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Asked about Rwandan politics, Truss says, “I completely agree with Rwandan politics.” He says he has worked closely with Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, on this.
And that’s it. Questions and answers are over.
Truss says he wants defense spending to rise to 3% of GDP by the end of the decade
Truss says he wants defense spending to rise to 3% of GDP by the end of the decade.
The free world did not spend enough money on defense, he says.
It is vital that Russia be defeated in Ukraine, he says.
Q: Lord Frost says Penny Mordaunt is not up to it. You worked with her. Do you agree with him?
Truss says he will not make any derogatory comments about his opponents. The competition shows a wide range of talent. And the party did not get there because of identity politics.
Truss says he has a “delivery record”
Q: Some say Penny Mordaunt is now the best candidate for the right. Shouldn’t you support him?
Truss highlights his track record, saying he delivered dozens of trade agreements and produced the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. She says she has “a delivery record.”
Q: How can you be a credible change agent when you stay with Boris Johnson?
Truss says he talked about raising national insurance in the Cabinet. But he is a loyal person. He accepted collective responsibility.
“I’m a loyal person,” Truss says, while defending his decision not to resign from Johnson’s cabinet
Truss now asks questions.
Q: The two candidates you have ahead of the contest have either resigned from Boris Johnson’s cabinet [Rishi Sunak] or never served in it in the first place [Penny Mordaunt]. Is Johnson’s tacit support the kiss of death for your campaign?
Truss completely ignores the question and underscores his desire to unite the party and deliver.
Q: Why didn’t you resign from your cabinet?
Truss responds:
I am a loyal person. I am loyal to Boris Johnson. I supported the aspirations of our Prime Minister.
Updated at 10.21 BST
Truss suggests he would offer tax breaks to parents and people who stop working to care for older parents.
And he says he would like to have lower tax areas in some parts of the UK.
She says that as secretary of international trade, she handed over trade agreements when she was told it was impossible.
She says she is trusted to deliver.
She says they have to match the audience; they will not achieve overnight economic recovery.
But it could lead the country on an upward trajectory in 2024.
Conservatives can win the next election by turning things around.
He will lead a strong and united team.
Let me be clear: Labor are defeatable, Liberals are defeatable.
She wants to make the UK an “aspiration nation”. And “it will challenge the voices of decay,” he says.
Updated at 10.21 BST
Truss says “normal economic management” has not achieved high growth for decades
Liz Truss says we are at a critical time for our country.
Now is the time to be bold. We cannot have normal economic management that has given low growth for decades.
And we must win the struggle for freedom around the world, he says.
I will campaign as a Conservative and govern as a Conservative. I can lead, I can govern and I can do things. I am ready to be prime minister from day one.
Updated at 10.16 BST
Liz Truss launches her campaign for conservative leadership
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, introduces Liz Truss. He says he has done more than anyone to deliver the potential of Brexit.
Sunak claims he is the most capable candidate to beat Labor in the next election
And here is a full summary of what Rishi Sunak said in his interview today.
- Sunak, the former chancellor and Conservative leadership candidate, said he “of course” intended to stay in the UK if he did not become prime minister. Presenter Justin Webb asked why Sunak had a U.S. green card when he became chancellor, which entitles him to work in the U.S. and usually involves a long-term intention to settle there. . In response, Sunak said:
At that time I lived, worked and studied in America, but then I returned to the UK and decided to serve my country as a Member of Parliament and then the government and now, hopefully, if I am lucky, as a leader. minister.
- He refused to claim that his family wealth meant he was not qualified to be prime minister, because he could not appreciate how people struggle with the cost of living. Asked about this, he replied:
I don’t judge people by their bank accounts, I judge them by their character and I think people can judge me by my actions for the last two years. Whenever I need to step in to support the people I have and permission is a fantastic example of that.
Sunak and his wife are reportedly worth £ 730 million, mostly because his wife is the heiress daughter of a tech billionaire.
- He said as prime minister he would maintain the policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. He said:
I think it’s absolutely critical that we have control of our borders, and I say that as the son and grandson of immigrants. This country has a proud history of welcoming people, but it is also vital that we have control over who will come here.
And unfortunately, there is an illegal set of criminal gangs that caused the death of people to come here. We need to stop this.
- He refused to pledge to keep Nadhim Zahawi as chancellor if he became prime minister. When asked if Zahawi would remain in office, he replied:
It would not be appropriate for anyone to start talking about all these things.
If I am lucky enough to be elected and selected as prime minister, I will create a team around me that will take advantage of all the talents in our party.
I don’t lower taxes to win elections, I win elections to reduce taxes.
- He said he was the best candidate to beat Labor in the next election. He said:
I am convinced that I am the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labor party in the next election.
This claim is half-justified by recent Ipsos Mori polls, which show that more people think he is likely to be a good prime minister than they think is Keir Starmer, or any of the other Conservative leadership candidates. But the same survey shows that most people still don’t have a view of Penny Mordaunt and that her net score (people who think she would make a good PM, minus those who think she would make a bad PM), which is -4, is higher than that of Sunak, which is -5.
- Sunak downplayed claims that Sir Gavin Williamson, the former Conservative leader and former secretary of education, plays an important role in his campaign. Williamson is seen as a tortuous figure by many conservatives, and claims he has been pulling the strings since Sunak’s campaign has been detrimental. Sunak said Mel Stride was in charge of the parliamentary aspects of his campaign. He went:
Like all MPs who are part of my team, they are talking to colleagues and arguing my candidacy because they believe I am the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labor party and I am very grateful for all their support.
Updated at 10.11 BST
This is from Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall in Rishi Sunak’s Today interview.
The problems of Sunak embodied in the IV there.
1) is constantly attracted to both political association with BJ and economic history2) can be evasive about both. 3) the strongest lines around tax credibility. The Q is if the conservative selector wants to hear it / passes the points 1 \ 2
– Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) July 14, 2022
And that’s from my partner Peter Walker.
It was a pretty tricky R4 interview for Rishi Sunak. He avoided many questions, especially about whether Marcus Rashford embarrassed him by reversing holiday school meals.
– Peter Walker (@ peterwalker99) July 14, 2022
Good morning. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is officially launching her campaign for the Conservative Party leadership this morning, but in the last 24 hours she has probably been reviewing her rather considerable script. When he began planning his campaign, Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, was seen as his main rival. But now the main threat comes from Penny Mordaunt, and Truss will take a look at her saying she doesn’t have the experience to be PM from day one. (Mordaunt has served in the cabinet, but as secretary of international development, one of the youngest jobs, for about a year and a half, and as secretary of defense for less than three months).
In his speech at the launch, according to excerpts published overnight, Truss will say:
I am ready to be prime minister on the first day. I can lead, make difficult decisions and live up to the moment.
In his speech he will also talk about wanting to make Britain a “nation of aspiration”, while implying that he was educated in a dismal Leeds comprehensive school, which has sparked complaints because he is defaming an establishment with a good reputation.
This morning there are two other important facts in the leadership contest, which will begin another round of voting after lunch.
- Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister, has attacked Mordaunt, saying he was in practice his deputy in trade negotiations with the EU last year and was not up to it. He told Talk TV:
I felt I didn’t master the detail that was needed in last year’s negotiations. He did not always send harsh messages to the European Union when necessary. And I’m afraid he wasn’t fully responsible, he wasn’t always visible, sometimes he didn’t even know where he was. And I’m afraid this became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the Prime Minister to move her and find someone else to support me.
Former cabinet minister Lord Frost has “serious reservations” about Penny Mordaunt becoming the next prime minister.
“I’m amazed at where she is in this leadership career. She was my deputy. She wasn’t fully responsible or visible. I had to ask the prime minister to make her leave” @ JuliaHB1 | @DavidGHFrost …