I wasn’t being rude, says Rishi Sunak

British prime ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak said he was ‘just making sure’ his arguments were heard in debates with Liz Truss after being accused of ‘mansplaining’.

Former UK chancellor Rishi Sunak during a campaign event in Newmarket, north of London, on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

British prime ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak said he was “just making sure” his arguments were heard in debates with Liz Truss after the Foreign Secretary’s campaign team accused him of “mansplaining”.

Leading backers of Ms Truss accused him of being “extremely aggressive” when he interrupted her during Monday’s first head-to-head debate in their campaign to be named prime minister on September 5.

In an interview with The Spectator, Mr Sunak was asked “why is there no more Mr Nice Guy?”

The former chancellor replied: “Well because half the time people are saying to me: ‘We’re not sure if you’re tough enough to be prime minister.’ And then when you are tough it’s, ‘Oh gosh, you’re too tough’.”

Pressed on whether he had been “a little bit rude” to Ms Truss, Mr Sunak said: “I never, I think, was rude. I was just making sure that the points that needed to be debated were heard. I’ve got nothing but enormous personal affection and ­regard for Liz, as I think everybody knows.”

Mr Sunak interrupted Ms Truss 16 times during Monday’s debate, whereas Mr Truss interrupted Mr Sunak 10 times.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss meets supporters in London on Wednesday. Picture
Getty Images

Meanwhile, Mr Sunak faced criticism from the Institute for Fiscal Studies over his pledge to scrap value added tax on energy bills next year. The think tank said Mr Sunak’s policy “would encourage more spending on other items, slightly adding to inflationary pressures elsewhere”.

Mr Sunak ­argues that Ms Truss’s plans for sweeping tax cuts would fuel ­inflation.

Stuart Adam, a senior economist at the institute, said that Mr Sunak’s plan “would be well targeted at those who face the biggest rise in their energy bills, but not at those – the poorest – who are least able to cope with the rise in costs”.

Mr Sunak also unveiled a package of measures to crack down on sex offenders that ­includes increasing the maximum sentence for grooming to life and treating sexual violence against women and girls as a ­“national emergency”.

Grooming a child carries a maximum sentence of 14 years but the former chancellor has pledged to increase it to life for ringleaders. A new criminal ­offence will be created that will lead to those belonging to or ­facilitating grooming gangs facing automatic criminal charges.

Mr Sunak has also pledged to create an offence that will outlaw “down-blousing”, where perpetrators take photos down a woman’s top without consent.

The Times