Too early to predict outcome in Conservative leadership contest

The Indian diaspora in UK is largely supportive of Sunak, however, as Chancellor it is not obvious if Sunak has done much to improve UK-India relations. Liz Truss has visited India numerous times.

- ANTONIA FILMER

The two leadership candidates have much in common: both went to Oxford, both read philosophy-politics and economics, both have two daughters, both are in their 40s, both are Conservatives campaigning on their conservative values and their integrity, both are committed to 2050 Net Zero and the Rwanda illegal migrant policy, both want to reward hard work. They both claim to be the leader who can defeat Keir Starmer and the Labour Party at the next general election, which would give the Conservatives an historic fifth term in power.

The important difference between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak is their approach to the economy, reducing the cost of living and the provision of public services. Polls indicate than Liz Truss has an unassailable lead, Truss is advocating business, corporation and income tax cuts and increased borrowing. Truss is rejecting what she calls Whitehall orthodoxy and groupthink, she wants to shake up the Treasury, introduce incentives, and dissolve EU bureaucracy around pension funds. But Sunak claims her economic plan will make the situation worse, he wants to take a longer term view, service the public debt and balance the books. He explains that the National Insurance Levy is designed to tackle the NHS Covid backlog. He wants to get a grip on inflation, grow the economy and then cut taxes. Sunak would revive a Department of Energy and add an Energy Security Committee, with a view to make UK energy selfsufficient by 2045.

To complicate campaigning issues on Thursday, the Bank of England (BoE) has increased interest rates to 1.75% to bring rising inflation down; this is a 40-year high. The rate of inflation is currently 9.4% and tipped to hit nearly 14% by next year; energy prices have doubled as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The BoE hopes to achieve its inflation target of 2% in by 2024, the year of the next general election.