RAILWAY union chief Mick Lynch has said Britain has been left with two "hard right" Tory candidates vying for the position of next prime minister.
The RMT secretary-general was asked on the BBC's Newscast show whether he would prefer to see foreign secretary Liz Truss or former chancellor Rishi Sunak handed the keys to No 10.
Lynch told presenters he "obviously didn't want either of them" and then went on to blast their stance on taxes, describing them as "extremists".
Sunak has said he will not cut taxes until autumn next year to avoid fuelling inflation while Truss has promised an emergency budget with immediate tax cuts.
But Lynch claimed both were approaching tax as if it was "abhorrent".
Asked who he would like to see as PM, he said: "I obviously don't want either of them.
"There's a real danger at the moment, I think, in this Tory contest. I think we've got a hard-right cast of people. I think these people are extremists.
"These are people who are virtually saying tax itself is abhorrent, and tax is a good thing in a progressive society. Tax is the means by which you create equality."
Mick Lynch says he doesn't want Truss or Sunak to be PM as they are both hard right. "Really?" says @ChrisMasonBBC "They are on the edge of saying tax is abhorrent.. those of us on PAYE have no choice.. many people are avoiding tax like it's some kind of disease."#bbcnewscast pic.twitter.com/IWClKJVfHC
— Fintan McCarthy💙 (@MccarthyFintan) July 22, 2022
Presenter Chris Mason highlighted tax was collectively higher now than it has been in decades, appearing to question the "caricature" Lynch had painted of the two candidates treating tax as bad.
Bu Lynch hit back saying: "Tax needs to be high but what we've got in this country, and this is never remarked upon by the media, those of us who are on PAYE cannot avoid tax, we pay it out of our wages every week. There are many people in this country avoiding tax like it's some kind of disease."
Scottish Tories are reportedly "resentful" about the leadership contest, with many grudgingly backing Sunak to be next PM.
Euan Blockley, a former councillor for Linn ward in Glasgow who now works for Tory MSP Liam Kerr, said there was "anger and resentment" among party members and speculated there could be spoilt ballot papers when voting starts.
