Rishi Sunak swipes at Truss, insists he supported Brexit in 2016

Rishi Sunak took a thinly veiled swipe at Liz Truss today by emphasizing that he supported Brexit in 2016 and says he wants to get the job done by shredding the EU’s bureaucracy.

The former chancellor tried to polish his credentials by describing how he defied warnings that his career would be over to support Leave in the referendum.

Although he did not mention Ms. Truss by name, critics have pointed out that the Minister of Foreign Affairs endorsed Remain six years ago – even though she is now taking a hard line on Brussels.

The hostage situation came as the five remaining candidates geared up for a make-or-break TV debate tonight, ahead of the next round of voting by MPs tomorrow.

Mr Sunak has won the most votes so far and it looks like he will go through Tory members in the head-to-head vote, but there is a huge battle for the other spot in the final match.

Commerce Secretary Penny Mordaunt has garnered significant backing in second place, but she faces intense questions about her stance on gender issues.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Truss has appealed to right-wing people to unite behind her – and Kemi Badenoch has put on a strong show, too. Ms Badenoch has been spurred on by a ConservativeHome poll that suggests she is the favorite of activists.

While Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat appears to have the least support from MPs in the remaining field, he performed well in Friday night’s first debate.

In another pitch to win over Brexiteers, Mr Sunak has pledged to scrap hundreds of remaining EU laws and regulations if he wins the keys to No. 10.

He would appoint a Brexit minister to review the 2,400 EU laws still in the code, and recommend which laws should be scrapped or revised within 100 days of Mr Sunak entering No. 10.

In an article for the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Sunak emphasized that he has always supported Brexit, even though he had been warned it could hurt his political career.

‘I was advised by people I respected not only that leaving the EU was a bad idea for Britain; they also warned me that supporting Brexit would mean the end of my political career,” Sunak said.

“I listened to the advice, took it seriously and carefully considered my decision. But it didn’t change my belief that Britain would be better off outside the EU, detached from its low-growth, bureaucratic mindset.’

Mr Sunak said: ‘We need to take advantage of these opportunities by dumping the mass of unnecessary regulation and the low-growth mentality we inherited from the EU.

“I have a plan, if elected Prime Minister, to have, by the time of the next election, either scrapped or removed all EU legislation, bureaucracy and bureaucracy that is still in our code of law and standing in the way of our economy.” reformed.

“As Prime Minister, I would go further and faster in using the freedoms Brexit has given us to reduce the mass of EU regulations and bureaucracy that stand in the way of our growth.

“If we do that, we can get our economy growing again quickly and become the most prosperous country in Europe.”

The review includes an overhaul of the remaining EU financial services regulations to bring about a ‘Big Bang 2.0’ for the city so that the city can maintain its status as the world’s leading financial center.

Mr Sunak also indicated that he would review the rules of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and speed up clinical trials by cutting red tape in the EU.

The latest ConservativeHome poll shows Ms Badenoch at 31 percent – with Ms Truss, Ms Mordaunt and Mr Sunak together at around 20 percent. Although the research is not scientific, it is closely monitored by MPs and ministers.

Mr Sunak topped the first two rounds of voting for MPs, although he still hasn’t had enough of the 120 votes needed to guarantee him a place in the final round.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Ms Truss said she would try to abolish the ‘Stalinist’ housing targets – unpopular with some Tory MPs – if elected.

“I want to abolish the Whitehall-inspired Stalinist housing goals. I think that’s the wrong way to generate economic growth,” she said.

“The best way to generate economic growth is bottom-up by creating those incentives for investment through the tax system, thereby simplifying regulation.”