Truss allies say Brexiteer chancellor Sunak 'slow to cut EU red tape'

Liz Truss allies Simon Clarke and Kwasi Kwarteng accuse Brexiteer rival Rishi Sunak of ‘digging in his heels’ and being slow to cut EU red tape while chancellor as Tory leadership race infighting shows no sign of easing ahead of latest hustings TONIGHT

• Simon Clarke and Kwasi Kwarteng claimed he ‘dug in his heels’ while in No11 
• Mr Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was Mr Sunak’s deputy at the time
• Mr Sunak said he would rather lose leadership than ‘win on a false promise’

Rishi Sunak resisted attempts to reduce the amount of EU red tape affecting UK businesses when he was chancellor, two of Liz Truss’s most senior backers have claimed.

As the public blue-on-blue infighting in the Tory leadership race continues, Simon Clarke and Kwasi Kwarteng claimed he ‘dug in his heels’ and slowed the pace of change while in No11.

The ministers, both rumoured to be candidates to become chancellor in a Truss administration, took aim at her Brexiteer rival after they spend yesterday tearing chunks out of each other on the campaign trail over the economy.

Writing in the Telegraph, they said he slowed attempts to over-write rules governing pension investments and the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which aims to undo part of the deal with the EU over trade worries.

‘He talks about cutting EU regulations yet dug his heels in as Chancellor against efforts to do exactly that and realise the benefits of Brexit. We both saw it in Cabinet,’ they wrote.

Mr Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was Mr Sunak’s deputy during his time at the Treasury. 

It came as the two prepare to face Tory members at the latest hustings in Cheltenham tonight. 

Mr Sunak last night said he would rather lose the race to become prime minister while sticking to his values than ‘win on a false promise’.

In a thinly veiled swipe at opponent Liz Truss, the former chancellor said he hasn’t ‘been saying the easy things’ and instead fighting for what he ‘passionately’ believes is best for the UK.

As the public blue-on-blue infighting in the Tory leadership race continues, Simon Clarke and Kwasi Kwarteng (pictured) claimed he ‘dug in his heels’ and slowed the pace of change while in No11.

Mr Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was Mr Sunak’s deputy during his time at the Treasury

 In a thinly veiled swipe at opponent Liz Truss , the former chancellor said he hasn’t ‘been saying the easy things’ and instead fighting for what he ‘passionately’ believes is best for the UK.

 Mr Sunak last night said he would rather lose the race to become prime minister while sticking to his values than ‘win on a false promise’.

Mr Sunak has found himself trailing the Foreign Secretary heavily in the polls in recent weeks.

But in an appeal to the Tory membership, he said he wants to restore ‘integrity and honesty’ at the heart of No 10, while suggesting Miss Truss’ tax-cutting agenda will not help Britons struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

‘There has been a breakdown in trust because of the issues of the last several months and part of why I’m sitting here is because I want to restore trust back into politics,’ he told the BBC’s Nick Robinson.

‘As you can see in this leadership contest, I’ve been doing that – I haven’t been saying the easy things, and actually, I’m prepared to lose this contest if it means that I’ve been true to my values and I’m fighting for the things that I think are right for this country. I’d rather lose on those terms, than win by promising false things that I can’t deliver.

‘I knew what I was doing when I got into this and I was going to tell people what I think they needed to hear, not necessarily what they wanted to hear.

‘I would rather lose having fought for the things that I passionately believe are right for our country and being true to my values than win on a false promise.’

Last night Ms Truss revealed she will consider removing VAT from energy bills as officials work up a cost of living package for the new prime minister. 

The Foreign Secretary said she would act ‘as soon as possible’ with an emergency budget and was ‘determined to help people across this country through what will be a very difficult winter’. 

Asked if she would consider removing VAT from energy bills, saving families around £210, she said: ‘There will be a budget on an urgent basis to deal with the issues we face. All of these issues need to be under consideration.’ 

Miss Truss declined to go into detail about how much support she would hand out, but repeated her pledge to ‘let people keep more of their own money’ through lower taxes. 

Mr Sunak has been far less hawkish than his opponent on cutting taxes to ease the cost-of-living squeeze, saying inflation needs to come down first. He suggested Miss Truss’s economic policies were not the ‘moral thing to do’ and ‘largely benefit very large companies’.

Mr Sunak suggested his own ‘honest’ rhetoric throughout the campaign is backed up by his record as chancellor, including his resignation from Boris Johnson’s government. Mr Sunak said his time in No 11, especially during the pandemic, means he is the best candidate to immediately deal with Britain’s economic woes – especially compared to the ‘starry-eyed boosterism’ promised by Miss Truss.

He added: ‘What we need is someone who actually understands what’s going on, has got a clear sense of how to manage our economy through what is going to be a challenging time.’ However, Mr Sunak was accused by fellow Tory MPs of ‘childish’, ‘crass’ and ‘pathetic’ behaviour over an online stunt attacking Miss Truss. His team created a spoof website mocking his rival’s economic policy, called Not In Your Interest.

But Southend West MP Anna Firth said: ‘This is beneath you Rishi Sunak… Remember we Conservatives need to come together after this.’

Home Office Minister Kevin Foster said: ‘This kind of negative attack just shows desperation and is unbecoming of anyone who aspires to lead our great party.’

Backbencher Marcus Fysh said: ‘This is just childish misrepresentation and scaremongering. If his campaign behaviour is going to be so pathetic Rishi should just end it and get behind the next PM.’

A source close to the Truss campaign said the website stunt ‘reeks of desperation’.

Source: Read Full Article