Today’s final Tory leader TV debate was cancelled by Sky News after Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss withdrew.
The broadcaster was scheduled to host a second debate tomorrow night before MPs chose the two candidates who would face off in a party member head-to-head vote.
However, it is widely anticipated that Mr. Sunak and Ms. Truss will finish in the top three after the subsequent voting rounds, so it’s possible that the programme was left with just one candidate.
There are allegations that Ms. Truss’s supporters were alarmed by the amount of “squabbling” in the two debates held thus far and consider the Channel 4 debate in particular to have been “mistaken.”
Two of the three candidates who are currently leading in the MPs voting, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, confirmed to Sky News that they do not wish to participate, according to a statement from Sky News.
Conservative MPs are reportedly concerned about the harm the debates are doing to the Conservative Party’s reputation by exposing divisions and disagreements within the party.
Both are encouraged to participate in upcoming Sky News debates that are broadcast live.
If we are fortunate enough to advance to the next round, we would be happy to participate in more debates, according to a source with the Sunak campaign.
They maintained that Mr. Sunak had never informed Sky that he would be participating.
The Mordaunt campaign made fun of her opponents’ “dodging” in a statement that was released and then quickly removed, and it reiterated its accusations about slander.
Penny is always willing to engage in a debate with the other candidates. She has never shied away from TV interviews or debates throughout this campaign, according to the statement.
It’s unfortunate that some coworkers can’t debate politely with one another.
Following disagreements on ITV during which Mr Sunak called Ms Truss a “Socialist” for neglecting the need to balance the finances while she criticised his tax increases, Conservative MPs will tonight reduce the field of candidates from five to four.
The unprecedented blue-on-blue session on ITV resulted in the former Chancellor coming out on top, according to a snap poll by Opinium, solidifying his position as the front-runner.
But following a more assured performance, Ms. Truss seems to be gaining pace, as Penny Mordaunt battles to keep up her early momentum.
Kemi Badenoch is also still performing well, and MPs will soon decide which two candidates will advance to a vote among party members.
Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, is the favourite to be eliminated tonight despite doing well with floating voters with his “clean start” message.
According to the 1,000 people polled by Opinium, 24% of respondents said Mr. Sunak won the debate, followed by Mr. Tugendhat with 19% and Ms. Mordaunt with 17%, just barely ahead of Ms. Truss with 15% and Ms. Badenoch with 12%.
However, the lead was only 24% to 21% for Ms. Mordaunt and 20% for Ms. Truss.
This was a significant improvement for the Foreign Secretary following her stumbling performance in the first debate.
In addition to asking “which she regrets most” about supporting Remain in the referendum and having previously been a Liberal Democrat, Mr. Sunak blasted Ms. Truss for promising “something for free” tax cuts during the campaign.
By raising taxes to their highest level in 70 years, Ms. Truss charged Mr. Sunak with conducting economic policy that was “business as usual” and “choking off growth.” She insisted that she had pushed against the national insurance increase in Cabinet.
She asserted that the former chancellor had encouraged a recession by hiking taxes and that his policy had “taken money out of people’s pockets” and prevented businesses from investing.
Mr. Sunak countered that there was a “cost to these things” and that the nation had just experienced a pandemic that occurred only once per century.
“Look, I’ll slash this tax, that tax, and another tax, and it will all be okay,” I’d want to say as I stand here. But guess what? It won’t, he assured us.
These items come at a price, along with the price of increased inflation, increased mortgage rates, and diminished savings. And what about that? This economy of “something for nothing” is not conservative. Socialism, that is.
Even Jeremy Corbyn, he continued, “didn’t advise that we should go that far,” in reference to Ms. Mordaunt’s proposal to abandon one of his financial principles against borrowing to cover ongoing expenses. He asked, “What is the point of the Conservative party if we are not for sound money?”
Ms. Truss said she had been “on a political trip” after Mr. Sunak pushed her about voting Remain and having previously been a Lib Dem. She also made fun of his wealthy upbringing and public schooling.
“The reason I’m a Conservative is because I observed youngsters at my school in Leeds being disappointed — maybe not getting the opportunity you did at your school, Rishi.”
Host Julie Etchingham asked all five candidates to raise their hands whether they wanted Boris Johnson to be a member of their administration. None of them did, although Ms. Mordaunt did add that Mr. Johnson “got Brexit done.”
The trade minister, Ms. Mordaunt, also hit back against “smears” made about her opinions on trans rights, denying that she had attempted to change the course of history by advocating for self-identification through medical evaluation.
Any attempt to portray her as being “out of touch” will “fail,” she claimed, adding that she “knows why this is being done.”
Other major disagreements throughout the discussion include:
The rich heiress wife of Mr. Sunak, who stated he had never had non-dom tax status, is from India, and the latter said he was “very proud” of his father-in-law for having “created” a highly successful company from nothing;
Asserting that she is “not the slickest presenter on this stage… I’ve demonstrated I can deliver as Foreign Secretary,” Ms. Truss backhandedly mocked Mr. Sunak’s mannerisms;
When the new PM assumes office, all of the candidates rejected the idea of holding an immediate general election, arguing that the issue of rising living costs should take priority;
Ms. Truss was unable to respond when asked if she supported Brexit in the vote; Mr. Tugendhat claimed that all the other contenders were tarnished by having worked in Boris Johnson’s administration.
In frank discussions about taxes, Ms. Truss asserted that Mr. Sunak’s proposals will likely cause Britain to enter a recession.
You’ve increased taxes to the greatest level in 70 years, Rishi. That won’t lead to economic growth, she declared.
“You increased national insurance, despite the fact that members of the Cabinet like myself opposed it at the time because we could have managed to pay for the NHS through general taxes,” I said.
The fact is that raising taxes at this time will stifle economic expansion and keep us from raising the funds required to pay off the debt.
Adding that she disagreed with Mr. Sunak, Ms. Mordaunt added, “I think the tax cuts I’ve detailed are not inflationary.”
“I believe that those listening at home will be watching us as we discuss these problems.”
I don’t get why Rishi won’t acknowledge that they need quick action because it appears that we aren’t close to the true issues that they are dealing with.
But I also believe there are things we can do to improve the lives of people without spending any money.
That is the rationale behind my newly implemented childcare policy.
‘Simplifying tax such that it lowers the fees that businesses have to pay just to be compliant with tax. Many things are within our power.
The candidates, according to Ms. Badenoch, must be “honest” with the electorate on the country’s economic prospects.
“I think what we’re seeing in the dialogue that’s going on is that there are no simple options,” she continued.
Trade-offs are the only available solutions. It was always a choice between difficult options A, bad options B, or crazy options C when I worked in the Treasury.
We must tell the public the truth about how difficult things are. The government cannot address every issue, therefore we must improve the way we address issues.
Ms. Mordaunt’s remark was addressed by Mr. Sunak, who stated that he “does take the situation seriously.”
Then he continued, “I saw Penny on the TV this morning saying you were going to change one of my regulations that the Government shouldn’t borrow money for daily expenses.
It’s one thing to borrow money for long-term investments, but it’s quite another to charge the nation’s daily expenses on its credit card, and we all know how that turns out.
Not only is it wrong, but it’s also risky. And guess what? Not even Jeremy Corbyn advocated for us to go that far.
Ms. Truss addressed the issues head-on despite her tendency to come off as wooden.
“I say what I think, I’m honest, and I was raised in Yorkshire. I say what I mean, and I mean what I say,” she claimed.
I’m a person who follows through on promises to provide things.
She took a shot at Mr. Sunak, saying, “One of the reasons I was so concerned about us breaching our manifesto on national insurance, is we vowed to the British public that we would do it.” The Tories had pledged not to raise the tax in 2019.
I may not be the most polished presenter on this platform, but I believe that when I work with my colleagues in Parliament, they recognise that when I say I’ll do something, I do it.
Despite violations of human rights in locations like Hong Kong, Ms. Truss pressed Rishi Sunak on whether he still believed that the UK should do more business with China.
At the ITV debate, Mr. Sunak said to the participant, “I actually support the view of the Integrated Review, the plan that you and I both sat around the Cabinet table and helped draught, which highlighted that China was an enormous threat to our national security, and that’s the lens in which we should view it.”
Mr. Sunak claimed that in order to defend the nation from “hostile investment,” the government was enacting the “powers and protections” necessary.
During the ITV discussion, he defended his wife Akshata’s former non-domiciled tax status and her family’s fortune.
He declared that he is “very pleased” of how his billionaire father-in-law NR Narayana Murthy, who founded Infosys and amassed his wealth, did it.
My wife is from a foreign nation, so she is regarded differently, but she clarified it in the spring and she handled the issue, but there is discussion about my wife’s family’s riches, said Mr. Sunak. I have always been a fully typical UK taxpayer.
Let me just say that I’m quite pleased of what my in-laws built, so I’ll address that directly.
My mother-in-savings law’s and a dream were all that my father-in-law had when he started out.
With those two things, he was able to construct one of the largest, most reputable, and most successful firms in the world, which, by the way, employs thousands of people here in the UK.
As prime minister, I want to make sure that we can produce more success stories like theirs here at home.
It’s an extraordinarily Conservative narrative, one in which I’m genuinely very proud.
Ms. Badenoch emphasised that it was her fault that the trans policy implemented by Ms. Mordaunt as equalities minister had been reversed.
As the equalities minister, Ms. Badenoch stated, “I’m stating that we have to revise the existing Government policy that previous ministers had put in place.”
“What that policy was is what I’m contesting, or what I questioned Penny on.
She claims that she disagreed with it, but I fail to see how that would be the case if she had previously served as the minister.
Why was the policy the way it was if she didn’t agree with it?
The minister before me wasn’t me, Ms. Mordaunt retorted. The information in today’s newspapers disproves this and shows what my policy was.
To the other four candidates and colleagues present, I would merely say, “I know why this is being done.” I find the entire situation to be unedifying.
But what I would say to you is that any effort to portray me as someone who is out of touch will fall flat.
The sole Labour seat winner and candidate on this stage is me. People that are out of touch do not get elected by my constituents.
Penny, Ms. Badenoch retorted. I was merely being honest. I’m being completely honest.
The head of the Foreign Affairs committee, Mr. Tugendhat, promoted his offer of a “clean start,” claiming that individuals who worked for Mr. Johnson’s administration “gave credence to the disarray.”
He declared: “Keir Starmer is going to hold that record against us in two years, whatever your role in that government was and wherever you were.”
Even incredibly nice people give the chaotic candidate credence, so we need to make sure we’re gaining Conservative seats across the nation.
In response, Ms. Badenoch said that as a minister, she was “not ashamed of anything we did.”
“There is plenty to be proud of. We completed Brexit, and the Prime Minister’s actions about Ukraine and vaccinations were great,’ she claimed.
“Government service is not simple. Making challenging judgments is necessary. Tom has never carried out that.
He finds it extremely simple to criticise what we have been doing, but we have been presenting our case from the front lines.
The front lines in Afghanistan, Iraq, and “in the argument against Putin and China,” Mr. Tugendhat noted, were all places he had served.
Ms. Badenoch countered, “You haven’t made any judgments, talking is simple,” though.
All of the candidates supported the goal of reaching Net Zero by 2050, with the exception of Ms. Badenoch, who promised to change things that “make life tough” for regular people.