Suspended debate of the candidates for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom due to fainting of the presenter

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was offering her arguments to counter those of former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak during the debate televised on ‘TalkTV’. The camera focused on the deputy when a rumble was heard and viewers saw a look of anguish on Truss’s face. So, she put her hands up to her face and said, “Oh my God.” Afterwards, she walked to the center of the stage and the broadcast was stopped.

The debate, which usually lasts an hour, this time had to stop in the middle. ‘TalkTV’ later reported that the show’s moderator, Kate Macann, who collapsed during the head-to-head between the candidates, “is fine” but the medical advice was that we should not continue the debate.

Among the topics that were discussed were taxation, strategies to help families struggling against the increase in the cost of living or the search for the best alternatives to finance the National Health Service.

Congresswoman Truss rejected the increase in taxes on families through national insurance, who will now have to pay more money on food bills: “What we must ensure is that people keep more of their own money and what happened is that the tax was increased,” he argued.

Likewise, he stressed that the increase is “morally wrong” at a time when the situation is increasingly difficult for the common citizen: “When families are struggling to pay for their food, that we have increased taxes on people, when we said that we do not we would do it in our manifesto,” Truss said.

For his part, Rishi Sunak stated that it is reasonable to ask companies to contribute to solving the country’s problems through taxes: “They will still pay a very generous tax rate compared to most other countries, so It’s very competitive and fair.”

Further asserting that the increase was necessary to pay for additional health care spending, “I think it is morally wrong to ask our children and grandchildren to pay bills we are not prepared to pay,” Sunak said.

The polls on the first debate

According to the ‘Opinum’ agency in a survey of more than 1,000 voters who watched the first debate held on Monday, “Conservative voters thought that Truss fared better (47% compared to 38% for Sunak). Labor voters thought Sunak fared better (41% to Truss’s 30%).”

On the question of who the Conservatives should choose as their leader, 43% said Sunak would be better and 41% thought Truss would be better for the job. They also considered that with Liz Truss at the helm it is possible that a change will be generated, while Rishi Sunak would be more of the same.

Voters also said they thought Sunak seemed more competent and more trustworthy in handling the economy, while Truss offered a more compassionate and trustworthy face on illegal immigration issues.

Another company that also published the results of its polls was ‘YouGov’, which reported that 50% of its respondents felt that Truss performed better in head-to-head versus 39% who supported Sunak. In addition, they saw Truss as a more likeable candidate, worthy of trust and closer to the population.

Monday’s debate

During the meeting of the two candidates this Monday, the divisions within the ruling party on the strategies to manage the economy were evident.

The deputy assured that balancing the accounts of the Executive and increasing taxes on companies would achieve is to lead the country’s economy into recession.

Truss expressed his intentions to cut taxes and criticized that his opponent’s plan is to develop an immediate economic growth plan and impose a temporary moratorium on the tax on green energy.

“What I don’t want to see is ordinary households penalized by our goal of net zero. So I would lift the green energy tax and cut money off of people’s fuel bills while I look for better ways to meet net zero.” Truss said.

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Sunak was against Truss’s ideas and intends to raise taxes and have reserves to curb inflation.

“We need to get inflation under control. And if we don’t do it now, it’s going to cost all of you and everyone looking at home a lot more in the long run. Your own economic adviser has said that would lead to mortgage rates, interest rates go up to 7%. Can you imagine what that is going to do for everyone here? People in misery,” Sunak said.

In addition, the former head of the Finance portfolio spoke in favor of the country improving on issues such as recycling, energy efficiency and innovation to create solutions to the problems of this century.

“As for energy efficiency… The government should do more about it. Recycling is something that we obsess over in our house. I know it’s a pain. You need a lot of containers, but it’s something that is very good for the environment. And we have to focus on our research as inventors, companies, creating solutions to problems,” Sunak stated.

At least 200,000 conservative members will participate in the election of the new prime minister and will be announced on September 5. Whoever succeeds will take over from Boris Johnson as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservatives, but will also have to contend with one of the most difficult situations in the UK in decades, with rising inflation and the pound near record lows against the dollar. .

With information from Reuters, AFP, EFE and AP