Rishi Sunak will try to revive his flagship bid for prime minister on Saturday by tackling a series of so-called culture war issues, vowing to stop “left-wing agitators” from “defending” British values.
With Liz Truss the firm favorite ahead of a critical few days in the leadership contest, and ballot papers to be handed out to Conservative party members from Monday, Sunak will deliver a speech attacking “woke nonsense”.
Although the former chancellor came first in a poll of Tory MPs, Truss has consistently led party member polls and on Thursday won the support of former favorite Ben Wallace, underscoring the sense that her campaign is gaining momentum It was also announced on Friday night that her former leadership rival Tom Tugendhat, popular with Conservative party members and a senior figure in the centrist Conservative MPs group One Nation, would back Truss. He praised his plans for tax cuts, saying they were “based on true conservative principles.”
Sunak has taken a series of increasingly tough positions in an attempt to close the gap on his rival.
Addressing West Sussex MPs on Saturday, he will say: “What is the point of stopping bulldozers on the green belt if we allow left-wing agitators to take a bulldozer to our history, our traditions and our core values?
“Whether it’s tearing down statues of historical figures, replacing the school curriculum with anti-British propaganda, or rewriting the English language so we can’t even use words like ‘man’, ‘woman’ or ‘mother’ without being told we’re offending anyone?”
Sunak will say a government led by him will revise the Equality Act 2010 and associated guidelines to make it clear that “sex means biological sex”.
It will also pledge to put in place legal guidance on relationships and sex education to ensure children are “protected from inappropriate material”.
It follows Truss’ pledge, at the first leadership meetings on Thursday, to ensure schools provide single-sex toilets.
Asked about the issue by a member of the audience, Truss said: “I’ve been very clear that single-sex spaces need to be protected, especially for young people, as well as vulnerable people… as prime minister I would say that because it’s a difficult time to be a teenager, to be a young girl and you should be able to have the privacy you need in your toilet.”
While Sunak will insist that “we have zero interest in fighting the so-called culture war,” his announcement appears to be a new bid to excite the conservative base by talking tough on controversial issues as he fights to stay in the leadership race .
Already in recent days, Sunak has pledged to ban building on the green belt, cap the number of refugees the UK will accept and double deportations of foreign criminals. He also said he would cut VAT on domestic fuel to help tackle the cost of living crisis, in a reversal from his previous position.
With the contest to become prime minister becoming increasingly tough and acrimonious, both campaign teams issued statements on Friday condemning the leaking of government documents and vowing to report the leaks to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.
Two sources suggested Case asked for those statements to be released amid concerns about sensitive cabinet discussions being used for political purposes.
After Truss was seen as having acted more forcefully in Thursday’s trash talk in Leeds, a senior supporter of the Foreign Secretary claimed some of Sunak’s supporters were turning against him.
The source said Sunak’s supporters were “kicking their ass” and had believed “he was going to walk this and that’s why we’ve backed you, but you’re screwing it up”.
Sunak has been more cautious in setting out tax and spending plans than Truss, promising Tory members he will not engage in “fairy tales”.
But with member polls suggesting Truss has a significant lead (62% to 38% according to a YouGov poll last week), some of his supporters are now urging him to be more honest.
“He must be absolutely ruthless – he’s getting away with blue-collar murder on all sorts of fronts at the moment,” said a former cabinet minister who supports Sunak.
Speaking of poll leader Truss, they added: “If he doesn’t get something more like neutral in the coming days, it will start to materialize.”
Despite backing Boris Johnson to the last, Truss has come forward as a candidate for change, offering a break in economic policy-making, including more than £30bn of unfunded tax cuts.
He told reporters on a visit to Norfolk on Friday: “What’s risky is going down the same economic path, which is currently projected to take us into recession. That’s the risk. What I’m talking about is getting opportunities, releasing growth, keep taxes low.”
Asked if he was confident of winning the contest, the result of which will be announced on September 5, he said: “I am not complacent at all. I am fighting for every vote across the country.”
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Both candidates are criss-crossing the UK, meeting hundreds of Tory members each day, with a further 11 calls to come, as well as dozens of smaller-scale events in town halls, pubs and back gardens.
Truss’ team insisted he would go “full skin” for the remaining month of the competition, taking just one day off for the next three weeks.
“He loves it,” said a source in his team, who admitted he had not enjoyed the raunchy televised debates but enjoyed meeting with members.
Sunak addressed Tory members in Tunbridge Wells on Friday, hot on the heels of Truss, who paid a visit to the Kent town last weekend.
Its key messages were “blue meat” policies aimed at motivating members, including a promise to block house building on the green belt. Sunak also insisted he would be better placed than Truss to lead the Tories to victory at the next election.