Foreign Secretary passes up grilling from Andrew Neil

LIZ TRUSS has rejected an invitation to be interviewed by the broadcaster Andrew Neil despite Rishi Sunak, her opponent in the Tory leadership race, signing up.

An ally of the Foreign Secretary’s team told The Daily Telegraph that Ms Truss wanted instead to focus on speaking directly to Conservative Party members, who will pick the winner.

Her stance is likely to come under intense scrutiny, with critics expected to make political capital of her reluctance to undergo a forensic questioning before a television audience.

Mr Sunak, the former chancellor, yesterday mocked his rival’s failure to sign up to the interview, tweeting a link to the programme’s announcement alongside a winking emoji symbol and the words “just me then?”

The Channel 4 show will air at 7.30pm on Friday. Mr Neil, the former Sunday Times editor and an experienced broadcaster, would have interviewed each candidate one on one.

Mr Sunak had agreed to appear on the programme when it was announced yesterday but Ms Truss had not, with a spokesman for the channel saying Ms Truss’s decision had yet to be communicated.

But an ally of Ms Truss told this newspaper she would say no. “I know some members watch Channel 4 News but she wants to get out across the country and get her pitch directly to them” they said.

“Just because Rishi’s doing it doesn’t mean we need to do it as well. We may review things. But for now it is a no.”

The source rejected the suggestion that Ms Truss was refusing to sign up to the interview because she feared a “grilling”, noting she had done a number of high profile television interviews and debates in the preceding fortnight.

Mr Neil has a fearsome reputation as a political interviewer.

During the 2019 general election campaign Boris Johnson refused to agree to an interview with him.

Ms Truss is the front-runner in this contest, with polls of Tory members consistently showing her in the lead. Mr Sunak, meanwhile, is seeking to change the dynamics of the race.