James Cleverly vows to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030

James Cleverly pledged to axe stamp duty and resurrect the Rwanda scheme as he launched his Tory leadership bid on Monday.

Branding the levy on property purchases a ‘bad tax’, the shadow home secretary said he would make it the party’s ‘mission’ to abolish it on homes altogether.

‘It’s a bad tax that stifles transactions in the housing market. It deters people from downsizing. And like all taxes, it ultimately increases costs to buyers,’ he told supporters.

The leadership hopeful said his priorities as prime minister would be to boost national security, reduce migration and restore ‘confidence in capitalism’.

Mr Cleverly vowed to ‘resurrect’ the Rwanda deportation scheme – saying he would use his ‘contacts and reputation’ to bring back the partnership.

He said Britain needs a ‘deterrent’ to reduce illegal migration, and described the Rwandan scheme as an ‘incredibly important partnership’.

Mr Cleverly accused Labour of an ‘arrogant and callous disregard for diplomatic niceties’ by allegedly telling the media it would be scrapped before notifying the Rwandan government.

But when asked when he could get people on planes if he became PM, Mr Cleverly said he ‘couldn’t possibly know’ how long it would take to repair the relationship with the East African state.

Taking aim at Labour, he said: ‘They sent a message across the whole continent of Africa that this Labour government does not take you seriously.

‘There is no way that this Labour government would have acted with such discourtesy if that partnership had been with a European country – no way.

‘The emerging economies, whether they be in Africa or Asia, would have taken notice of the arrogance and disregard of this Labour government.

‘How long it takes to repair that damage I can’t possibly know, but I will make sure we put a deterrent in place because the National Crime Agency says we need one. I will make sure we look to build that safe third country partnership.’

Mr Cleverly also suggested that promising to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was offering ‘soundbites and quick fixes’ rather than working to resolve a complex issue – a key pledge of leadership rival Robert Jenrick.

Launching his leadership bid in the Old War Office on Whitehall – once used by Sir Winston Churchill, Mr Cleverly pledged to spend 3per cent of GDP on defence.

He accused Sir Keir Starmer of an ‘act of vandalism’ by ditching the Tories’ promise to spend 2.5per cent on defence by 2030.

Mr Cleverly said he would go further than his party had previously, telling supporters: ‘I will spend 3per cent of GDP on defence. You cannot penny pinch your way to peace.

‘Security is delivered through strength. By planning for the worst. Not hoping for the best. We will send a signal to our enemies that the British are prepared. We will not leave the field.’

Mr Cleverly added that the UK currently spends ‘ten times’ more on health, welfare and pensions than on defence, adding: ‘Starmer says we can’t afford to spend more on defence. I say we can’t afford not to.’

And he suggested that he would reform childcare support – saying that he wanted to make it easier for ‘families and friends to look after each other’s children’.

‘Let’s back off from interfering, over regulating, burdensome, high-taxing government,’ he said.

The leadership hopeful also insisted that only a united Conservative Party would be taken seriously by a public he believes will quickly lose faith in Labour.

He said: ‘We must unite if you want the British people to listen to us again, so when they are fed up, as they inevitably will be with Starmer’s inept, high-taxing, red tape-loving, big state, crony-filled government, they will look to us again to be the change that they want to see in this country.’