5 Things To Know About The Debate Between UK PM Candidates Liz Truss And Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the two contenders for the post of the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister had their first head-to-head television debate. Sophie Raworth was the presenter of the debate.

The Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak BBC debate centred on the topic of economy and tax, while the topics of migration, refugees, and China were also mentioned. The debate lasted an hour and the two contenders mainly quarrelled over economic policies and taxes. Following the debate, the audience and politicians also levelled accusations of mansplaining against Sunak.

Liz Truss And Rishi Sunak BBC Debate: 5 Things To Know

Tribute To David Trimble

The BBC debate started with Rishi Sunak paying a tribute to the late David Trimble, the politician who passed away before the debate began. Trimble was a Member of Parliament (MP) and served as the First Minister of Northern Ireland. The Nobel Peace Prize winner and an architect of the Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of conflict in Northern Ireland passed away at 77.

Sunak described the late Trimble as a “champion of unionism”.

Mansplaining

While Truss was being questioned about her policies on tax, Sunak repeatedly interrupted her. A spokesperson for Truss claimed that Sunak was not fit for office and said “His aggressive mansplaining and shouty private school behaviour is desperate, unbecoming and is a gift to Labour”.

Politician and MP Jackie Doyle-Price said, “Most women MPs have been subject to mansplaining and being talked over in debate. Never a worse example than right now on the BBC.”

Sunak tweeted a clip from the debate where he interrupted Truss during her reply. Netizens replied to the Tweet with criticism. One user said, “Let them answer the question. You are not letting anyone speak”. Another user claimed that he should let Truss answer and that interrupting her made him “look desperate”.

Economy And Tax

Economy and tax was the main point of contention between the contenders' Truss and Sunak. Truss pledged tax cuts and claimed it would boost economic growth while Sunak said he would only slash taxes once inflation was under control.

Truss claimed that if Sunak’s economic plans were followed, the UK would head towards recession. Sunak insisted that the tax burden was the result of COVID-19.

Rishi Sunak Not Going To Apologise For Background

Sunak attended Winchester College, a private college and said that he was “certainly not going to apologise” for his parents working to send him to a private school. According to Truss, Winchester was a great school and she said would love it if the citizens had “the opportunity to go to a school like that”.

Truss And Sunak Praise Each Other

Despite the heated debate, the two contenders praised each other at the end of the hour-long debate. Truss said it was “fantastic” working with Sunak and said they have a shared “belief in Britain”.

Sunak gave Truss credit for standing up to Russia and said they worked together to ensure they had a “very robust response” to Putin.

Suggested Reading: Who is Liz Truss? All We Know About Rishi Sunak's Opponent In UK PM Race