Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

This debate is getting more heated by the minute. Remember these candidates are all in the same party - but tonight they are taking lumps out of each other. Kemi Badenoch accuses Rishi Sunak of ignoring warnings about Covid fraud.

Sunak asks Liz Truss if she regrets being a Lib Dem or a Remainer more.

She has a go at his expensive education. These politicians are going to have to work together again in a few weeks time.

Penny Mordaunt replies to Kemi Badenoch about criticism on her past policies on trans rights.

Credit: Britain’s Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate is airing now on ITV1 with all five candidates for PM.

Four of them say no. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says she already has faced down his foreign minister - Sergei Lavrov - and would do so again.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Asking questions of each other is really bringing out the divisions and rivalries between the candidates.

Rishi Sunak clearly relished asking Liz Truss whether she regretted being a Liberal Democrat or a Remainer more. Liz Truss's answer was a barb back in the opposite direction about her state education versus his private one. But there was no answer to his question, other than an acknowledgement that she had been on a "political journey."

As for the others - they all, apart from Tom Tugendhat, are having a pop at the current frontrunner, Mr Sunak.

Penny Mordaunt queries why Rishi Sunak has not pledged to increase defence spending in line with commitments in the Tory manifesto and to Nato.

Sunak says he provided record spending to the armed forces during the pandemic.

He adds he won't fund defence based on "arbitrary targets" but on a "threat-based approach".

Liz Truss seeks to highlight Rishi Sunak's record on China when he was chancellor, asking if he still wants to do more business with that country.

Sunak says it's important that "we stand up for our values" on the world stage.

Rishi Sunak asks Liz Truss which she regrets more from her past: once being a Liberal Democrat or once being a Remainer?

Truss says she's been on a journey since having left-wing parents. And she adds she saw children let down by her state education who didn't have Sunak's advantages. He went to the private Winchester College.

This is an innovation. Julie Etchingham is giving the contenders a chance to ask each other questions.

First up is Kemi Badenoch, who asks Rishi Sunak about £17bn fraud to the public purse during the pandemic, which she points out a minister resigned over.

Sunak dismisses the attack, saying he's "proud of my record" and got emergency support out to prevent "millions of businesses going to the wall" in "a matter of hours, not days".

Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat both say it's time to move on from Brexit.

Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak both say they campaigned for Brexit and will continue to deliver its benefits.

Liz Truss, who voted Remain in the referendum, says she's put her "shoulder to wheel" to deliver trade deals made possible by Brexit and led a big sanctions regime against Putin's Russia.

In response to attacks over his family finances, Rishi Sunak says he is "incredibly proud" of what his father-in-law achieved, not least employing thousands in the UK.

He says: "It's an incredible Conservative story -- I want to ensure we can create more stories like this."

Kemi Badenoch again challenges Penny Mordaunt on trans rights and accuses her of shifting from previously backing gender self-identification.

Penny Mordaunt says that's not the case and claims against her are "unedifying", part of a "toxic politics" the country needs to move on from.

Tom Tugendhat says trust is key when asked about strike action adding if people know the government is "on their side" they're more open to negotiation.

Credit: Britain’s Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate is airing now on ITV1 with all five candidates for PM.

Badenoch attacks Tugendhat for a lack of leadership experience, saying "talking is easy".

Tugendhat says he's served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Truss flags her experience as Foreign Secretary dealing with Russia during the war in Ukraine.

Liz Truss says it was her duty to stay in government while the country was facing an economic crisis and war in Ukraine.

Rishi Sunak says the Chris Pincher affair was the final straw for him.

Penny Mordaunt says what's being going on hasn't been working.

Chris Mason
Political editor

The barbs between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, and the animosity between them, is stark tonight.

Who could the Foreign Secretary have been referring to when she said "I might not be the slickest presenter on this stage." Ah yes, Mr Sunak.

And who could the former Chancellor have been referring to when he said "I'll be honest and responsible." Ah yes, Liz Truss.

Without the punctuation of a studio audience asking questions and offering applause, this ITV debate has more spike, even anger than Channel 4's the other night.

Tom Tugendhat says the government has been "collapsing trust like a concertina" and says his military background leaves him ready to lead.

Lis Truss says she's a straight-talking Yorkshire woman with a record of delivery in cabinet.

Kemi Badenoch says she'll unite Brexiteers and Remainers within the party.

Rishi Sunak pledges honesty and responsibility not easy answers.

Penny Mordaunt says leadership needs to be about the team and not the individual at the top.

"What about you as a person will make you a better prime minister than Boris Johnson/", Julie Etchingham asks the five contenders.

Chris Mason
Political editor

A man who led the Conservative Party to its biggest victory in a generation just two and a half years ago - and not one of the five remaining contenders would put him in their cabinet, if he were up for serving.

It's almost certainly academic because it's highly unlikely he would want to, but it is very instructive nonetheless - at how they perceive Boris Johnson trashed his own reputation and that of the Conservative Party.

Julie Etchingham asks the contenders to raise their hands if they would be happy to have Boris Johnson serving in their cabinet, if they become PM.

Not one of them does.

Liz Truss says she was chief secretary to the Treasury and the government "needs to stick to its guns" or higher food and petrol prices will result.

Tom Tugendhat and Rishi Sunak say public sector pay deals should be decided by independent pay review bodies.