Steerpike

It's the second day of the big Tory leadership interviews at party conference and Robert Jenrick is on the main stage. Making his case for why he should be elected leader of the Conservative party, the former minister slammed the state of the Home Office as being 'in ashes', promised he would 're-enact' a version of the Rwanda scheme if he were to become Prime Minister and said he 'would like' to cut the top rate of tax. How interesting... But it wasn't just domestic policy that the Tory leadership contender discussed this afternoon. In a rather, er, amusing announcement, Jenrick revealed that his daughter's middle name is 'Thatcher' – in a touching tribute to the former PM. Talk about commitment to the cause, eh?

While the Conservative party conference is in full swing in Birmingham, back in Whitehall there have been some major developments. Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has now formally handed in his resignation letter, with the senior civil servant circulating his departure letter to his underlings today. His announcement that he will stand down at the end of the year follows weeks of whisperings that Case didn't quite see eye to eye with Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff Sue Gray – with reports that, after the recent host of bad briefings against the PM's staffer, efforts to speed up Case's resignation date were deployed. How very curious... The top mandarin has told civil servants, however, that he is leaving for health reasons – not because of his rumoured beef with Gray.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party’s conference was mired in his freebie fiasco scandal after revelations about clothing donations and trips abroad surfaced. But while the Labour lot had a tricky time fending the story off at their conference, they appear determined not to let the Tory meet pass without a similar hitch. Now it transpires that the Labour party chair has written to the Electoral Commission to demand an investigation over donations accepted by one Robert Jenrick. How curious… The Chancellor’s sister Ellie Reeves has blasted the Tory leadership frontrunner over a £75,000 sum he accepted from a company called The Spott Fitness.

Amid a wave of BBC cutbacks, the Corporation has made much of its new 'Verify' service. Bosses have trumpeted its fact-checkers – staff, supposedly, with ‘forensic investigative skills’ – as a solution to the slew of misinformation in the age of social media. So it was somewhat sub-optimal then that the BBC was forced to fact check itself on Thursday night in an episode of the flagship show Question Time. At one point in the evening, Zia Yusuf, the Reform party chairman, attacked the number of asylum seekers arriving into Britain after it emerged that the Foreign Office has spent more than £4 billion on support for refugees and asylum seekers.

Poor old Angela Rayner. It seems she is not too happy about reports that she is being 'frozen out' of decision-making in the new government, amid claims that she is the victim of a media 'briefing war.' Various reports have appeared suggesting that she has lost control of Labour’s employee rights’ package to the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and planning reform to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Use of the grace-and-favour residence of Dorneywood has also been given to Reeves, unlike in the days of John Prescott. Bad luck improving your croquet skills Ange. It's a far cry from, er, March when allies of Rayner were busy briefing about 'plans to establish a powerful new department at the core of UK government to shore up her position'.

All is not well in the Labour party at present. If Sir Keir Starmer didn't have enough on his plate, what with concerns about cronyism and the ongoing freebie scandal, one of his own backbenchers seems rather publicly out to get him too. Diane Abbott has been particularly active on social media lately, using her platform to slam Starmer's top team throughout their first party conference in power – and the Corbynista is pulling no punches. First going for the main man himself, Abbott posted a grainy photo of Sir Keir at the weekend as the frockgate saga ramped up, accusing the PM's top team of being 'in the pocket of millionaires'.