Dominc Raab attacks Liz Truss’s record at Treasury
Appearing on the Sophy Ridge programme on Sky News this morning, deputy prime minister Dominic Raab, who is supporting Rishi Sunak for prime minister, attacked Liz Truss and her record as chief secretary of the treasury.
Defending Sunak’s record as Chancellor, and addressing Truss’s claim that there had been low growth for decades, Raab said:
She can answer for her policies and her when she was chief secretary of the Treasury. People can see whether spending and headcount in the civil service went up or down. There’s not just Rishi who is going to be accountable for what he’s done in the face of a massive pandemic. I mean, did she cut taxes at that time? Did spending go up or down during her period is CST? I think, without without criticising her personally, I think it’s right that everyone on their record is is scrutinised.
Key events:
‘Red wall’ Tories warn: honour levelling up pledges or we’ll lose next election
Toby Helm
Senior Tories in “red wall” seats have warned Conservative leadership candidates that the party will lose the next general election unless they re-commit to level up the country and boost investment in the UK’s deprived regions.
The warnings come as economists and business figures who are pushing the levelling up agenda in the north of England say the entire project – which was at the heart of the 2019 Conservative manifesto – risks being downgraded as candidates to succeed Boris Johnson compete to offer more generous tax cuts, and money to ease the cost of living crisis.
On Saturday night, the Tory backbencher Jake Berry, who chairs the 50-strong Northern Research Group (NRG) of Conservative MPs and was minister for the northern powerhouse from 2017 to 2020, told the Observer that if the next prime minister did not deliver on the 2019 manifesto promise, his party would be severely punished by red-wall voters. Berry agreed that if the party departed from its 2019 manifesto there would be an understandable clamour for an early election.
“These votes were lent, they were lent against a promise of performance and a promise of action,” he said. “If performance and action are lacking, do not be surprised when they don’t appear in two years’ time.
“It depends if we want to win the next election. Of course we can become a party that only concentrates on rebuilding the blue wall in the south of England, but [if we do that] we will lose.”
John Stevenson, the Tory MP for Carlisle, added: “We must not forget that the part of our last manifesto on which our large majority was based was the levelling up agenda. It is essential that the next leader is committed to that agenda.” Berry and Stevenson are backing Tom Tugendhat, who is calling for tax cuts as well as a wider national growth strategy to create a less economically divided country.
Read more of Toby Helm’s report here: Red wall Tories warn – honour levelling up pledges or we’ll lose the next election
Both Liz Truss and Tom Tugendhat appear to have “housing” written in big letters in their media grids this morning, as they have both tweeted on the issue in short succession. Truss linked to a Telegraph piece published late yesterday in which she promised to end what she termed “Stalinist” housing targets, saying:
I want to abolish the top down Whitehall-inspired Stalinist housing targets – that’s the wrong way to generate economic growth. The best way to stimulate economic growth is bottom-up with tax incentives for investment and simplified regulations.
I want to abolish the top down Whitehall inspired Stalinist housing targets – that’s the wrong way to generate economic growth.
The best way to stimulate economic growth is bottom-up with tax incentives for investment and simplified regulations.https://t.co/r51NBChnYF
— Liz for Leader (@trussliz) July 17, 2022
Tugendhat, after 12 years of Conservative government, says: “I’m serious about fixing the housing crisis.”
His outline is to increase building on brownfield sites, introduce “street votes” to give ultra-local development decisions, and to “build beautiful” by building “homes that reflect our heritage and history”.
Badenoch accuses Labour of ‘poisoning the well of society’ over racism
Kemi Badenoch has given an interview to the Sunday Times in which she speaks about racism in the UK, and attacked Labour’s attitude to the issue. She told the paper:
What is amazing is how when you talk to some people in Labour they are still pretending it’s 1955 or 1948 and exactly the same as when the Windrush generation arrived.
It is as though they have to pretend nothing has changed in order to justify their own argument. It is destructive for young people, because what they hear is the message that it doesn’t matter what you do, people are going to try and stop you. It means that they don’t bother, they are defeated before they start.
She went on to say:
The argument I make to people is that we have all been the victims of crime, but we don’t all think that our country is institutionally criminal. That is not to say there is not racism in this country, but to pretend that is all that is going on and to … overemphasise it will make the country more divided.
I don’t think that people who make this argument understand that they are playing with fire. They are poisoning the well of society.
Read more here: The Sunday Times – Kemi Badenoch: Labour’s still living in the past on race [£]
Truss supporter Iain Duncan Smith questions Mordaunt record in government
Iain Duncan Smith devoted a part of his appearance on Sky News this morning to an attack on Penny Mordaunt, questioning how hard she worked and what she had achieved. He said: “I just said that everybody’s record should be fully openly examined about their achievements.
“Everybody bar Tom Tugendhat, I think, is in government. Everybody needs to be judged on what they’ve achieved. The one person I personally don’t know what her big achievements are is Penny.
“For me, the key thing is we’re not electing a leader of the Conservative party that has two years to build their reputation. We are electing someone who will be prime minister on day one. So you need to know when they have power and authority in government, what do they do with it? What did they achieve? What were their main beliefs? What did they drive through? What tough decisions did they have to take that actually they had to sometimes go against their civil servants to get these things done?”
He added: “I know what the others have done. So I want to know, what does she believe her big achievements are? And where was she actually fighting for things? How many hours did she spend working at this? Where did she face those tough decisions?”
Former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith has also been doing the media this morning, in support of foreign secretary Liz Truss’s bid for the top job. He told Sky News viewers: “We can’t have anybody rise without trace.”
“Most of the main candidates in this debate have all been in government for the better part of two and a half years,” he said. “So it’s very important to know what their record says about them when they have the power to do things.”
Of Truss, he said: “She’s done these phenomenal trade deals, particularly with Australia, by the way, which wasn’t a follow on trade deal, and also the Trans Pacific Partnership, which opens us up to the far east, which is really delivering Brexit.
“And the other one, of course, she’s stood up for Ukraine. She’s been very, very strong about our involvement support for Ukraine, which is a really, really vital issue and also now Northern Ireland where she’s helping resolve that. So her record is strong.”
Zahawi urged to explain source of £26m mystery loans
Jon Ungoed-Thomas
The chancellor Nadhim Zahawi is under pressure to explain the source of £26m of unsecured loans reported by his family property firm in 2018 as he faces questions over his tax affairs.
The millions of pounds of loans helped Zahawi and his wife buy properties across Britain, including commercial and retail premises in London, Birmingham, Brighton and Walton-on-Thames in Surrey.
The Observer has established that new loans to the property firm Zahawi and Zahawi were reported in the same year that an offshore family company linked to the chancellor sold shares in YouGov, the polling firm he founded, transferring £26m to an unknown recipient or recipients.
A source close to Zahawi insisted there was no link between the money transferred out of the offshore firm, Balshore Investments, and the unsecured loans to his family property firm, Zahawi and Zahawi.
A spokesman said: “Nadhim and his wife have never been beneficiaries of any offshore trust structures.”
The chancellor is embroiled in a mounting controversy after the Observer revealed last week that a “flag” has been raised by officials over his financial affairs. He is facing calls to identify the lender or lenders who helped finance his property firm.
Read more of Jon Ungoed-Thomas’ report here: Zahawi urged to explain source of £26m mystery loans
In his TV appearance this morning on Sky News, Dominic Raab outlined some of the reasons he was supporting Rishi Sunak, including that he was the only candidate who Raab believed could go on to win a general election.
He told Sophy Ridge: “I think people want the positive perspectives, and I think Rishi has three critical things: economic plan, values, and, frankly, electability. The ability to reach out, not just within the Conservative party, but to the country, whether it’s blue or red seats, he’s the guy that can win. At the end of the day. I think that’s pretty important.”
Specifically on economics, he said: “I think he’s the one with a credible economic plan to get inflation down. If we can’t do that. We’re not going to leave people with the money in their pockets from tax cuts or anything else.
“Then driving forward, he set out some further ideas about boosting through deregulation, smarter regulation.
“I also think he’s got the right values. I’ve known Rishi since he first became a member of parliament, the values that he grew up with, a hard work family entrepreneurialism story, I’ve heard it privately let alone in the course of these leadership debates. About how when his mum was running the pharmacy, he would help her do the books. He understands, if you like, that pocket book economics, which I think is so important at the time of the cost living [crisis].”
Dominc Raab attacks Liz Truss’s record at Treasury
Appearing on the Sophy Ridge programme on Sky News this morning, deputy prime minister Dominic Raab, who is supporting Rishi Sunak for prime minister, attacked Liz Truss and her record as chief secretary of the treasury.
Defending Sunak’s record as Chancellor, and addressing Truss’s claim that there had been low growth for decades, Raab said:
She can answer for her policies and her when she was chief secretary of the Treasury. People can see whether spending and headcount in the civil service went up or down. There’s not just Rishi who is going to be accountable for what he’s done in the face of a massive pandemic. I mean, did she cut taxes at that time? Did spending go up or down during her period is CST? I think, without without criticising her personally, I think it’s right that everyone on their record is is scrutinised.
Morning summary
Good morning. Later today, ITV will hold another live television debate with the five remaining Conservative leadership candidates aiming to be the next prime minister. That is at 7pm, and will be one of the last chances for candidates to impress before MPs resume voting in the contest in Westminster on Monday.
Before that gets going – and Andrew Sparrow will be here to cover that – a series of prominent supporters for each candidate have been making media appearances. There’s also the small matter of what has been in the Sunday papers. Here is a quick round-up of some of our main stories this morning:
- Zahawi urged to explain source of £26m mystery loans: The chancellor Nadhim Zahawi is under pressure to explain the source of £26m of unsecured loans reported by his family property firm in 2018 as he faces questions over his tax affairs. The millions of pounds of loans helped Zahawi and his wife buy properties across Britain, including commercial and retail premises in London, Birmingham, Brighton and Walton-on-Thames in Surrey.
It is Martin Belam here in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com or send me a message on Twitter at @MartinBelam. We’ll be opening comments in due course.
