So who will the Tories vote for, Truss or Sunak? I read that some say the Daily Fail (Rupert Murdoch) will determine the outcome.
Liz Truss vows to hold emergency tax-cut budget, build 'aspiration nation' and defend 'our country, history and values' if she beats Rishi Sunak to be next PM: Foreign Secretary unveils manifesto to take on Keir Starmer as 'freedom-loving Conservative
The Tory Leadership hopeful who could be the third female PM writes in the Mail
Truss tells of her desire to build 'aspirational nation' as she vies with Sunak
She also attacked the former chancellor on 'highest' tax burden in 70 years
And pledged to cut taxes immediately to help cost-of-living and business
While also saying she was the best person the beat the Labour leader in Election
By JASON GROVES and HARRIET LINE FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 17:01 EDT, 20 July 2022 | UPDATED: 18:15 EDT, 20 July 2022
Liz Truss today vows to beat Labour by ‘governing as a true tax-cutting, freedom-loving Conservative’.
The Foreign Secretary last night surged into the final run-off against Rishi Sunak in the race to become prime minister, knocking out rival Penny Mordaunt.
Writing in the Daily Mail today, Miss Truss sets out an agenda that will see her pursuing Boris Johnson’s freedom-loving instincts while reversing Mr Sunak’s high-tax agenda.
In an attack on the former chancellor’s record, she says the Government has been ‘going in the wrong direction on tax, with the tax burden at its highest in 70 years’.
She pledges to hold an emergency budget to push through immediate tax cuts to ease the cost of living and encourage enterprise.
‘We cannot have business-as-usual managerialism on the economy,’ she writes.
‘I am the tax-cutting candidate who will help squeezed families by reversing April’s national insurance rise and suspending the green levy on energy bills.’
Miss Truss also promises to take on the ‘Whitehall Blob’ to drive through ‘tax-cutting, enterprise boosting, business-friendly Conservative policy’. And she signals that she will take on the Left in the ‘culture wars’.
Favourite: Liz Truss, pictured in the House of Parliament after she saw off Penny Mordaunt to make the final two in the Tory leadership contest
Ballot winner: Rishi Sunak leaves an office building in London on Wednesday as tops the MPs vote on who will go to the Conservative members final vote to choose the nation's next PM
The British people can trust me to govern as a Conservative,’ she writes. ‘I won’t apologise for Britain or who we are as a nation and will stand up to people who talk down our country, our history and our values. I reject dehumanising identity politics, cancel culture and the voices of decline.’
Miss Truss’s comments came as bookmakers installed her as odds-on favourite to claim the Tory crown.
Mr Sunak topped yesterday’s final ballot of MPs with 137 votes, but he faces a frantic few weeks to convince Tory party members to back him. His final tally was well short of the 200-mark once predicted by allies and means he enters the second phase of the contest without an indisputable mandate from Tory MPs.
Multiple polls have suggested he will trail behind Miss Truss when the party faithful cast their ballots.
The former chancellor, whose resignation triggered Mr Johnson’s downfall, claimed he was the only candidate who could beat Labour at the next election.
‘We need to restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite our country,’ he said. ‘I’m confident we can do that and we’ve got a really positive message to take out to all our members now – crucially, who is the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labour Party at the next election? I believe I’m the only candidate who can do that.’
The clash came as:
Miss Mordaunt was knocked out of the contest by eight votes;
Boris Johnson hinted at a comeback, declaring his ‘mission largely accomplished – for now’;
More than 4,000 Tory members signed a petition calling for him to be in the final run-off;
Sources said Mr Sunak’s team protested over the issue of ballot papers in early August, limiting his campaigning time;
Mr Johnson took a parting shot at Mr Sunak, saying major projects would not have been built ‘if we’d always listened to the Treasury’;
Tobias Ellwood, a Mordaunt supporter, had the Tory whip temporarily restored to allow him to vote in the final ballot.
The three candidates spent the final 24 hours scrabbling for votes from Kemi Badenoch’s supporters after she was knocked out of the contest on Tuesday.
Miss Truss leapfrogged Miss Mordaunt into second place, securing the backing of 113 Tory MPs – up 27 on the last round.
Trade minister Miss Mordaunt was second in all earlier rounds of voting but her campaign hit the buffers and she slipped into third place with 105 votes. She said: ‘We must all now work together to unify our party and focus on the job that needs to be done.’
Her allies later attacked the media for highlighting her changing views on issues like trans rights and claims that she failed to pull her weight as a minister.
Mr Sunak and Miss Truss will now campaign to win the votes of up to 200,000 Conservative Party members. Ballot papers will begin to land on doorsteps from August 1, and the ballot closes on September 2. The first of 12 regional hustings for party members will be held in Leeds next Thursday.
The result of the contest will be announced on September 5, and the winner is expected to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister the following day.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... untry.html
