Politics latest: Elon Musk criticised over 'delusional' comments about UK riots (2024)

The Politics Hub is shutting up shop for the night.

If you're looking for a catch-up on the main things you need to know, scroll back to our teatime bulletin or check out the key points above.

We'll be back in the morning.

Tom Tugendhat took the limelight in the Tory leadership contest today, but he's one of six contenders to take over from Rishi Sunak.

For a reminder of who else is running to become the leader of the opposition come November, read this handy guide from our political reporters Tim Baker and Alix Culbertson:

We've been reporting on Tom Tugendhat's bid to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader after the former security minister's campaign speech today.

He dedicated most of it to law and order, and attacked Nigel Farage for "deeply irresponsible and dangerous" comments during the recent riots.

Mr Tugendhat said misinformation spread by the Reform UK leader about the Southport attack had fuelled the unrest.

We've now got a response from Reform's Lee Anderson, one of the party's five MPs.

He said "the awful riots and social unrest we have seen on our streets have been sown by years of Tory failure", pointing to broken promises to bring down immigration.

Mr Tugendhat and is colleagues "have failed to listen to community concerns" and his campaign speech this afternoon shows why the Tories "should never be trusted again".

It's time for your evening bulletin from the Politics Hub:

• Health Secretary Wes Streeting has condemned "multiple failures" by the NHS regarding the case of Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane;
• He said it was"shocking"that Calocane - who has paranoid schizophrenia - was discharged before hekilled Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates in June 2023;
• A damning report published overnight said that decision and others by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust contributed to threedeaths that could have been avoided.

• Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhatsaid the riots were a sign politicians had ignored signs of "underlying social unrest";
• The shadow security minister focused on law and order in his first campaign speech andcriticised Elon Musk's punditry on the disorder, calling his commentary about the UK"delusional";
• But he was critical of the government's response and saidpublic order policing "has been inconsistent and too often too weak".

Unfortunately for Mr Tugendhat and his fellow contenders, a new poll by Ipsos suggests 60% of the public don't care who the next Tory leader is.

You can read more on that in our13.56 post.

That's all for now - we'll be sticking around a little while longer for any more political updates.

The Politics Hub is running a little slower than usual at the moment.

The House of Commons has been on its summer recess since 30 July, and won't return until 2 September.

That means no PMQs, ministerial statements, or other usual business.

And there's nothing going in on the House of Lords, either.

It's a period when MPs may try to get away on holiday, although they are still expected to deal with constituency issues.

Of course, this year's summer recess has proved busy for the prime minister and his top team because of the riots - although parliament wasn't recalled early as a result.

Once parliament returns on 2 September, the next recess period will arrive just 10 days later.

That's for party conference season, when MPs will be spread across the country for some of the biggest events in the political calendar.

New figures this morning brought news of an unexpected fall in the unemployment rate.

The Office for National Statistics said the percentage of people out of work and looking for a job dropped to 4.2% in July.

A rise had been forecast by economists.

The number of people out of work and not looking for a job remained higher than a year ago at 22.2% but at roughly the same level as the last three months.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said supporting even more people into employment would form a major part of her budget in October.

Read more from our business reporter Sarah Taaffe-Maguire:

Rishi Sunak's Rwanda scheme survived barely a day of the new Labour government, and the decision to scrap it while Channel crossings continue hasn't gone down well with Tory MPs.

One of the party's leadership contenders has suggested he'd present a similar idea to act as a "deterrent" to illegal migrants.

Mel Stride told a Daily Telegraph Q&A the previous scheme - which would have seen people who arrive in the UK illegally flown off to the African country - was already having an impact.

Migrants were 'waiting for Labour to scrap Rwanda'

Migrants were travelling from Northern Ireland into the Republic to avoid potential deportation, he said (read more here).

People were also "holding off coming over from Calais" because they were waiting for Labour to scrap the scheme, Mr Stride claimed.

Sky News asked Mr Stride's team whether he would bring back the Rwanda scheme specifically.

They refused to commit, instead referring to a "Rwanda-like deterrent".

The prime minister has cancelled his holiday as he remains on "high alert" for more potential unrest after the recent riots.

But the disorder does appear to have petered out, as perpetrators are sentenced across the country and after counter-protesters turned out in large numbers last week.

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson speaks to Tawhid Islam, trustee at Liverpool Region Mosque Network, after the protests his community feared were overshadowed.

Plus, our people and communities correspondent Nick Martin on how swift justice may have deterred protesters and delivered a political victory for the new government.

👉 Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈

Responding to a question from Sky News political correspondent Tamara Cohen, Tom Tugendhat emphasises hits out at those who try to impact British politics from abroad.

It's "unacceptable" for those outside the UK to try to influence the rule of law.

Mr Tugendhat points to his creation of the defending democracy taskforce while a government minister.

Later, he comments on Elon Musk's commentary on the UK riots and trolling of the prime minister, when he suggested the country was heading for "civil war".

The billionaire's remarks were "delusional", he says.

For more on his Tory leadership campaign speech, see our 14.26 post.

Former security minister Tom Tugendhat is giving his first big speech in his campaign to replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party.

He is speaking on the topic of law and order, and says politicians have "avoided being brutally honest about underlying social unrest".

His lists examples like the recent Southport stabbings and the murder of MP Sir David Amess by a "fanatical Islamist".

Mr Tugendhat attacks Nigel Farage for spreading false information about the Southport stabbings, and Home Office minister Jess Phillips for not condemning Muslim men who threatened a news crew during the unrest.

He accuses Sir Keir Starmer of a "failure of leadership" - and says the PM should have sacked Ms Phillips.

While rubbishing the claims of "two-tier policing", Mr Tugendhat does say public order policing "has been inconsistent and too often too weak", pointing towards pro-Palestine marches.

Analysis: Tories scramble to look tough on law and order

Ourcorrespondent Matthew Thompsonhas been watching the campaign speech and says it's part of a "scramble" by each Tory leadership hopeful to "make themselves look as tough as possible".

Each recognises the need to appear strong on law and order given the recent riots.

Mr Tugendhat does have "form on this", given his past as a security minister.

But Matthew questions the promise of this being a "significant" speech.

It's well and good making "eloquent denunciations" of things that have gone wrong, he says, but "concrete policy" is harder to come by.