Time for Tory rivals to bring out the boosters

THERE has been name-calling and mudslinging, and a veritable blizzard of policy proposals. But it’s perhaps unsurprising the one thing the Tory leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson lacks is boosterism.

With the next election set to be fought over the economy, liz Truss and Rishi Sunak must urgently paint a positive picture of the country’s prospects.

now the IMF forecasts the UK will have the worst performing economy of any developed nation next year, the case for balancing the Covid-blighted books looks less important than sprinting for growth.

So Miss Truss’s plan to turbocharge the struggling economy with immediate tax cuts if she becomes prime minister is right.

While there’s no shame in Mr Sunak wanting to tame inflation first, that risks tipping us into a debilitating recession.

The Tories mustn’t be complacent. Keir Starmer is trying to persuade voters that labour is the party of economic competence. like Miss Truss, he’s focused on growth. But he hasn’t a single answer on how to achieve it. He’s a policy vacuum, as well as lacking in integrity and charisma. And let’s not forget, labour crashes the public finances every time it gets behind the fiscal wheel.

Whoever wins the Tory race can drag Britain out of the economic mire by unshackling dynamic businesses in cuttingedge sectors – and not selling them off to the highest foreign bidder. That, and channelling Boris’s positivity, can help beat labour.