ishi sunak and Liz Truss attempt to win over rural communities as the campaign continues in the race for No. 10, in which the former chancellor faces an uphill battle after his rival won the support of another party heavyweight.
In an effort to revive his faltering campaign, Mr Sunak will talk loudly about identity politics on Saturday in a speech attacking “woke nonsense”.
It’s being seen as a weekend getaway for the former chancellor before ballots start falling through party members’ mailboxes next week as he consistently chases Ms. Truss in polls of those voters.
Both candidates to succeed Boris Johnson pledged to “defend the rural way of life” in pitches to rural conservatives.
Writing for Countryside Alliance magazine, Ms. Truss vowed to “scrap top-down housing targets imposed by Whitehall” and “put planning powers in the hands of the locals”.
The South West Norfolk MP also pledged to boost Britain’s domestic food production by “removing bureaucracy” in the producer inspection regime.
Sunak said in a separate piece for the country’s campaign magazine that “agriculture is part of the DNA” of its headquarters in North Yorkshire, Richmond, as he vowed to “always support our farmers”.
While he said his “mission has always been to do things ‘for’ rural communities, not ‘for’ them”, the ex-chancellor has not formulated any specific policies to help them.
Sunak was once again on the defensive about taxes in a crunch interview with Andrew Neil on Friday, dismissing allegations that his policies would lead to a recession and warning that Mrs. Truss’ plans for sweeping tax cuts would “fire fuel” the government. would throw inflation.
But the foreign secretary’s tax pledge won out the former rival of the Tory leaders Tom Tugendhatwho described it as “based on real conservative principles” when he came forward to support her.
I think it is absolutely the right choice not to put fuel on the fire of the inflation problem we already have
With Ms Truss’ offer of over £30bn in unfunded tax cuts, given her consistently leading in member surveys, Mr Sunak this week reversed course by promising to temporarily VAT on energy bills.
However, the policy reversal seems to have failed to bolster support among Tory voters, including the party faithful electing the next prime minister, 43% of whom think Ms Truss would do better, compared to 32% for Mr. Sunak, according to a survey by BMG Research for the newspaper i.
In an apparent effort to enthuse Tory supporters with harsh rhetoric on so-called culture war issues, Mr Sunak is expected to tell supporters in West Sussex on Saturday that he will prevent “left-wing agitators” from taking “a bulldozer into our history”, our traditions. and our fundamental values”.
He will promise to review the 2010 Equality Act, which he has called a “Trojan horse that has allowed every kind of wakeful nonsense to permeate public life”.
Mr Sunak was rapped by Neil for nearly half an hour about his wife’s economy, immigration and tax status in Friday’s Channel 4 interview, something Ms Truss has so far not taken part in.
The veteran political journalist challenged Sunak about his plans to tighten fiscal policy at a time when “the global economy is coming to a standstill as monetary policy tightens”, suggesting he “would create a recession”.
Glancing at his rival’s economic outlook, Mr Sunak said: “I think it is absolutely the right choice not to add fuel to the inflation problem 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 makes us feel better for months, but then things get out of hand, let inflation kick in. 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 demonstrating “bad judgment”.
On immigration, Neil pressed him on his promise to limit the number of refugees the UK will accept and reject “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 looked uneasy as he brushed aside questions about his wife’s previous non-resident tax status, a scheme that has reportedly saved her millions, saying, “I’m the one running to the office and not my wife.”
Mr Sunak’s tax policy came under fire from new Truss supporter Mr Tugendhat, who wrote in The Times that it is “not right” for tax burdens to rise when people go into winter with “fear”.
The chair of the selected foreign affairs committee was the last senior Tory to voice support for Ms Truss following Defense Secretary Ben Wallace’s previous endorsement, and it is significant for his popularity among party members and leadership status among centrist Conservative MPs.
Asked during a visit to Norfolk on Friday whether she was confident she was now ready to win the match, the results of which will be announced on September 5, Ms Truss said: “I am not complacent at all.
“I’m fighting for every vote in the whole country.”
In a thinly veiled swipe at the record of the former chancellor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said it would be “risky” for the country to continue on its current economic path.
Ms Truss said the way to get growth is to “help people and businesses keep more of their own money”, saying that “avoiding a recession should be the number one priority”.