moment, we were expecting an announcement this afternoon from Angela Eagle about challenging Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership. But, according to Sky’s Jon Craig, that may be delayed.

My colleague Sam Coates from the Times (standing on the right, behind Norman Smith) found it hard to conceal his surprise after Boris Johnson’s announcement.

Here is the Tory MP Paul Scully on Boris Johnson’s announcement.

Jeremy Corbyn is attracting more criticism over the anti-semitism event, where he was accused of comparing Israel with Isis.

From PA:

A Labour MP stormed out of a press conference staged by Jeremy Corbyn after being accused of colluding with the right-wing press by one of the leader’s grassroots supporters.

A clearly upset Ruth Smeeth had been at the launch of a report into anti-Semitism in the party when it was claimed she was in cahoots with The Daily Telegraph.

Stewart Jackson is another disappointed Brexit Tory MP

These are from my colleague Martin Kettle.

These are from the BBC’s Andrew Sinclair.

He is referring to Tory MPs Jonathan Djanogly and James Cleverly.

And Nadine Dorries, another pro-Johnson Conservative, was in tears, he says.

Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are both coming in for stick over today’s drama but for different reasons.

Rob Ford, professor of political science at Manchester University, says of Johnson:

Actor Ewan McGregor is none too impressed either..

Although Jamie Oliver will be pleased.

As for Gove ...

The Mirror quotes an unnamed friend of Johnson as saying:

Michael Gove has just been the most amazing shit.

James Wharton, a communities minister, who declared his support for Boris Johnson yesterday has said that he does not know who he will support now. He said:

I am disappointed but it is a fast moving political environment. I will now look at what other candidates will propose.

I had a private meeting with Boris on Monday where he gave me assurances about the sort of things I wanted to see for the north of England, for the way we will take the Northern Powerhouse forward.

I had specific, private assurances about projects that I wanted to see supported across the north. I will now wait to see what the other candidates will offer.

A Labour briefing says Michael Gove has gone on the record as saying he is “not equipped to be prime minister” and points out that he has ruled himself out of standing at least nine times.

It says:

In doing so [standing] Michael Gove has sent a message that he would rather the country get a prime minister who himself thinks he’s not up to the job than let one of his Tory rivals succeed.

In saying that he is better suited for the role than his other rivals, Michael Gove is in effect saying that they are not up to the job of prime minister. We know this because he doesn’t think he is up to the job and shouldn’t be doing it.

Among the quotes by Gove in the past which it cites are:

“I don’t think I have got that exceptional level of ability required to do the job.”

“I don’t have what it takes.”

and

“I am not equipped to be prime minister.” (World At One, BBC Radio 4, October 2012)

During his speech at the launch of the report into antisemitism in the Labour party, for which Jeremy Corbyn himself has received flak, the opposition leader attacked Gove’s language during the referendum campaign. He said:

The justice secretary Michael Gove compared pro-remain economists to Nazi collaborators, a startling example of the way in which the Nazi regime and the Holocaust can be minimalised, trivialised or even forgotten by ill-judged comparisons.

He is not taking questions.

Johnson has finished his speech now.

Johnson says the biggest gains in life expectancy have been made in London amongst the poor.

He says the prophets of doom were wrong about Brexit.

He says London and the whole of the UK will flourish outside the EU. It is in the EU’s deal to negotiate a free trade deal, he says, while allowing the UK to take back control of its immigration system.

Johnson says the party needs to unite now. He wants the most talented people in the country to come together.

London has been transformed from relative stagnation to a dynamic economy.

He says he brought down crime. Deaths by fire were cut. And road traffic accidents came down to the lowest levels ever.

And, when you think that crime and accidents affect the poorest disproportionately, those are victories for social justice, he says.

He says he managed to build a record number of affordable homes.

And when he left office there were 44,000 sites in the city under construction.

Johnson says now is the chance to strike trade deals.

He says some countries have already been in touch.

And our friends in America can be at the front of the queue, he says.

He says he would like to tell people who come here, no matter what their race or religion, they are part of our great British family.

Immigrants should be welcome. And everyone, regardless of their sexuality, can get married. He says marriage equality is one of David Cameron’s finest achievements.

Liam Fox set out his case to be the next Tory leader and prime minister on Sky News (quotes from Politics Home). Like everyone else, he tried to portray himself as the unifying candidate.

I think that we’ve just been through quite a traumatic period in our referendum and I think we need to try to heal the divisions on that and I think I can do that having been on the leave side of that equation but having many friends on the other side who were in the remain camp and all through that referendum I urged people to be civil and courteous to one another which I think is the tone we should also adopt, incidentally, in the leadership campaign.

He pointed to his experience outside politics (as a doctor) and his working class background. Fox also said he would not talk about the personalities in the contest “tempting though that is”, describing them all as friends.

I think we’ve just broken free from the EU into a much wider, greater opportunity, one that Britain is very well placed to take advantage of and so it’s with a great sense of optimism that I come into this contest. I know people are saying ‘look at the difficulties of the world around us’ – I think there’s really a new dawn here for this country and we’re particularly well-placed to take advantage of the challenges and the opportunities out there.

He said it was “easier” to have credibility if coming from the leave side but not absolutely necessary and stressed that he would not back any deal with the EU involving keeping free movement of people.

In terms of the EU I think we need to make it very clear that we intend to honour the instruction given to us by the British people last week, we will leave the EU. I don’t believe the British public will accept the concept of free movement in return for full membership of the single market, I think we need a more free trade approach.

Fox reiterated his support for an an Australian-type points system “so that it’s fair and not discriminatory against the non-EU, for example, commonwealth citizens who might want to come here”.

Tory MP Nigel Evans, who is backing Boris Johnson, was asked whether Theresa May had stabbed his favoured candidate in the back and Michael Gove had stabbed him in the front. He replied:

That’s about it. It makes House of Cards look like Teletubbies.

He later said himself that Gove had “stabbed Boris in the front”.

Although laughing, he said he was a “bit irritated” as the leave side, which he is part of, is in disarray, while things are relatively orderly on the remain side, with May the clear frontrunner (he thinks she will win the first round).

I think there’s almost an expectation that it should be Theresa and Boris. I think they’d be real surprise if it ended up with someone else.

Here is Nicky Morgan’s statement on why she is backing Michael Gove. And here’s an extract.

It is equally important that we now secure the right deal for Britain – and the next leader must have the skill and credibility to put together the right team to renegotiate our exit from and future relationship with Europe and explain the final terms to the British people.

Having spent the past week talking to colleagues in parliament, party members and constituents I have concluded unequivocally that the right person to do that is Michael Gove and I am delighted to be endorsing his candidacy today.

And Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, who was also mulling over his own leadership bid, has announced that he is backing Theresa May. He said:

I have decided that now is not the right time for me to run for the leadership - though I remain completely committed to ensuring we secure our position as a great trading nation with sensible controls on migration. I believe that Theresa May has the strength, judgement and values to deliver those things. She is the right choice to lead Britain in a challenging period and will make a truly outstanding prime minister.

According to Sky News, Nicky Morgan, the education secretary, has said she will not stand for the leadership. She is backing Michael Gove, Sky says.

Tory MP Nadine Dorries not part of the alleged “stampede” to Gove. She is typically outspoken about his candidature for the leadership, suggesting he cannot be trusted. She also says Conservative party members will be furious if Boris Johnson does not make the final two.

Channel 4’s Tim Bouverie quotes an MP saying there is a “stampede” from Johnson to Gove.

Dominic Raab, the justice minister, was backing Boris Johnson. But he’s just told Sky News that he is now backing Michael Gove.

As 5 News’s Andy Bell points out, Raab has an article in today’s Sun saying why Johnson should be the leader.

Good morning, this is Haroon Siddique, I’ll be helping Andrew out with blog today as there is so much going on today.

Bookies have installed Michael Gove as the second favourite behind Theresa May.

William Hill quotes May as 8/13, Gove as 3/1 and Johnson at 11/1.

However, the former Conservative chair Sayeeda Warsi has made some very damning comments about Gove, suggesting that he is a political opportunist and not a unifier.

She told BBC News:

I am quite surprised [by his announcement]. I never really thought it [the referendum campaign] was about Michael’s political ambitions ...

I am also surprised at what he said. He talks about healing and speaking for all and bringing the country together. From my experience of Michael and his approach towards teachers, the legal profession, ethnic minorities, that is not the Michael Gove I see.

By contrast, Warsi described May’s speech as “brilliant”.

Here is Paul Goodman, editor of ConservativeHome, on why Michael Gove abandoned Boris Johnson.

Here’s a clip from Theresa May’s leadership launch.

I will post a full summary soon.

These are from the Spectator’s James Forsyth.

Here is Channel 4 New’s Gary Gibbon’s take on Michael Gove’s declaration he is standing. And here is an extract.

The PM’s circle were already calling him Brutus. Samantha Cameron has told friends she will never speak to the Goves again.

Now the Johnsons’ dinner parties are off limits.

Can he become PM?

Michael Gove has gone a lot further than others in the past in ruling himself out not on grounds of skill or ambition but on grounds of temperament. He said repeatedly that he didn’t have the calm serenity of mind and the thick skin required to do the job.

Some people very close to him, some in the party, probably George Osborne with whom he managed to stay in touch throughout the turmoil and bitterness of the campaign, have helped to change his mind. The adulation of Tories and the right wing press has played a role too

The Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has announced he is switching his support to Michael Gove from Boris Johnson.

Q: What would you do about the border with Ireland?

May says there is a common travel area in Ireland. The government is speaking to the Irish government about this.

And that’s it. I will post a summary soon.

Q: Are you committed to getting net migration below 100,000?

May says it was in the manifesto in 2010 and 2015. The government will have to negotiate controls on free movement.

Q: What is your red line? Preserving access to the single market? Or curbs on free movement?

May says you should not declare you red lines in advance. You should go into a negotiation looking for the best deal you can get. That includes progress on both. And access to the single market for services is important.

Q: Would leaving the EU bring down net migration below 100,000?

May says you cannot simply pull a lever and bring down immigration. You have to work at this through various policy means.

Q: Would it make a difference having a woman as prime minister?

May says she has always championed having more women in politics. But the key thing is how you do the job?

Q: Would you give Boris Johnson a job?

May says she thinks talent from all wings of the party should be in the government. But she is not going around offering jobs.

Q: What do you think of Michael Gove’s comments about Johnson, and the fact he is standing?

May says it is for Gove to explain what he meant. She welcomes the fact that there is a contest. It would not be good for the leadership to be decided by a deal done behind closed doors.

Q: You are home secretary, and responsible for immigration. And remain lost because of immigration. So why should people trust you to control it?

May says she has done this. She has sat around the table in Europe. And she delivered in Europe. Other people have delivered in Europe too. Like Boris Johnson. The last time he did a deal with the Germans, he came back with three nearly new water cannon.

Q: Why should the Conservative membership trust you?

May says the leadership contest should not just be about Europe. The government was elected on a manifesto.

Q: Would you keep the target of getting immigration below 100,000?

May says she has introduced measures to bring immigration down. And it is vital to secure controls on free movement in the Brexit negotiations.

She says leaving the EU will not on its own address people’s concerns about immigration.

Q: Do you see parallels between yourself and Angela Merkel?

May says she is not showy. And she never compares herself to other politician. She just focuses on doing her own thing.

This is from the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn.

Chris Grayling, the leader of the Commons, is introducing Theresa May. He is chairing her campaign.

That is significant because he was as significant leave campaigner.

Theresa May, the home secretary, is launching her leadership bid with a speech around now.

She has set out her case in a long post on Facebook.

Andrea Leadsom, the pro-Brexit energy minister, has announced that she is also running for the Conservative leadership.

Today’s Telegraph cartoon gives us food for thought:

On that note, I’m handing over to Andrew Sparrow.

In an opinion piece for the Telegraph, Nigel Farage says he believes the next Tory leader should be a Brexiteer. He writes:

It is an absolutely vital task and so we need somebody who has the courage and vision to deliver.

It is inconceivable that the next Prime Minister, whose most urgent task would be to implement the brexit process, could be someone who only days ago was insisting we Remain in.

Shami Chakrabarti’s report on anti-Semitism in Labour is due at 11am today. Corbyn is expected to speak at the launch. As Buzzfeed’s Jim Waterson points out, what a day for it...

Damian Green, former Home Office minister for immigration and the campaign spokesman for Theresa May was just on the Today programme.

Green said the ideal position for the UK “is the one that gives us the most ability to trade with the single market in both goods and services.”

He said there’s a spectrum, where at one end is the status quo, now rejected by the British people, and at the other end is not being in the single market. “Both of those are undesirable, we need to negotiate the deal that gives us ability to trade as well as take control,” he said.

What the british people have said is the freedom of movement is unacceptable therefore we have to negotiate a new arrangement. It’s clear this morning we’ve had slightly different responses from a French minister and a German minister... we don’t know what the negotiating position of the other side is yet.

Green said May has been the most successful home secretary anyone can remember.

She has done more to bring immigration down and abolish things like bogus colleges... one of the things that has been a problem is the amount of immigration from the EU... there are two key principles here, one is that you want to bring in people who are going to be useful but you want to keep people out who are just coming here to claim benefits. We have been much more successful at that than other countries... nobody could have been tougher and more consistent than the home secretary.

On May’s invisibility during the referendum campaign, he said “she made her views clear and made a very thoughtful speech”.

We have to consider who is going to be the best prime minister to take on a “one nation” agenda. A form of conservatism that makes clear we have problems in this country, it’s not just about individualism, we have to help people who feel they’re being failed by the system.. When [May] says something she means it and she gets her way.

Also on the programme was Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on-Avon, who’s supporting Boris Johnson’s leadership bid. Raab said we have to deliver for the 17m people who voted to leave, and that the prime minister was right to say in his resignation speech that the new leader has to be passionate about the new agenda. “This isn’t a trade-off between controlling our borders and stopping freedom of movement,” he said.

Pressed on Johnson’s position, Zahawi said:

The simple answer is that is we have to have an Australian style point system, where we control our borders and economy, and we still get access to single market.

You don’t have to have a trade-off, you can negotiate on both sides.

The point is Boris is going to deliver a positive message about us believing in ourselves and this country.

Asked why Johnson was not present during PMQs, Zahawi said “this week the chief whip asked for May and Boris to turn up to unite the party, he turned up, Theresa didn’t. He’s about uniting the party.” On Sarah vine’s email to Gove on not trusting the former London mayor, he added: “Wives have all sorts of pieces of advice for husbands, mine certainly does...”

On the theme of angry letters regarding Jeremy Corbyn, here’s one from Alan Johnson to his constituency Labour party. Johnson writes that “three of Corbyn’s closest associates were actively undermining the party’s Remajn campaign”.

Despite statements from various political figures yesterday that Brexit is definitely going to happen, in London and Scotland the message is still yet to fully hit home. The Evening Standard reported that the Chief Minister of Gibraltar has revealed he is in talks with Sadiq Khan and Nicola Sturgeon to draw up plans for protection against Brexit.

Labour’s Tam Dalyell also told the BBC’s Newsnight that MPs should have the courage to overrule the Brexit vote.

Brexit continues to dominate the news agenda beyond the front pages. Although global stock markets had a much better day yesterday after a torrid week, the governor of Bank of England Mark Carney is expected to speak today to reassure the city that contingency plans will keep the funds flowing.

But this sobering 23-tweet forecast from Alan White of the Economist Intelligence Unit is worth a read (if you want to depress yourself further):