The budget will be a “declaration of war on the middle class”

Speaking to his supporters – some of whom wore baseball caps emblazoned with the words “We want Bobby J” – at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster, Mr Jenrick attacked Sir Keir and Ms Reeves.

“Labour's first budget is shaping up to be something big, isn't it? It's shaping up to be a declaration of war on the middle class of this country,” he said.

“And why are they raising our taxes? What are they raising your taxes for? To try to fund pointless new quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations and to satisfy their donors, the unions.

“Our new Prime Minister will soon realise that the top earners have already been squeezed. So the next target is you. The next target will be a tax raid on working families across our country, on the parents who are getting up at six or seven in the morning, juggling childcare, multiple jobs and long hours, on the people who are starting their own businesses.

“We must fight against Keir Starmer. We must fight against his oppression of wealth creators and working people across our country. That is what Conservatives do. We stand up for working people.”

Mr Jenrick also said a fuel duty increase would be a “direct attack on motorists” after Sir Keir left open the possibility of increasing the levy in the budget. The Tory leadership contender added: “We pay some of the highest prices in the world for our fuel duty. And when I was Chancellor of the Exchequer, I froze fuel duty.”

“Because my Conservative Party is the party of the workers and not everyone in this country can take a train or the London Underground. People are going to need their cars. They need their vans. My father drove a white van.

“We need to support these people and make sure they can afford to live. This is another sign of how out of touch with reality Keir Starmer is. It is a direct attack on motorists. We need to do as much as we can about it.”