Final debate axed as Sunak and Truss pull out after bitter rows

RISHI Sunak and liz truss vetoed a third televised leadership debate yesterday amid fears that tory infighting could damage the party’s long-term prospects.

in a rare moment of agreement, the two candidates hoping to succeed Boris Johnson said they would be pulling out of a debate that was due to be hosted by Sky news tonight.

the move led Sky to cancel the event – and raised questions about what role public scrutiny will play in the rest of the contest.

Both camps said they wanted to focus on gaining the support needed from tory MPs to secure a place in the final two. But the decision follows warnings from senior tories that the public infighting risks causing lasting damage.

the two debates – hosted by Channel 4 on Friday and ITV on Sunday – saw the five candidates clash with each other.

in the process, they also risked undermining the Government’s record and handing a propaganda victory to labour, which has already begun compiling a dossier of everything said during the contest. in Sunday’s debate, Mr Sunak accused Miss truss of ‘socialism’ for promoting unfunded tax cuts and said Penny Mordaunt’s plan to borrow money to fund day-to- day services was less coherent than the economic plans put forward by Jeremy Corbyn.

Miss truss accused the former chancellor of raising taxes to the highest level for 70 years, which she said would ‘choke off economic growth’.

in response to the infighting, one senior tory said: ‘there is a general sense that flagellating ourselves three times in five days on live TV isn’t a brilliant thing to be doing.’

Another Conservative MP warned the attacks would ‘kill our party’ if they continue.