Rishi SunakThe leadership campaign flag took another blow yesterday, as Tom Tugendhat endorsed Liz Truss to become Britain’s next prime minister.
Tugendhat was seen as the leading One Nation Conservative candidate in the race for party leadership before being eliminated last week. His endorsement reinforces Ms. Truss’ claim that she is the… Conservative Party in this match.
Foreign selection committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said he supported the frontrunner’s pledge to cut taxes, saying they were “based on genuine conservative principles.”
Writing in The Times, Mr Tugendhat said it was ‘not right’ for the public to take on the highest tax burden in 70 years as people look to winter with ‘fear’ amid rising costs.
Tugendhat is the last heavyweight to support Mrs Truss, after Defense Secretary Ben Wallace – one of the most popular figures in the Conservative Party – also backed her.
Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak arrives at Channel 4 for his interview with Andrew Neil as he tries to gain ground in the leadership contest
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has consistently led in polls of Conservative members to become the UK’s next party leader and prime minister
Tom Tugendhat, chair of the foreign selection committee, backed Ms Truss, arguing that her plan to cut taxes was “based on genuine conservative principles”
Rishi Sunak defended his own tax plan as he was slandered by Andrew Neil on Channel 4 on Friday – dismissing allegations that his policies would lead the country into recession.
The former chancellor warned that Mrs Truss’ plans for massive tax cuts would “add fuel to the fire” of inflation.
Mrs. Truss’ pledge to cut taxes if she is elected the next Conservative leader has been a policy cornerstone in a contest that has consistently put her in the lead in the polls of members of the Tory party.
Mr Sunak U-turned his tax plans earlier this week to pledge to cut VAT, though the move failed to bolster support in Tory membership.
According to a BMG poll for i-newspaper, 43 percent of conservative members think Liz Truss would do better as prime minister, compared to just 32 percent for Rishi Sunak.
In the race to gain ground before the contest ends in September, Mr Sunak is expected to launch an attack on ‘woke nonsense’ today.
An Opinium poll found that 38 percent of Tory voters said the Foreign Secretary is most in touch with the public’s concerns, compared with just 18 percent who sided with the former Chancellor on the issue.
In a speech to party members in West Sussex, Mr Sunak is expected to harden his identity politics rhetoric by targeting “left-wing agitators” who are trying to “bulldozer our history, our traditions and our fundamental values.”
He will also pledge to review the 2010 Trojan Horse Equality Act “which has allowed every kind of waking nonsense to permeate public life.”
Meanwhile, Liz Truss has pledged to reintroduce grammar schools in Britain and has unveiled plans to help new buyers climb the housing ladder while aiming to maintain first place in the leadership competition.
When asked if she was sure she would win leadership, Ms. Truss said, “I’m not complacent at all. I fight for every vote in the whole country.”
In an effort to break Mr Sunak’s record as chancellor, the foreign minister said it would be “risky” for the country to continue on its current economic path.
Ms Truss said she wanted to create growth by “helping people and businesses keep more of their own money”, saying that “avoiding a recession should be the number one priority.”
Rishi Sunak was questioned about his campaign, as well as his wife’s tax status on Andrew Neil’s Channel 4 show. Liz Truss has also been invited to appear on the show, but has so far declined.
Mr Neil said Mr Sunak wanted to keep taxes high at a time when… “the world economy is coming to a standstill as monetary policy has tightened,” suggesting it “would create a recession.”
Mr Sunak said: ‘I think it is absolutely the right choice not to add fuel to the inflation problem that we already have.
“What we need to do is focus on long-term growth because that’s what we need, sustainable growth, not a sugar rush that will make us feel better for months, but then things get out of hand, let inflation get into the system.” come, let the Bank of England respond with even higher interest rates.”
Mr Sunak said a recession was “not the prediction of the majority of most independent forecasters here in the UK” and denied that his pledge to cut VAT on energy bills was a turnaround showing “bad judgment”.
As for immigration, Neil insisted on why he wanted to turn down “even legal asylum seekers.”
Mr Sunak replied: ‘Because there is a finite amount of asylum seekers that we can integrate and accommodate.
“At any point, Andrew, there are probably a billion people who would like to move to the UK because this is a great country, so obviously we can’t all accept that.”
The millionaire’s ex-chancellor was also questioned about his wife’s previous non-resident tax status — an arrangement that has reportedly saved her millions, saying, “I’m the one who goes to the office and not my wife.”
Liz Truss’ bid for number 10
Tax Cuts
The Foreign Secretary has committed to a series of tax cuts that will cost around £38bn a year. As prime minister, she would cut taxes “from day one.” She would cancel the planned 6 percent corporate tax hike next spring and scrap the 1.25 percent increase in national insurance, which currently costs employers and employees £12 billion a year. She would also stop the green taxes on the energy bill for two years and she wants an extension of the marriage tax benefit rules so that couples can pay their full income tax to the earning partner.
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Truss would treat Britain’s Covid debt as the country’s war debt of the 1940s, putting it ‘longer-term’.
defense spending
She has pledged to increase UK defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2026 and 3 percent by 2030. This would cost more than £22 billion on top of the current £48.2 billion defense budget. She will also “review” plans to reduce the army by nearly 10,000 troops.
The Foreign Secretary has committed to a series of tax cuts that will cost around £38bn a year. She would cut taxes as prime minister ‘from day one’
Rishi Sunak’s plan for Britain
Tax Cuts
The former chancellor has largely resisted calls for immediate tax cuts, arguing they would fuel inflation. The nation needs “honesty and responsibility, not fairy tales.” He has promised to cut taxes only if inflation is under control.
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Sunak has repeatedly stressed the need to balance the country’s books after exceptionally high spending during the pandemic. “Borrowing your way out of inflation is not a plan,” he says. A government has a duty to reduce debt rather than pass the problem on to ‘our children’.
defense spending
He will stick to NATO’s target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense, saying the number is a ‘floor not a ceiling’ and can be exceeded. He has refused to commit to Boris Johnson’s promised higher rate of 2.5 percent.
The former chancellor has largely resisted calls for immediate tax cuts, arguing they would fuel inflation. The nation needs “honesty and responsibility, not fairy tales.” He has promised to cut taxes only if inflation is under control