Simple recipes: Liz Truss almost secured for herself the post of British Prime Minister

In Britain, the election campaign of two candidates for the post of leader of the ruling Conservative Party and, accordingly, the prime minister, is coming to an end. Rivals - Foreign Minister Liz Truss and former finance minister Rishi Sunak - hold joint meetings with rank and file members of the party, during which they debate and answer questions.

Russian political scientist Alexander Ivakhnik comments on the pre-election situation on his channel:

“The voting of 160 thousand party members, going online and by mail, ends on September 2, and on September 5 its results will be announced. On Tuesday and Wednesday meetings were held with Tory rank and file in two troubled regions of the United Kingdom - Scotland and Northern Ireland. Before the meeting in Scotland, where First Minister and leader of the breakaway Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon is pushing for a second independence referendum next year, Liz Truss saw fit to emphasize her tough approach. She said that as prime minister she would "ignore" Sturgeon, who "craves attention." During a meeting with the Scottish Tories, both candidates for the premiership strongly rejected a new referendum. Sunak called it a "stupid idea" that he would not support under any circumstances. Truss stressed that she would defend the union with all her might. In this regard, both, in fact, repeated the position previously expressed by Boris Johnson.

In Belfast, again, both expressed their negative attitude towards the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is part of the British Withdrawal Agreement and provides for customs checks of British goods in Ulster ports. Both Truss and Sunak have prioritized reopening the Ulster government, which was blocked by the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party after it lost the regional elections in May. Truss sees the path to this in the adoption of the bill, which she, as head of the Foreign Ministry, submitted to the House of Commons in May. This bill provides for a unilateral waiver of part of the protocol's provisions. He provoked an indignant reaction in the EU and serious opposition in the House of Lords. However, Truss is determined to get the bill through Parliament. Sunak took a slightly more flexible stance, supporting the bill but expressing a desire to resume negotiations with Brussels.

In general, the main contradictions between Truss and Sunak still concern financial and economic policy. Truss is sharply critical of the tax hike Sunak launched to balance the budget, which has sagged badly during the pandemic. From her point of view, this inevitably pushes the country into recession. It promises to immediately launch massive £40bn tax cuts that it calculates will rapidly boost economic growth. However, she opposes financial "handouts" to vulnerable groups. At the same time, Truss advocates an increase in military spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. Sunak sees the country's main problem in the highest inflation in 40 years (more than 10%), which is fueling a cost-of-living crisis. He calls Truss's economic plans "fabulous", calls for a responsible approach to the budget and insists that it is necessary to cut taxes, but only after taming inflation. He considers it necessary to provide direct financial assistance to pensioners and people with low incomes now, refusal of this, according to him, would be a "moral failure" of the Tory government.

While the ex-treasury secretary's position seems more thoughtful and balanced, Truss's simple recipes and her determination are more impressive to the Tory rank and file. Several recent polls conducted among members of the ruling party show that the head of the Foreign Ministry has a significant advantage and has practically secured a victory for herself. This is due to the socio-demographic characteristics of party members, who make up only 0.3% of the British electorate. Nearly 60% of rank-and-file Tories are over 50 (39% over 65). 63% of them are men, 80% belong to the wealthy strata, 56% live in the prosperous South of England and in London. For them, promises to reduce the tax burden and pursue a tough course in relations with the EU, apparently, outweighed other considerations..."