Debate On Television, UK PM Candidates Rishi Sunak And Liz Truss Criticize Each Other's Economic Program

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak (Wikimedia Commons/Chris McAndrew)

JAKARTA - Two candidates for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who are entering the final round of the election, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, criticized each other's economic program plans that would be carried out in the future if elected, in a televised debate.

Foreign Minister Liz Truss, bookmakers' favorite to win the Conservative Party leadership election, told former finance minister Rishi Sunak her emphasis on balancing the government's books would steer the economy into recession.

"Smashing the economy to pay off debt faster would be a big mistake," Truss said.

Meanwhile Sunak, whose resignation from government earlier this month sparked Johnson's downfall, said Truss' plans to cut taxes were nothing more than a "sugar rush" to the economy that would be followed by a crash.

The final round of the weeks-long contest has pitted Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs banker who has raised the tax burden to the highest level since the 1950s, against Truss, a convert to Brexit who has pledged to cut taxes and regulations.

Whoever wins when results are announced on 5 September will inherit some of Britain's toughest conditions in decades. Inflation is set to hit 11 percent annually, growth has stalled, industrial action picks up and the pound is approaching historic lows against the dollar.

Their 'fight' on Monday underscores divisions in Britain's ruling party over how best to manage the economy, with Truss continuing Johnson's big-spending ethos, while Sunak portrays a classic Conservative fiscal hawk.

"Does anyone think that the sensible thing to do is to make massive loans worth tens of billions of pounds and fuel inflation further?" asked Sunak, who repeatedly interrupted Truss.

Truss said he would challenge the economic orthodoxy of Britain's powerful finance ministry and dismissed Sunak's warnings about his plans as "project scares", a line used by Brexit supporters during the 2016 referendum.

A quick poll of 1,032 voters from Survation showed 39 per cent of the British public thought Sunak performed best during the debate, compared with 38 per cent who said Truss did.

Among Conservative voters, 47 percent think Truss did the best, with 38 percent for Sunak.

A YouGov survey of Conservative Party members published last week showed Truss had a 24-point lead over Sunak in the race for leadership.

Separately, the opposition Labor Party said both candidates had smashed Conservative records in government during the debate, and neither had offered a plan to address the worsening cost of living crisis.