The final two Conservative leadership candidates took part in another live TV debate on Thursday evening, as the race to No 10 enters its final stages.
In a month’s time, the Conservative Party are set to announce their new leader, with that person being appointed Prime Minister the following day. Last night, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were grilled by host Kay Burley and an audience of Tory party members during Sky News’ The Battle for Number 10.
The two candidates discussed a range of topics during the programme, including the Bank of England’s forecast for an outright recession and 13% inflation, which Truss said is “extremely worrying” but “not inevitable.”
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The Foreign Secretary and former Chancellor were interviewed separately during the debate, and as Truss’ segment drew to a close, host Burley presented her with an embarrassing list of her many political U-turns.
She said: “You were a remainer, and now you’re not. You supported Brits to fight in Ukraine, then you didn’t.
“You wanted to build on the greenbelt, now you don’t. You wanted to abolish the monarchy, and now you don’t.
“You wanted to arm Taiwan, now I’m not sure if you are saying you do or don’t.
Truss responded: “We do provide them in that case.”
Burley continued: “You wanted to cut civil servants pay in the regions, and then you said you didn’t.”
In a final quip, Burley asked, “Will the real Liz Truss please stand up?” in reference to rapper Eminem's hit song released in 2000. This was met by laughter from the studio audience.
In response, Truss said: “I’m not sure how much I should be held to account for things I said when I was 18 or 19. But I’ve always had a belief that we can be a more successful country, that people should be able to control their own lives, I have always believed in the principle of freedom.
'Will the real Liz Truss please stand up?'
The Tory leadership candidate is asked by @KayBurley why she has done a U-turn on so many different issues. #BattleForNo10 : https://t.co/ZTbv6x8cal
Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/rNnR5934sC— Sky News (@SkyNews)
“Yes, my views on other issues have developed over time. But show me somebody who has the same views at 19 and 49, and I’ll show you somebody not capable of original thought.”
Each of the U-turns presented by Burley – other than Truss’ view on abolishing the monarchy, which recently resurfaced in a video clip from a 1994 Lib Dem conference – had been said by Truss within the last six years.
Faced with another recent backtrack, Truss was asked to apologies for the decision to abandon her £8.8 billion policy pledge to cut the public sector wage bill, which was described as “quite offensive” by an audience member.
Truss repeated her claim that she had decided to drop the policy proposal because it was being misinterpreted by the media, but stopped short of an apology.
She said: “I don’t think there is anything to be ashamed of, of saying publicly that this is not working as I wanted it to work, and therefore I have changed the position on it and I’m not going ahead with it.”
The roughly 180,000 Tory party members now have less than a month to cast their vote for the next Conservative leader before the 2 September deadline. The winner is set to be announced on 5 September, and will be appointed the new leader of the country the following day.
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