Sunak's U - Turn over Tax - Conservative Leadership Contest - After Brexit/Boris

BBC News: Reports " Tory leadership: Rishi Sunak supporters deny U-turn in row over VAT cut  "

Lets Get Real:

Thus the Sunak Campaign is in TROUBLE, although his campaign Sunak has refused to agree to tax cuts, only when inflation is down, well one must assume that the Sunak Campaign has read the POLLS, the public ones and the internal ones and worked out, that Sunak is political toast if he does not move on the issue.   One does recall Lady Thatcher's famous remark at a Conservative Party Conference, when she was under pressure due to her policies, she said this Lady is not for turning, Sunak has shown that he is WEAK, what will he do when faced with strikes on the railways, NHS and other public sectors, will he agree to wages to match inflation, thus making inflation worse.  The Truss Campaign should ram this MAJOR U -TURN down the throat of the Sunak Campaign, it should be noted that the former Chancellor will face Andrew Neil on Friday, one can expect a very tough interview, it seems that Truss was right to refuse the interview request, why go in to a political minefield if you do not have too. 

Conservative Leadership Debate - Talk TV - After Brexit/Boris

Guido Fawkes: Reports in its 6.34pm post the following, " Guido understands from multiple sources that Kate McCann fainted. A TalkTV spokesperson says “There’s been a medical issue, it’s not a security issue and the candidates are okay – if we can get back on air we will.” .....UPDATE: A TalkTV spokesperson has confirmed that Kate is okay, although the debate has been cancelled: “Kate McCann fainted on air tonight and although she is fine, the medical advice was that we shouldn’t continue with the debate. We apologise to our viewers and listeners.”  "

Lets Get Real:

This review of the actual debate will be very short, we were half way through the debate when the moderator as reported above fainted, the Sunak and Truss must have gotten word to tone down the personal attacks, Rishi Sunak on the whole was on better behaved and not so rude to Liz Truss.  The former Chancellor did go on a bit, the Moderator had to tell him to allow the Foreign Secretary to come in to the discussion.  The Foreign Secretary was calm, but the picture showed that she didn't agree with the former Chancellor.  Sunak it seems was not happy that he was not allowed to attack, he looked like a political eunuch.   As a former ELITE Banker, it looked like that he knew he was toast, there was not so much over speaking over the Liz and the Moderator.   Thus a verdict has to be short, a draw, even if Sunak knows the Crown will not be his this time.  One sends one's best wishes to the Moderator.  This debate will go down in UK and even US political history, due to the above events.  The only debate that comes to mind is the 1976 Presidential debate when President Ford was debating then Governor Carter, the sound went off while the candidates debated. 

Truss leads Sunak on POLICY - After Brexit / Boris

Guardian - Live Blog: Reports in its 12.04pm post the following, " Polling from YouGov suggests that Liz Truss was perceived by Tory members to have outperformed Sunak on every issue covered in last night’s debate.....In particular, she led on Ukraine, cost of living and levelling up, although her lead was weaker on Brexit, the environment and taxation.  "

Lets Get Real:

This blog is going to make a BOLD suggestion to the Sunak Camp, that the former Chancellor have a look at getting out of the race before the Conservative membership start to vote, he did not do well in last night's debate, as the above poll suggests Truss LEAD in ALL AREAS.  If the former Chancellor gets out of the race early he might get a job in the Truss Cabinet, as PM Truss could make him Foreign Secretary her old job, thus there would be no need for a great Cabinet reshuffle.  Of course such a move might not go down well the Conservative members, on the other hand, it would be seen as bringing the PARTY together and not helping the Labour Party.  In the debate last night Sunak did well with Labour voters, not the best indicator for a general election.  Also Sunak is defending a sticky wicket, he wants to wait in till next year for tax cuts, while Truss will have them from the start.  Truss is taking the bull by the horns, while Sunak is following the Treasury line, as they used to say in Yes Minister, he has been house trained by the Department, in other words defending the orthodox of the Treasury, they never like to spend money, as they think the money is theirs and not the public who pay the taxes. 

What the POLLS say about the Conservative Debate last night - After Brexit/Boris

Sky News - Live Blog: Reports in its 12.06pm post the following, " 

Snap poll shows 50% of Tory members felt Truss performed best last night....

A snap poll of 507 Conservative Party members who watched the TV debate last night shows 50% felt Liz Truss performed the best...In contrast, the poll by YouGov shows just 39% of party members felt Rishi Sunak delivered a better performance.  "

Lets Get Real:

Thus you pick your POLL, on the whole it was up to Sunak to hit Truss hard, and to show that she is weak or does not know what she is talking about, that didn't work, and Sunak had to defend the biggest tax hike since 1949, that is not a easy wicket with Conservative voters.  Truss was cool and calm, what you want from a PM.  The Foreign Secretary was clear that the UK would not send the Royal Navy to protect grain from being taken from the Ukraine to Africa, any NATO action would allow Putin's Russia to use that as PR, and also the Royal Navy would come under threat from Russia.  That is a fast way to start WW3.  It should be noted that Sunak did seem to calm down as the debate went on, but that was to late for this blogger, he had give this blog a small headache, one does hope as stated that someone takes him to the side and tells him to calm down and not to speak over the Foreign Secretary if he wants a job in her Cabinet. 

The Reaction to the Conservative Leadership Debate - After Brexit/ Boris

BBC News - Live Blog: Reports in its 11.38am post the following, " Tory voters thought Truss performed best in debate, poll finds...It found that while Conservative voters thought Liz Truss performed better in the debate, Sunak was more popular with Labour voters ... "

Lets Get Real:

This blog watched the debate and thought someone should have told Rishi Sunak that it was DEBATE, not a shouting match, every time Liz Truss was about to speak, Sunak put about his views, also can he drop the statement that his mother owned a chemist and he did the books, one or two mentions was enough, it is his standard speech to give to Conservative members, they will have heard it by now, its gets a bore.  Sunak came across as a elite banker, in the mould of Gordon Gekko, but without the charisma.  Sunak was shouting all the time, it gave this blog a headache, what did it give other viewers.  Truss was a competent debater, when she could get in to speak, Sunak spoke over her and the BBC presenter.  The next debate someone on the Sunak team should tell him to shut up, it gives a better presentation to Conservative voters, who do not like him for stabbing PM Boris in the back.  It was ironic at the end the candidates were asked to grade the PM, he got 7/10 from Truss, while Sunak gave him 10/10 for Brexit and Covid - 19.  PM Boris is the past for the present, this contest is still in favour of Liz Truss, and if Sunak wants a job in her CABINET, he should show some respect. 

Why Truss said NO to Channel 4 Interview - Conservative Party Leadership Contest

Guardian - Live Blog: Reports in its 1.37pm post the following, " Sunak is regarded as a better media performer than Truss, and this may help to explain why he has agreed to sit down with Neil......Candidates who are well ahead in an election (as the polling suggests Truss is) are often reluctant to debate because they have little to gain and much to lose.  "

Lets Get Real:

The Sunak Campaign might be to slick for its own good, the UK is not the US, when Labour Party did it, we had New Labour, Tony Blair and the Iraq War and it didn't end well, while Blair was applauded out of the House of Commons we had Gordon Brown as PM, that was a disaster from start to finish.  Thus UK voters and Conservative Members might be wary of being a Presidential Candidate for PM.  The very fact that Truss is not great on TV shows that she is REAL, no polish, the real thing.  Let's recall Lady T changed her image over the years, she become a natural on TV.  Thus one can expect should Liz Truss becomes PM she will will improve her tv performance.   The focus today will be the debate on BBC 1 at 9 between Sunak and Truss, it will be interesting to see their different presentation style, Sunak slick, while Truss is is less so.   Let's be honest neither of them is PM Boris, but then that is the reason Boris fell, you can be natural on TV and funny and still be bought down by your faults.    Sunak has to get the Conservative members to have another look at him, he needs to say something nice about Boris, even if does not mean it, he has to look sorry for his part in the Boris downfall.  While Truss has to defend her tax cuts pledge and be ready for Sunak to go for her throat, that is the only way he can win. 

Sunak to take on Andrew Neil - Conservative Leadership Contest

BBC News - Live Blog: Reports in its 1.46pm post the following, " Sunak takes jab at Truss for declining Andrew Neil interview....Rishi Sunak has taken a swipe at his leadership rival Liz Truss for declining to take part in a live interview on Channel 4 this Friday with political journalist Andrew Neil.  "

Lets Get Real: 

The Foreign Secretary is WISE not to go on Andrew Neil show, he is a great reporter and reads the fine print, he is not going to give Sunak a easy interview, he will look at his record as Chancellor, also the biggest tax hike since 1949.  The Sunak Campaign has nothing to lose, it needs to make up with the Conservative grass roots, they do not trust him for putting the political knife in to PM Boris, also taxes at a 70 year high do not help.  The Sunak Campaign has been very slick, very American, also it has moved right, thus this is Channel 4 expect a rough interview.  This blog can not understand why the Conservative Party said YES to a interview of the Conservative Candidates when they were going through the MPs process of the contest.  Channel 4 is peeved that it is being SOLD, thus expect that to come up, also why Sunak in Cabinet opposed the Northern Ireland Protocol in Cabinet but has changed his mind since.  It will be interesting to see who wins the BBC DEBATE tonight, and the different categories, the general public, conservative MPs and finally Conservative members.