Former work and pensions secretary joins James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat and Robert Jenrick in announcing he will stand

The cost of England’s four biggest killer diseases could rise to £86bn a year by 2050, prompting calls for a crackdown on alcohol, junk food and smoking.

The ageing population means the annual cost of cancer, heart disease, dementia and stroke combined will go from the £51.9bn recorded in 2018 to £85.6bn in 2050 – a rise of 61%.

More importantly, you must now come clean on where the axe will fall under your plans and whether you intend to cut public services, raise taxes or both – having previously denied you would do either.”

The excuses currently being lined-up will set alarm bells ringing that the Labour government plans to continue Tory cuts and public services will be starved of the cash they need – just as we have seen with the failure to scrap the two-child benefit cap this week.

The SNP is ready and willing to work in cooperation with the Labour government to deliver the change voters in Scotland were promised – but we also have a duty to stand up for Scotland’s interests and hold the Labour government to account where real change isn’t forthcoming.”