Rishi Sunak accused Liz Truss of offering a “socialist” fantasy plan during a heated ITV television debate in which the Tory leadership rivals repeatedly clashed on the economy, Brexit and their upbringings.
The foreign secretary, under pressure after a poor performance during Friday’s debate, launched a series of attacks on the former chancellor – suggesting he had no plan for growth and was responsible for putting Britain on the path to recession.
“Rishi, you have raised taxes to highest levels in 70 years. That is not going to drive economic growth,” she said. Ms Truss added: “If he has a plan for growth, why haven’t we seen it over the past two years?”
Mr Sunak fired back: “I’d love to stand here and say, ‘I’ll cut this tax, I’ll cut that tax, and it’ll all be okay’. But you know what? It won’t … This something for nothing economics isn’t conservative – it’s socialism.”
The ex-chancellor also lashed out at trade minister Penny Mordaunt after she said tax cuts could be paid for by easing fiscal rules so government borrowing could fund day-to-day spending.
“It’s not just wrong, it’s dangerous,” said Mr Sunak. “You know what? Even Jeremy Corbyn didn’t suggest that we should go that far … If we’re not for sound money, what is the point of the Conservative Party?”
None of the Tory leadership hopefuls said they would give Boris Johnson a job in cabinet if they became prime minister, and all five ruled out calling a snap general election if they win the contest and enter No 10.
Mr Sunak, Ms Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat all rounded on Ms Mordaunt after she claimed that “the polling shows that I’m the only one that can beat Keir Starmer and take the fight to Labour”.
The other Tory leadership candidates cried out, “Not true”. Mr Sunak said: “Penny, that’s simply not true”, before Mr Tugendhat laughed and added: “Penny I respect you deeply, but that’s simply not true.”
But the debate was marked by a series of fiery exchanges between Mr Sunak and Ms Truss, as the ex-chancellor played up his Brexiteer credentials and the foreign secretary positioned herself as the tax-cutting champion of the right.
The ex-chancellor had made a dig at Ms Truss being a Remainer in a satirical, black-and-white campaign video on social media shared on Twitter just ahead of the debate – boasting that he was “a real Brexiteer from day one”.
Keen to keep as many Brexiteers onside as possible, Mr Sunak smiled and challenged Ms Truss: “You’ve been both a Liberal Democrat and a Remainer. I was just wondering which one you regretted most?”
Ms Truss defended her “journey” from a young Lib Dem supporter to loyal Tory, and said she had put her “shoulder to the wheel” in defence of Brexit. She also contrasted her own comprehensive school education to Mr Sunak’s privileged upbringing.
“I saw [pupils] not get the opportunities – not get the proper educational standards that you might have got at your school Rishi,” said Ms Truss, in a far more combative mood than her subdued performance during the Channel 4 debate on Friday.
Addressing questions about the huge wealth of his wife’s family, Mr Sunak said he was “proud” of their success. “My father in law came from absolutely nothing … he went on to build one of the world’s largest, most respected, most successful companies. It’s an incredibly Conservative story.”
The ex-chancellor gave the strongest backing for the commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. But even he caveated his support by adding: “We need to bring people with us and if we go too hard and too fast then we will lose people,” he said.
Ms Truss said she wanted to deliver net zero in a way that “doesn’t harm people and businesses”. Ms Badenoch suggested net zero could “bankrupt this country”, while Ms Mordaunt said the target “mustn’t clobber people”.
A snap Opinium poll of voters who watched the debate showed Mr Sunak won, with 24 per cent saying he performed best, followed by Mr Tugendhat (19 per cent) Ms Mordaunt (17 per cent), Ms Truss (15 per cent) and Ms Badenoch (12 per cent).
The latest debate comes as MPs prepare for the third round of voting on Monday, which will see the remaining candidates whittled down from five to four when results come in around 8pm.
A ConservativeHome survey of the Tory grassroots published on Sunday night suggested Ms Badenoch’s popularity with members may be rising, while Ms Morduant’s star may be starting to wane.
The former equalities minister, who has positioned herself as the anti-woke candidate, would win a head-to-head contest against all four of the other contenders, according to the website’s latest online survey.
Ms Mordaunt, only narrowly behind Mr Sunak in the push to make it to the final two after the second ballot of MPs, claimed to be the victim of “smears” following fresh claims about her views on transgender issues.
The Sunday Times said it had seen government papers which appeared to suggest Ms Mordaunt was in favour of removing at least one element of the medical process required for transgender people to legally transition.
It said another paper from February 2020 confirmed that the government’s support for self-identification ended after she was replaced as the minister in charge of equalities.
But Ms Mordaunt claimed on BBC’s Sunday Morning programme that she had never advocated ending the requirement for trans people to obtain a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria before they could legally change gender.
“This is the type of toxic politics people want to get away from,” she said. “My colleagues are very angry and upset that this is how the leadership contest is being dragged down.”
However, Ms Badenoch’s campaign manager Tory MP Lee Rowley told Sky News: “Penny has a set of questions to answer.” And Suella Braverman, who fell out of the contest at the second round, said Ms Badenoch is too “woke” to become PM.
Former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is backing Ms Truss, also took aim at Ms Mordaunt, saying: “I don’t know what her achievements are.”
Ms Mordaunt also repeated her notorious claim from the 2016 Brexit referendum that the UK was unable to stop Turkey joining the EU – insisting the veto would not have been used.
