Rishi Sunak said rival Liz Truss’ plans for massive tax cuts would “fuel the fire” on the inflation problem and trigger a “sugar rush”.
Veteran political journalist Andrew Neil challenged the Tory leadership, hopeful of his plans to tighten fiscal policy at a time when “the global economy is stalling, while monetary policy tightens”.
Mr Sunak further denied his stance on reducing VAT on utility bills, rejecting suggestions that he had displayed a “lack of consistency” and “poor judgment”.