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Liz Truss launches her Tory leadership campaign
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, introduces Liz Truss. He says he has done more than anyone to fulfill the potential of Brexit.
Sunak claims he is a candidate who can beat Labor at the next election
And here is a complete summary of what Rishi Sunak said in his interview with Today.
Sunak, a former chancellor and Tory leadership candidate, said he “of course” intended to stay in the UK if he did not become prime minister. The host, Justin Webb, asked the question because Sunak had a US green card when he became chancellor, which gives someone the right to work in the US and usually indicates a long-term intention to settle there. In response, Sunak said:
I was living and working and studying in America at the time, but then I came back to the UK and decided to try to serve my country as an MP and then in government and now hopefully, if I’m lucky enough, as a prime minister.
He rejected the claim that his family fortune meant he was unqualified to be prime minister because he could not appreciate how people struggle with the cost of living. Asked about it, he replied:
I don’t judge people by their bank accounts, I judge them by their character, and I think people can judge me by my actions over the past two years. Whenever I’ve had to step in to support the people I have and leave is a fantastic example of that. Sunak and his wife are reportedly worth £730 million, largely because his wife is the heiress daughter of a tech billionaire.
He said as prime minister he would maintain the policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. He said:
I think it is absolutely critical that we have control of our borders, and I say this as a child and grandchild of immigrants. This country has a proud history of welcoming people, but it is also vital to control who comes here. And, unfortunately, there is an illegal group of criminal gangs that have caused people to die trying to come here. We have to stop this.
He refused to commit to keeping Nadhim Zahawi as chancellor if he became prime minister. Asked if Zahawi would remain in his post, he replied:
It would not be proper for anyone to start talking about all these things. If I am fortunate enough to be elected and elected Prime Minister, I will build a team around me that will draw from all the talents of our party. I don’t cut taxes to win elections, I win elections to cut taxes.
He said he was the best candidate to beat Labor at the next election. He said:
I am convinced that I am the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labor party at the next election. This claim is half-justified by recent polling by Ipsos Mori, which shows that more people think he is likely to make a good prime minister than they think Keir Starmer or any of the other candidates for the leadership of Tory. But the same poll shows that most people still don’t have an opinion about Penny Mordaunt, and that her net rating (people who think she would make a good PM, minus those who think she would make a bad PM), which is -4, it is higher than Sunaks, which is -5.
Mr Sunack has played down claims that Sir Gavin Williamson, the former Tory chief whip and former education secretary, is playing a major role in his campaign. Williamson is seen by many Tories as an insidious figure, and allegations that he has pulled strings in Mr Sunak’s campaign have been damaging. Sunak said Mel Strid was in charge of the parliamentary aspects of his campaign. He continued:
Like all the members of parliament who are in my group, they are talking to colleagues and supporting my candidacy because they think I am the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labor party and I am really grateful for all the support. This is from Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall in Rishi Sunak’s Today interview. Sunak’s problems are incorporated into IV there.
- consistently returns to both political association with BJ and economic status 2) can be evasive for both. 3) stronger lines around tax credibility. Question is if the Tory electorate wants to hear it/gets through points 1\2 — Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) July 14, 2022 And this is from my colleague Peter Walker. This was quite a tough interview on R4 for Rishi Sunak. He dodged a number of questions, most notably whether he was embarrassed to reverse Marcus Rashford’s school lunches. — Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) July 14, 2022 Good morning. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, officially launches her campaign for the leadership of the Conservative party this morning, but in the last 24 hours she has probably revised her script quite a bit. When she started planning her campaign, Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, was seen as her main rival. But now the main threat comes from Penny Mordaunt and Truss will hit on her by implying that she doesn’t have the experience of being PM from day one. (Mordaunt has served in the cabinet, but as international development secretary, one of the most junior jobs, for about a year and a half, and as defense secretary for less than three months.) In her opening speech, according to excerpts released overnight, Truss will say: I am ready to be prime minister on day one. I can lead, make difficult decisions and respond to the moment. In her speech she will also talk about wanting to make Britain a “nation of ambition” – while also hinting that she was educated at a dismal comprehensive school in Leeds, which has led to complaints that she is tarnishing an institution with a good reputation. There are two other major developments this morning in the leadership contest, which will see another round of voting begin after lunch.
Lord Frost, the former Brexit secretary, attacked Mordaunt, saying she was effectively his deputy in trade negotiations with the EU last year and was not up to the job. He told Talk TV:
I felt that he did not know the detail that was necessary in the negotiations last year. He would not always give tough messages to the European Union when it was necessary. And I’m afraid she was somehow not fully responsible, she wasn’t always visible, sometimes I didn’t even know where she was. And I’m afraid it became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the prime minister to go ahead and find someone else to support me. Former cabinet minister Lord Frost has “grave reservations” about Penny Mordant becoming the next prime minister. “I’m amazed at where she is in this leadership race. She was my deputy. She wasn’t fully accountable or visible. I had to ask the PM to move her forward”@JuliaHB1 | @DavidGHFrost pic.twitter.com/fju9f5QguN — TalkTV (@TalkTV) July 14, 2022
Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor and leadership candidate who came out on top in the first round of voting yesterday, gave an interview on the Today program in which he sounded repeatedly evasive. He refused to accept that the government did a reversal of free school meals when he was chancellor (even though it did), refused to say when he realized Boris Johnson was not a good prime minister and fielded a question about why he was preparing a campaign website last year. He was also reluctant to discuss the role Gavin Williamson played in his campaign and, when asked if Williamson was a good education secretary, sidestepped the question.
Here is the agenda for the day. 10am: Liz Truss launches her Tory leadership campaign. 10am: Tom Tugendhat, another leadership contender, holds a press briefing. 10.40am: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, holds a press conference to launch a new Scottish independence document. 11.30am: Conservative MPs begin voting in the second leadership vote. Voting closes at 1.30pm. 3pm: Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Commission, announces the result of the second round leadership vote. I’m trying to follow the comments below the line (BTL) but it’s impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, include “Andrew” somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I try to answer questions and if they’re of general interest I’ll post the question and answer above the line (ATL), though I can’t promise I’ll do it for everyone. If you want to get my attention quickly, it’s probably best to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow. Alternatively you can email me at [email protected] Updated at 09.41 BST
