Truss and Sunak’s fingerprints are all over the failing UK state
Tory leadership candidates claim they have magic new solutions but after 12 years they are not the answer
THE Tory leadership race is down to the last two contenders.
Rishi Sunak says he’ll put the UK on to a crisis footing and will tackle the five “emergencies” the UK faces.
Liz Truss says that the past 20 years of Westminster economic policy “hasn’t delivered growth” and “the UK is projected to head for a recession”.
You wouldn’t think from their statements in this leadership campaign that the Conservatives have been in Government in the UK now for 12 years, or that both Truss and Sunak had served in the most senior Government offices during that time.
You wouldn’t imagine either from the things they both say now that they had served under and defended Boris Johnson throughout his time in office, right up until just a few short weeks ago, but of course they have. While Sunak resigned, Truss still serves in one of the great offices of state, Foreign Secretary, under the caretaker Prime Minister still squatting in Downing Street.
So it rings hollow when both Sunak and Truss say that somehow, magically, they have
‘Blue on blue’ attacks have exposed the Tories’ lack of policies
now got the bright new solutions for a fresh start. Nothing could be further from the truth – their fingerprints are all over the failed state of British politics today, and their prospectus of tax cuts for their pals and doubling down on Brexit will only serve to drag the economy further into the mire.
None of this will go any way to tackle the cost-of-living crisis or the climate emergency; these fundamental challenges have barely been spoken about in the contest.
The “blue on blue” attacks of the televised leadership hustings and the briefings to the media have exposed the Conservatives for their incompetence in Government and their lack of policies.
Party officials must have been watching from behind the sofa as the candidates tore strips off one another. And yet, watching this, the Labour Party still fails to land blows.
I’m not sure how anyone of a Unionist persuasion can think any of this is good for their cause.
Neither candidate has offered much for Scottish voters – Sunak, when asked if he’d spend more time in Scotland, paused for thought and then rattled on about Darlington. Definitely not in Scotland but the best he could come up with under pressure.
Truss has joined Sunak in firmly ruling out an independence referendum.
Neither of these prime ministerial hopefuls has a democratic mandate in the rest of the UK, and certainly not in Scotland. The Scottish people have now voted in successive elections for parties which support independence – while the Tories have put their opposition to IndyRef2 at the centre of their campaigns and been defeated every time.
The UK is lagging behind other countries – with the worst growth, productivity, poverty and inequality of our European neighbours.
The answer to decades of Westminster failure is not more of the same. The only way to keep Scotland safe from the damage of Westminster control is to become an independent country, with the powers needed to escape Brexit and build a fair and prosperous future.