We're closing this page shortly - but there's plenty more to read and watch:

• You can read our main story on Rachel Reeves hinting at an above-inflation public sector pay rise here
• For her comments on not lifting the two-child benefit cap, click here
• And here is Laura Kuenssberg's end-of-term report cards for the major Westminster parties

Today's page was written by Lou Newton, Cachella Smith, and Jacqueline Howard. The editor was Owen Amos. Thanks for reading.

Image source, PA Media

As we reported earlier, Jeremy Hunt says he won't stand to replace the outgoing Rishi Sunak as Conservative Party leader.

In fact, no-one has officially declared so far - but who might it be?

Former home secretary Suella Braverman and shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat are both thought to be in the running.

Other bids are likely to come from shadow communities secretary Kemi Badenoch, shadow home secretary James Cleverly, and former ministers Robert Jenrick and Priti Patel.

Last week, a Conservative Home poll , externalof 995 Tory members put Badenoch in front at at 26%. Tugendhat was second with 13%, with Jenrick and Braverman on 10%.

The timeline for selecting a new leader is set by the 1922 Committee, who are due to meet next week to try to finalise the plans.

Image source, Reuters

One of the main topics this morning was the new government's economic "inheritance".

Rachel Reeves said new borrowing figures are "significantly higher" than people thought, and also highlighted an increase in unemployment.

But shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt - who was, until the start of this month, the chancellor - said claims that Labour was inheriting the worst set of economic circumstances since World War Two were "absolute nonsense".

So what do we know about the current economic situation?

• Inflation is at the Bank of England's target of 2%. That means prices are still rising but they are doing so at the bank's preferred rate.

• ONS figures from last week show the UK's national debt has reached its highest level since 1962 - that includes during the Covid pandemic. The debt is equal to 99.5% of GDP (the annual value of the economy). That's 2.8 percentage points higher, external than the end of June 2023. Last month's borrowing figure of £14.5bn was the lowest June total for five years, but was higher than expected.

• The latest unemployment rate is 4.4% (March - May 2024) - the highest rate since September 2021, though historically low. The current rate represents about 1.5 million people. On top of that, there are just under 9.4m people classed as economically inactive, external. The figure has risen since last year, but was down slightly in the most recent set of figures. The group includes students and people who are unwell.

Michael Wild
Editor, BBC Politics North

We just brought you lines from Lord Houchen's appearance on Sky News - and the Tees Valley mayor has also been speaking to BBC Politics North.

Houchen tells us he has received a series of death threats but police "haven't done anything" about them.

"I've had people threatening to cut me up with a chainsaw," he says.

"I've had Special Branch knock on my door late at night because of a credible threat against my personal safety.

"My wife answers the door and is absolutely petrified about what might or might not happen. I mean this is something that is just unacceptable and...it's all driven by social media."

"I think the police need to be much firmer," he adds.

"I mean you can talk about free speech but ultimately, if we want a democracy where people are able to share different ideas in a civil manner, we need to have enforcement.

"So for example, when I was getting death threats - police haven't done anything about it. Nobody's been arrested."

We have approached Cleveland Police for comment.

Image source, PA Media

Earlier we again heard Jeremy Hunt rule himself out of the Conservative leadership race - but ex-home secretary Suella Braverman is thought to be gearing up for a shot at the job.

This weekend, the former home secretary told the Telegraph , externalthe party should not become "centrist cranks".

"We can do better than being a collection of fanatical, irrelevant, centrist cranks, who make it our business to insult our should-be voters for not being as smug and self-righteous as we are," she said.

This morning, Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Lord Ben Houchen was asked about the comments on Sky News.

"If we want to spend the next two, three, four, five months fighting with each other that goes to the cause of the election defeat just two weeks ago," he said.

"I would implore Suella, as well as every other leadership contender, to conduct this leadership contest with civility."

Image source, Reuters

• Hunt said Labour's comments about inheriting the worst economy since World War Two were "spin" to lay the ground for tax rises
• He said the numbers were crystal clear before the election - and Labour can't claim things are worse than feared

• Hunt said he will not be the new leader of the Conservatives, but declined to suggest an alternative
• Asked why the Conservatives were "hammered" at the election, he said high immigration; the "upheavals of 2022"; and increasing taxes, without saying how they would come back down
• Pressed on when the Conservatives would have been able to cut tax, had they been re-elected, he said they wouldn't have been able to do it "immediately"
• He said the party's future success lies in the "centre ground" - he said that included controls on migration, and restraint on spending

• Reeves has ordered a review of public finances with the findings due to be presented to Parliament at the end of the month. The scale of the challenge is "immense", she said
• Public sector pay announcements are due later this month - quizzed on the recommended 5.5% for teachers and some NHS workers, Reeves said she "really value[s]" public sector workers and twice said there's a "cost to not settling"

• Pressed on planning permission for housing, energy, and other infrastructure projects, she said "there will be tough decisions". But, she said, we can't "keep saying no"
• She again repeated that Labour would not scrap the two-child benefit cap as it would cost "more than £3bn a year"
• Finally, asked whose portrait she would hang above her desk, she hasn't decided yet - but "it will be a woman"

Finally, in the week of the first report of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Hunt apologises "unreservedly" to families who lost loved ones during the Covid-19 pandemic and says it was "the most terrible tragedy".

As the report said, he accepts he was part of a "groupthink" of ministers, officials and scientists who "overprepared" for a flu pandemic and failed to consider a different type of pandemic.

The report, which you can read about here, has some very sensible recommendations, Hunt says.

And with that, the interview ends - and the show ends with a solo from violinist Nicola Benedetti.

Watch - and re-watch - at the top of the page.

Laura now asks Hunt who the new Conservative Party leader will be.

"It won't be me, I won't put my hat into the ring," he says - before declining to suggest an alternative.

He says the party will have a "difficult conversation" - but it must be honest about why it lost people's trust.

"We need to earn it back by being absolutely clear that we do have solutions, and we're going to hold the government to account, taking into account the things we got wrong before," he says.

Pressed on the direction of the party, he says they should be in the "centre ground".

"I think ordinary, decent British families want controls on migration, they want the government to show restraint on spending and keep taxes down, they want welfare to be reformed so it's fair to people who get up early and work hard.

"I think that is the centre ground, that is where the Conservatives should be," he says.

Laura asks Hunt why he thinks the Tories were "hammered" in the election.

He says the party needs to be "honest, humble and reflective".

After 14 years with "massive economic challenges" he says they got some things right - but they lost trust at the end of their time in government.

He refers to three main reasons:

• The "upheavals" at the end of 2022 (including Liz Truss's mini-budget)
• The fact immigration wasn't brought down as much as they wanted
• Putting taxes up to pay for the pandemic - but not convincing people of their plan to bring them back down

Laura puts one of Rachel Reeve's claims to Hunt - that the election was called to put off problems looming, such as the education pay review, prison crisis and infected blood scandal payout.

Hunt says he has been criticised for many things - but that "not taking tough and difficult decisions is one thing I don't think people would level at me".

He says the Conservatives have left a better economy than the last transfer of government between parties in 2010, calling it a "transformed picture".

He adds that the "story of the last 18 months is of a government that has taken very difficult decisions" - pointing to tax rises and spending cuts.

Hunt says Labour's comments about the economy it inherited from the Conservatives are "spin".

"All the numbers were crystal clear before the election," he says.

"They should have levelled with the British public and said that 'like every other Labour government we want to increase spending and increase tax to pay for it'."

Hunt is pressed by Laura - she cites government debt, the increasing unemployment rate, and the number of those not in work who could be, as signs the economy is not in a good state.

Hunt says the Tory government faced three massive global shocks - the Covid pandemic, the energy shock and clearing up after the 2008 / 09 financial crisis.

Despite this, he says, the UK grew faster than other countries such as France and Germany.

Hunt begins by wishing Reeves well, and says she has the qualities of a good chancellor.

He welcomes some of her plans on pension and planning reforms - but says her description of the "worst economic inheritance since World War Two" is "absolute nonsense".

Stay here for the latest lines from the new shadow chancellor...

We're back to the panel now - and Labour MP Zarah Sultana insists Reeves should scrap the two-child benefit cap.

She says the party can fund this "if we look at different tax decisions".

She wants the wealthiest to pay for it and says the decision is a "matter of political will" - adding that it's not a "radical demand".

Rounding off the interview, Reeves is asked about her move to No 11 Downing Street.

She has had her first night’s sleep in the flat this weekend and her family will be moving in with her, she says.

Asked about the tradition of having a portrait of a predecessor above the desk, she says "the picture of Nigel Lawson has come down".

She hasn’t made a decision over who will replace him - but one will go up.

She lists those who have worked in politics who have inspired her – Ellen Wilkinson, Jennie Lee, Alice Bacon and in economics - Joan Robinson and Mary Paley Marshall.

"It will be a woman," she says.

Image source, Reuters

Turning to US politics, Reeves is asked her opinion on US President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.

Reeves won’t be led to answer and says it’s a matter for the American people, but does speak about her financial counterpart across the Atlantic, Janet Yellen.

She says Yellen has been an inspiration and that she admires some of the measures the US has taken to grow its economy, such as reindustrialising former industrial heartlands.

Reeves says the US has outperformed Britain in terms of prosperity in recent years and “there is a lot we can learn”.

Laura asks the chancellor if the economy she inherited wasn't in quite as poor a state as she is claiming.

Reeves begins her answer by mentioning new borrowing figures, saying they are "significantly higher than people had anticipated".

She also brings up increases in unemployment and economically inactive people.

Reeves claims the timing of the election shows the Conservative Party was "running away" to avoid having to make "tough decisions".

"I really don't buy this idea that we've been handed a golden inheritance," she says.

Laura puts to Reeves that, so far, there has been nothing that will “immediately” put money into the pockets of the least well off in this country.

Reeves responds that the government can’t turn “everything around straight away” but references GB Energy and the "new deal for working people" as measures that will help “improve lives of working people”.

Laura says those are long-term plans - and asks whether the chancellor would reconsider the two-child benefit cap.

"Lots of your colleagues wish you would do it," Laura adds, referencing Andy Burnham and ex-PM Gordon Brown.

Reeves says it would cost “more than £3bn a year” - and that Labour has been clear they won’t make spending commitments without being able to fund them.

But she claims the government will lift children out of poverty – citing moves for free breakfast clubs at primary schools, and the creation of more nurseries.

"But I'm not willing to make unfunded commitments," she reiterates. "I am going to run our economy with iron discipline."