A live debate featuring Conservative Party leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss on news channel TalkTV was abruptly pulled from air after the show’s moderator collapsed.
Viewers heard a loud crash and saw a visibly concerned Mrs Truss mouth the words “Oh my God” before backing away from the podium where she had been speaking. Just seconds later, the show disappeared from the screens.
The owners of TalkTV News UK later confirmed that presenter Kate McCann, the station’s political editor, had collapsed.
In a statement, the company added: “Although she is fine, the medical advice was not to continue the debate. We apologize to our viewers and listeners.”
The interruption came just over half an hour after an hour-long grilling of Mr Sunak and Ms Truss by Ms McCann and readers of The Sun newspaper.
Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss reacts with shock to an incident in the TalkTV studios
(Talk TV)
The show, titled The Sun’s Showdown: The Fight for No 10, has already suffered a setback after Ms McCann’s planned co-host, the Sun’s political editor Harry Cole, was forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid-19.
The show was one of the high-profile shows of the career of Ms McCann, who was previously a political correspondent for Sky News.
Moments after the program was suspended, a News UK spokesperson said: “There was a medical issue, it’s not a security issue and the candidates are fine. If we can get back on the air, we will.
Mr. Sunak and Ms. Truss remained in the studio after the incident, speaking to the audience off-camera.
And Mr Sunak later tweeted: “Good news you are now on the mend @KateEMcCann. It was a great debate and I look forward to being grilled by you again soon!”
Mrs Truss also tweeted: “Relieved to hear @KateEMcCann is ok. I’m really sorry that such a good debate had to end. Look forward to catching up with Kate and the rest of the @TheSun@TalkTV team again soon.”
Until the break, their clash was less malicious than Monday’s BBC debate, when Mrs Truss appeared frustrated that the former chancellor repeatedly talked over her comments.
Mr. Sunak seemed to take the criticism on board and give his opponent more room to speak.
And when asked if he had a question for the foreign secretary, he stopped short of repeating his brutal inquiry as to whether her biggest regret was being an ex-Remainer or an ex-Liberal Democrat, instead asking if she had enjoyed her 47th birthday today.
The two were challenged by one Sun reader who said he had not been able to access adequate NHS help for cancer treatment, and another who said she had been forced by rising prices to cut meat out of her family’s diet.
Mrs Truss slammed Mr Sunak’s National Insurance (NI) hike as “morally wrong”, just a day after the former chancellor said her plans to fund tax relief through borrowing were “immoral”.
“I really think it’s morally wrong at a time when families are struggling to pay for food that we’ve taxed ordinary people when we said we wouldn’t in our manifesto and when we shouldn’t have,” she said .
Mr Sunak hit back by saying it was “morally wrong” to pile more debt on future generations.
“What is morally wrong is asking our children and grandchildren to foot the bill for bills we are not prepared to cover,” Mr Sunak said.
He addressed the Foreign Secretary’s record of the Remain vote in the 2016 EU membership referendum, telling viewers they should embrace the “incredible opportunities” presented by Brexit, adding: “Like many of you, I was proud to vote for it.”
Mr Sunack said he was “brave” to introduce a £12bn tax increase to pay for health and social care, saying: “That’s why I think you can rest assured that the NHS is safe in my hands.’
But Mrs Truss denied her intention to reverse the 1.25 per cent NI increase would mean losing the health service.
“I am committed to the extra money that has been announced for the NHS,” she said. “We need to address the backlog, and I would fund that money from general taxation.”
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