Trans rights, the net-zero carbon target, and whether Boris Johnson is fair were the main talking points during the first Tory leadership debate.
Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch clashed over Ms. Mordaunt’s stance on gender identity, while former Chancellor Rishi Sunak targeted the other candidates for their “fairytale” tax cut plans.
Social Media Users delighted with Tom Tugendhat, inspired by none other than Albus Dumbledorewhile others pointed out that Liz Truss appeared to mimic one of Margaret Thatcher’s outfits from an election broadcast in 1979.
Here are the key points raised during the hour and a half debate broadcast on Channel 4:
– Only Tom Tugendhat said directly that he did not find Boris Johnson reliable.
The candidates were asked to answer yes or no to whether they believed the outgoing prime minister was fair.
Ms Badenoch said Mr Johnson has been “honest at times” while Ms Mordaunt said he has “paid a price” for “some very serious problems” with his premiership.
The recent Chancellor, Mr. Sunak, said: “I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt for as long as I could and finally came to the conclusion that I couldn’t, so I resigned… There were a number of reasons.” why I resigned, but trust and honesty were part of that.’
Ms Truss said Mr Johnson “has been very clear that he has made mistakes in government” but that she had taken his statement for misrepresentations “at face value” from Partygate.
When asked if Mr Johnson was honest, Mr Tugendhat simply said, “No.”
– Ms Mordaunt clashed with Ms Badenoch over previous positions on gender identity rights.
Ms Mordaunt, a former Minister for Women and Equal Opportunities, said she “never advocated self-identification” during a consultation on the Gender Recognition Act.
“I can’t imagine why people don’t understand what I’m saying and have been spitting this issue out for weeks and weeks, but I’m glad I can provide my point of view and evidence to back it up,” she said.
Asked if she would accept this, Ms Badenoch, who was the Equal Treatment Minister until she stepped down this month, said: ‘I find it difficult to do that because when I took over the Equal Treatment Minister position in 2020, it was policy that was pushed self-ID .
“I didn’t work with Penny, but I understood that the previous minister who had filled the part wanted self-ID, and that was something I turned around with Liz.”
Ms Truss declined to clarify whether she thought Ms Mordaunt’s stance on gender identity has changed.
– Mr Sunak has also launched attacks against Mrs Mordaunt, as well as against Mrs Truss, for their plans to introduce tax cuts.
Sunak told Ms. Truss that “borrowing from inflation” is a “fairy tale.”
Mrs. Truss replied, “I think it’s wrong to raise taxes.”
She added: “We have inflation because of our monetary policy, that we haven’t been strict enough on the monetary supply, that’s the way I would tackle that problem.”
Sunak also attacked Ms. Mordaunt’s “double-digit billion-dollar pledges.”
The International Trade Minister has pledged to cut VAT on fuel and raise income tax thresholds in line with inflation – something Sunak says would cost around £15 billion.
Ms. Mordaunt said: ‘My economic platform is not based on taxes and expenditure, it is based on growth and competition.’
– Kemi Badenoch was the only candidate to say she would not commit to the current net-zero pledge.
The government is currently working on a target to reduce CO2 emissions to zero by 2050.
While the other four candidates said they would still work towards this deadline as Prime Minister, Ms Badenoch said she would not.
She rejected international environment minister Lord Goldsmith’s warning that dropping the net-zero target for 2050 would be ‘political suicide’.
She said, ‘I think he’s wrong.
“The commitment is made in 2018 for 2050, none of us will be here as politicians in 2050, it’s very easy to set a goal that you are not responsible and accountable for when the time comes.”
‘It is important that we do this in a sustainable way.
“Many of the things we do can harm our country economically.”
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