Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak strengthen the populist drift of the 'tories'

• United Kingdom Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss advance to the final to succeed Boris Johnson

• UK Support for Brexit cracks after Boris Johnson resigns

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the two candidates to succeed Boris Johnson, have begun an accelerated turn towards populism to capture the vote of the hard wing of the Conservative Party.

militants

will decide on the name of the next tenant of Downing Street, and the Foreign Secretary has in advance the support of the party apparatus and the grassroots against the almost impossible mission of the former Treasury Secretary, perceived by broad sectors as the "traitor" who brought about Johnson's downfall.

Truss leads Sunak with 62% to 38% of the preferences among conservative militants

, according to the latest YouGov poll.

Sunak was the most voted candidate by the 'Tory' deputies (137) and is also the best valued in general by British voters (43% think he would be a "good prime minister", compared to 36% who think the same of Truss) but his great challenge will be to penetrate the conservative bases in the countdown to September 5, when the new leader will be announced.

The two finalists meet for the first time in a television duel this Monday on the BBC, a week after the suspension of the debates between the

candidates precisely because of the acrimony shown between those who were considered from the beginning as the great favorites.

Truss (46 years old) arrived with the band of the favorite candidate of the hard wing, despite having voted in his day in favor of remaining in the EU and having been a member of the Liberal-Democratic Party.

Sunak (42 years old) left with the assumed role of "losing horse", but with the possibility of going back to the last corner and becoming the first

of Indian origin (and the richest, thanks to the fortune of his wife, Akshata Murthy ).

In their first television confrontation, Sunak and Truss vied to go even further than Johnson in "controlling the borders

," deporting refugees to Rwanda and other countries, standing up to the European Court of Human Rights, condemning the " bonfire" more than 2,000 laws inherited from the EU or exonerate Brexit from the chaos of these days at Dover customs.

Future relations with China also became a throwing weapon, as well as the quagmire of the National Health System after the pandemic and economic measures in the face of "the cost of living crisis".

The third candidate in discord, Penny Mordaunt, eliminated in the last batch of

MPs by just eight votes (105 against 113 for Liz Truss), put the counterpoint to the heated debate by announcing that she has received death threats and that she has alerted the Hampshire police.

In the final stretch of her campaign, Mordaunt accused her rivals - and part of the conservative press - of

.

Boris Johnson has tried to stay out of the controversy between the candidates, despite the implicit support for Liz Truss (with whom it is speculated that he could even offer the

a position ).

Despite having personally declared the "cold war" on Sunak, senior members of his cabinet (such as his number two, Dominic Raab or Health Minister Steve Barclay) have given their support to the former Treasury secretary.

Hard-line ministers, however, have sided with Liz Truss

and fired below the waterline at Sunak, criticized as a "socialist politician" (for his refusal to lower taxes) by Brexit Opportunity Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries rekindled the crossfire between the two candidates on Monday by recalling the contrast between the €4,100 Prada shoes from Sunak and the €5.50 Claire Accessories earrings worn by Liz Truss during the campaign.

Dorries's comments provoked a harsh exchange of accusations in the networks between supporters of one and another candidate.

"The puerile nature of this leadership contest is somewhat embarrassing," said Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet Office Johnny Mercer, trying to mediate between the two factions.

"It is time to raise our standards. On our current trajectory, the

will be out of power in two years."

Opposition Labor Leader Keir Starmer used the occasion to criticize the shift to the right of the two

candidates , whom he accused of wanting to "disguise themselves as

".

Starmer recalled how Liz Truss's Instagram pictures and even her

at debates are an attempt to package her as the new

.

Meanwhile, Sunak consciously chose Thatcher's birthplace (Grantham) to launch his 10-point immigration plan aimed at the heart of the party's Brexit base.

Support for the Rwanda plan

The two candidates gave their full backing to Boris Johnson's plan to deport migrants crossing the English Channel to Rwanda, despite the fiasco that forced the cancellation of the first flight in June.

Truss assured that he even plans to explore "future agreements with other countries" to deport refugees.

Sunak announced his intention to house the immigrants on boats, instead of hotels and hostels, while the process lasts.

The plans of the two candidates have been condemned as "cruel" or "immoral" by associations ranging from Amnesty International to the Adam Smith Institute.

Standing up to the European courts

"I will not cower before the European Convention on Human Rights and I will reform our relationship with the European courts if necessary," Truss stressed, when asked about the intervention that ultimately paralyzed the flight of immigrants to Rwanda.

Neither of the two candidates has recognized that the draconian measures have not had a deterrent effect on the crossings of the English Channel, which exceeded the 10,000 bar in June and may far exceed the 28,000 registered in 2021 this year.

Brexit "opportunities"

Sunak, who boasts of having been "in favor of Brexit from day one", was the first to propose the revision, reform or suspension of more than 2,000 laws inherited from the EU before 2024. Truss picked up the baton and anticipated that his "bonfire" with European laws will not go beyond 2003. The head of the Foreign Office recognized her "mistake" for having supported permanence in her day and argued that she is willing to squeeze the most out of Brexit opportunities.

As proof of her conversion, she put on the table the Irish Protocol Act with which London unilaterally rewrites the most controversial part of the agreement with the EU.

tax cut

Truss has promised a tax cut since the first day of his term, starting with the "reverse" in the increases in Social Security contributions.

The Foreign Secretary has accused her rival of leading the biggest tax increase in 70 years and of betraying the conservative spirit.

Sunak has described Truss's economic policies as "fairy tales" and has made it a priority to fight inflation (which may reach 12% this year) before lowering taxes.

The Chinese threat

Rishi Sunak waved the "China threat" flag in the hours leading up to the debate, accusing Liz Truss of allowing "Chinese propaganda to infiltrate universities and steal our technology."

Truss replied by boasting that she had been at the helm of the Johndon cabinet's 'hawks' towards China, in contrast to the "soft hand" exhibited for two years by her rival at the head of the Treasury Department, putting commercial interests first.

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