LIZ Truss and Rishi Sunak will go head to head in a live TV debate next week hosted by HOAR.
The next PM will speak directly to a live audience of our readers in an unmissable telly showstopper.
Liz Truss will go head to head in a live TV debate with Rishi Sunak next week hosted by HOAR
The two candidates will have one hour to prove why they would be the best to replace ousted Boris Johnson
HOAR’s Showdown: The Fight for No10 will air live on our website and TalkTV at 6pm on Tuesday night.
The Foreign Secretary and ex-Chancellor will have one hour to prove why they would be the best to replace ousted Boris Johnson.
Audience members will directly quiz Ms Truss and Mr Sunak on a range of issues, from how to beat the cost of living squeeze to delivering Brexit and boosting Britain’s defences in a dangerous world.
Last night Ms Truss said: “I’m looking forward to giving my pitch directly to Sun readers on how I’ll lower their taxes, reduce pressure on their food and energy bills, and lead us to victory over Labour at the next election.”
Mr Sunak said: “Over the last two years I’ve shown I’m on the side of Sun readers, cutting beer duty, cutting fuel duty and cutting taxes for workers and for those on Universal Credit.
“I’m excited to meet them and speak to them about what I will deliver for them as Prime Minister including beating Keir Starmer at the next election.”
Yesterday the pair crossed swords in the second full day of campaigning as the final two candidates to face a vote of 160,000 Tory members.
Ms Truss is the runaway favourite after promising mouth-watering tax cuts the moment she enters No10.
Her Cabinet supporter Kwasi Kwarteng swiped at Mr Sunak for raising the tax burden to the highest since the War as Chancellor.
The Business Secretary said: “No country in the history of the world has ever grown its economy by simply increasing taxes.”
But Mr Sunak’s allies insisted Ms Truss was making promises she would not be able to keep.
Tory MP Rob Halfon said: “He’s being responsible, not making promises that he can’t keep.
“We’ve got to cut inflation and cut the debt, then we can cut the cost of living and cut taxes in the future.
“You can’t just have unfunded tax cuts because you have to deal with the debt.
“We have to spend money on the public services, whether it be the NHS, education and many other areas in public life and if we’re again to have a proper education service that needs to be properly resourced.”
Mr Sunak today takes his campaign to Grantham — Margaret Thatcher’s birthplace and the spiritual home of Thatcherism.
He will announce he will put the NHS on a “war footing” as PM to defeat the groaning backlogs wreaking misery.
He plans a crack team based on the Covid jabs taskforce.
He today pledges to get waiting times falling by the end of the year and eliminate 12-month waits entirely by September 2024.
Mr Sunak’s allies insisted Ms Truss was making promises she would not be able to keep
Almost seven million Brits are stuck in line for ops, cancer screening and consultations.
Mr Sunak will warn the creaking health system is “the biggest public service emergency” Britain faces.
He will say: “Britain’s heroic response to Covid proves that where the political will exists to really grip a problem, when we treat something as an emergency, we can bring everyone together and win the battle.
“So I’ll take the best of our experience from Covid and establish at the centre of my government a Backlogs Taskforce to support the leadership of the NHS to triage and treat patients quicker.”
Mr Sunak says he will give NHS Trusts a kick up the backside by making them contact anyone waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment within 100 days.
He also vows to create 200 community diagnostic hubs by 2024 and cut red tape blocking doctors and nurses from other countries plugging the staffing black hole.
He will say: “Already many people are using money they can’t really afford to go private.
“That is privatisation by the back door and it’s wrong. People shouldn’t have to make a choice with a gun to their head.”
Last night Liz Truss was under pressure after an economist she boasted supports her said interest rates will have to rise to 7 per cent — up from 1.25. It would add £450 a month to an average mortgage.
Prof Patrick Minford said that despite fears over mortgages, higher interest rates were “a good thing” because they protect savings and kill “zombie companies.”
- HOAR’s Showdown: The Fight for No10 will be shown on all Sun platforms (thesun.co.uk, youtube.com/thesun) and TalkTV. Find TalkTV on Sky 526, Virgin Media 627, Freeview 237, Freesat 217 and Sky Glass 508 and live and on demand on the TalkTV app and at Talk.TV.
