Politics latest: Kemi Badenoch to deliver speech in last-ditch attempt to lift subdued Tory conference

By Kate Devlin, Whitehall Editor in Mumbai

Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at Robert Jenrick on the plane to India for the start of a two day trade trip.

The prime minister accused the senior Tory of pitching for his party’s leadership when asked about his comments, secretly recorded, complaining that he “didn’t see another white face” while on a visit to Birmingham earlier this year.

The prime minister told journalists travelling with him: “It quite hard to take anything that Robert Jenrick says seroiusly; he’s clearly still running his leadership campaign.”

He added: “We’re working hard on questions of integration but we need no lessons or lectures from Robert Jenrick on any of this. He’s clearly just engaging in a leadership campaign.”

Kemi Badenoch will put the economy at the heart of her leader’s speech as she closes the Conservative Party conference.

In her speech on Wednesday, she will turn to the economy, setting out a “golden rule” that half of all money saved from cuts must be put towards driving down the deficit.

It comes as she tries to win back confidence in the party’s economic capabilities, following the disaster of Liz Truss’ mini budget.

Her speech will mark a last-ditch attempt to lift the mood at the conference, after most speeches were delivered to half empty auditoriums.