While former chancellor Rishi Sunak dismissed promises of tax cuts by his rivals as “an unfunded spree of borrowing and more debt”, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss hit back by saying: “You can’t tax your way to growth”. Penny Mordaunt said “people need help now” and without a change in the tax burden, the UK will become “one of the most uncompetitive nations” by next April. But Mr Sunak insisted he was right to make the “difficult decisions” at the Treasury, such as raising National Insurance to pay for health and social care, and promising cuts now was a “fairy tale”. Politics Hub: ‘Is Johnson an honest man?’ – Tory candidates react to questions in first televised debate In the 90-minute debate on Channel 4, runners were also asked yes or no if Boris Johnson was an honest man. While most gave more answers than asked, Kemi Badenoch said “sometimes”, while Tom Tugendhat said emphatically “no”. It was the first of three televised debates the rivals will face in the race to become the next Tory leader and UK prime minister. An early poll by Opinium on who performed better showed Mr Tugendhat as the winner with 36% of the vote, followed by Mr Sunak with 24%. Both Ms Mordaunt and Ms Badenoch received 12% of the vote, but Ms Truss trailed with 7%. The next one will go down on Sunday night on ITV, while Sky News will host its own debate at 8pm on Tuesday, hosted by Kay Burley. The candidates will be narrowed down further on Monday when the third round of voting takes place. The final two leadership contenders will emerge by the end of next week and then face a summer of upheavals – with Conservative Party members having the chance to decide who will be the next prime minister. The winner will be announced on September 5th. Image: Leadership race The exchanges became more tense when the five Tory MPs were asked about their tax plans, which has been a running issue throughout the contest so far. Mr Sunak – who resigned as chancellor last week – stood by his record at the Treasury, saying instead of focusing on taxation, “inflation is the enemy that makes everyone poorer”. He added: “I don’t think the responsible thing to do right now is to go on an unfunded borrowing spree and more debt, which will only exacerbate inflation, prolong the problem.” But Ms Truss, who has pledged to halt a planned corporation tax rise and end green levies to reduce the tax burden, said she would spread the COVID debt over a longer period to cover the costs and blamed the Bank of England for the current record. inflation rates. He said: “We must be bold, we must do things differently, we must cut taxes, we must unleash growth and we must unleash the potential of all people across our great country.” Mr Sunak responded: “Borrowing your way out of inflation is not a plan, it’s a fairy tale,” adding: “There is no such thing as COVID debt… debt is debt.” Read more: Spelling mistakes and poor audio – the first online comments Why expect a surprise in a Tory leadership contest Ms Mordaunt has made a number of tax pledges, such as cutting fuel tax, and claimed the green levy was “stealing families and businesses [so] must be considered.” She was challenged by Mr Sunak on how she would pay for her plans and said the UK needed to tackle “barriers to investment coming in, things that stop innovation” and would lead to more cash in Treasury coffers. Many of the candidates who voted for the NI rise, including Ms Truss, have promised to scrap it if they come to power, but Mr Sunak insisted he would stand by the measure despite it not being as “politically convenient” conviction. But Mr Tugendhat said the former chancellor only brought it up “because the boss wanted it” and stood by his decision as the only committee member to vote against it. “I was the only one here who did not vote for the rise of the National Insurance Company and now it seems that everyone agrees with me,” he added. On overall tax policy, he said he would like the public to “keep more” of their money, but “public services are incredibly important to all of us” and need funding. But Ms Badenoch, who like Ms Truss wants to end the green levy, said you “don’t necessarily” have to cut public services to fund tax cuts “if you have the growth”. Other issues such as tackling the cost of living crisis, creating a green economy and supporting the NHS were also raised in the debate. Ms Mordaunt has also been pressed on her views on transgender self-identification, having come under fire in recent days following accusations that she had changed her position. She denied ever advocating it, adding: “I’m a woman, I’m a biological woman, if I had a mastectomy I’d still be. But I’m also legally a woman.” Ms Mordaunt said some people born male receive a document that legally recognizes them as female, “but that doesn’t mean they are identical to me”.
