Former chancellor Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss locked horns as the five remaining Conservative leadership rivals squared off in the second televised debate before being whittled down to just four later today.
In an extraordinary moment of the debate, all the candidates refused to raise their hands when asked if they would give Boris Johnson a job in their cabinet if he became Prime Minister.
Mr Sunak previously accused Ms Truss of trading the economy “something for nothing” after she said he was stifling growth by raising taxes to their highest level in 70 years.
Responding to Trade Secretary Penny Mordaunt saying she would not stick to his rule to borrow only to invest, Mr Sunak said even former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn did not support such fiscal loosening.
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0:40 Would Tory rivals give Boris Johnson a job?
Truss says Sunak’s plan won’t spur economic growth
Ms Truss, who was criticized for a poor performance in the first debate, immediately went on the offensive in the second clash, which was broadcast on ITV.
The Foreign Secretary attacked Mr Sunak’s record at the Treasury, telling him: “Rishi, you have raised taxes to the highest level in 70 years. This will not stimulate economic growth.
“You raised National Insurance even though people like me opposed it in the Cabinet at the time because we could afford to fund the NHS through general taxation.
“The fact is that raising taxes at this point will stifle economic growth; will prevent us from getting the revenue we need to pay off the debt.
The stakes are high and the race is wide open
Sam Coates
Deputy Political Editor
@SamCoatesSky
The stakes were now even higher, so the division was sharper, the attacks rougher.
Rishi Sunak has fought his way to center stage in this debate, again and again focusing his firepower on Liz Truss, calling her a non-conservative, a socialist, a Lib Dem and a lefty.
But unlike Friday, Liz Truss really stepped up, attacking Sunak’s tax hikes and saying they would stifle the economy, as well as offering an uncharacteristic moment of humility by admitting she doesn’t have the best presentation skills.
Penny Mordaunt repeatedly sought a third way through the issues and reached above the fray to the audience at home – could this work with the audience?
Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat have each other in the side in a battle to avoid relegation tomorrow.
This competition is still open. There is usually obvious momentum behind a candidate at this stage.
Not this time – meaning the third and final televised debate of this phase – between the last three remaining candidates on Tuesday, now could be the most important of all.
Mr Sunak said the pandemic had damaged the economy and public finances needed to be restored.
“I’d like to stand here and say, ‘Look, I’m going to cut this tax, that tax, and another tax, and everything will be fine.'” But you know what? It won’t do,” he said.
“There is a price for these things and the price of higher inflation, higher mortgage rates, eroded savings. And you know what? This something-for-nothing economy is not conservative. This is socialism.”
Read more: Tory leadership race in three tiers
Image: All photos: Jonathan Hordle/ITV Handout
Mordaunt defends his plan to cut taxes
Ms Mordaunt said the limited tax cuts she advocated were not inflationary and that people across the country needed help now with the cost of living.
“I don’t understand why Rishi doesn’t understand this,” she said.
Mr Sunak said: “It is one thing to borrow for a long-term investment. It’s quite another to put the day-to-day bills on the country’s credit card. This is not just wrong, it is dangerous.
Even Jeremy Corbyn hasn’t got that far.
Mr Sunack added: “If we’re not about good money, what’s the point of the Conservative Party?”
Badenoch aims at Mordaunt and Tugendhat
There were further heated exchanges between Ms Mordaunt and Cammy Badenoch, who accused the trade secretary in the first debate of pushing through a gender identity policy for people who want to legally change their gender when she had government responsibility for the problem.
After further press reports casting doubt on her denials, Ms Mordaunt said: “I know why this is being done, but I would say that any attempt to paint me as an out-of-touch person will fail.”
Mrs Badenoch repeatedly tried to interrupt her, saying: “Penny, I was just telling the truth. I am telling the truth”.
She also took aim at Tory leader candidate Tom Tugendhat, telling him: “Serving in government is not easy.
“It requires making tough decisions. Tom has never done that. It’s very easy for him to criticize what we do, but we were there on the front line to make the case,” she said.
Mr Tugendhat replied that as a former army officer he had been on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq and had led “the argument against Putin and China”.
She replied, “You haven’t made any decisions, it’s easy to talk.”
Deputies will vote in the third round
Another Tory candidate will be eliminated today when Tory MPs vote in the third round of the leadership battle.
Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt retained their places at the top of the table in first and second place respectively after the second vote.
Ms Truss, who came in third, will be hoping to pick up the votes of Attorney General Suella Braverman, who backed her bid after she was eliminated in the last round.
Mrs. Badenoch was fourth and Mr. Tugendhat fifth.
There will be successive rounds of voting by MPs until only two contenders remain.
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