Tory rivals unleash the acrimony in first head-to-head debate

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss clashed fiercely over tax, China and character in the first of three TV duels.

Liz Truss shows Rishi Sunak the hand in their live TV deal in Stoke-on-Trent on Sunday night. Picture: BBC via Getty Images

Britain’s two prime ministerial contenders clashed fiercely over tax, China and character overnight Monday in their first head-to-head televised debate, as Rishi Sunak sought to peg back the frontrunner Liz Truss.

The primetime debate kicked off a crucial 12-day period featuring three such live TV duels and four hustings events in front of Conservative Party members who will decide the contest and begin receiving their postal votes next week.

The weeks-old Tory leadership contest to replace outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson has turned increasingly bitter, with both camps fiercely briefing against each other.

Monday’s BBC debate showcased that acrimony, with former chancellor of the exchequer Sunak savaging Foreign Secretary Truss’ plans to slash taxes immediately – a key dividing line between the pair.

“I don’t think that’s right, I don’t think it’s responsible and it’s certainly not Conservative,” he interjected as she detailed her proposals.

“If we follow Rishi’s plans, we are headed for a recession,” Ms Truss replied, accusing him of raising taxes “to the highest rate for 70 years”. “I would act immediately – I understand that people … are struggling.”

The leadership contest comes as Britain grapples with a cost-of-living crisis that has seen inflation surge to a 40-year high.

Mr Sunak, 42, has vowed to curb this before cutting taxes, and called Ms Truss’s plans “a short-term sugar rush”.

Opinion polls put Ms Truss, 47, well ahead among the Tories’ roughly 200,000 members, after she and Mr Sunak emerged as the run-off candidates in a series of votes by Tory MPs. The winner will be announced on September 5.

Mr Sunak’s resignation as chancellor earlier this month over Mr Johnson’s scandal-plagued leadership helped spark the downfall of the outgoing prime minister. That has angered some of the party grassroots. Meanwhile, questions about his family’s tax affairs and his prior decision to retain US residency have also dented his popularity.

Ms Truss initially struggled to gain momentum, but eventually made the run-off by winning over the party’s right-wing MPs with vows to cut tax and deregulate. A snap poll showed Tory voters thought Ms Truss won Monday’s debate, by 47 to 38 per cent.

Over the weekend, Mr Sunak announced plans to crack down on China’s influence, calling it the “No.1 threat” to domestic and global security. That followed Ms Truss accusing him of being soft on Britain’s adversaries when he was finance minister.

“I’m delighted that you’ve come around to my way of thinking,” she told Mr Sunak as the issue featured at the debate.

Ms Truss insisted his “tougher stance” had been driven by her Foreign Office tenure, but that as recently as a month ago Mr Sunak was “pushing for closer trade relationships with China”. Ms Sunak said she herself had been “on a journey” after previously wanting close ties with Beijing.

The pair’s face-off was held in Stoke-on-Trent, in front of an audience of people who all voted Conservative at the last general election in 2019. The area, which backed Brexit heavily in the 2016 referendum, was once a traditional Labour seat. But it switched to the Tories – along with dozens of its other heartland seats – in 2019.

Both prime ministerial candidates committed to continuing Mr Johnson’s flagship “levelling up” policy of reducing decades-old ingrained regional inequalities which helped earned him that historic victory.

“It’s not just a slogan for me, it’s about the life I’ve had,” said Ms Truss, citing growing up in the Scottish town of Paisley and the northern English city of Leeds. However, she supported remaining in the EU in 2016, a decision Ms Truss says she now regrets. She reiterated pledges to “realise post-Brexit opportunities”.

Mr Sunak noted that he backed Brexit “out of conviction”, despite being warned it would ruin his political career. “Because I believe it will be the right thing for this country,” he added.

They will next debate overnight on Tuesday.

AFP