Don’t “destroy the Conservative Party brand”. Although members of the British Conservative Party have previously made the above advice, the two party candidates, former Chancellor Sunak and Foreign Minister Tras, did not leave room for each other at the first TV debate held by th

Source: Global Times

[Global Times Special Correspondent in the UK Xing Xue] Don’t "destroy the Conservative Party brand". Although members of the British Conservative Party have previously made the above advice, the two party candidates, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak and Foreign Minister Tras, did not leave room for each other at the first TV debate held by the BBC on the 25th. British media said on the 25th that during the first face-to-face TV debate, the two of them verbally fought each other and refused to give in to each other, and the atmosphere was once extremely tense. Although they were from the same party, the two showed their sharpness in fighting for the throne of prime minister, and even rose to the level of personal attacks.

host had to "struggle"

Before the debate began, former Conservative Party chairman Francis Maud warned the two candidates not to "destroy the Conservative Party's brand", but neither of them seemed to have "heard the advice" and left no room for each other. The main firepower of this debate is concentrated on several major topics: economy, China, "Brexit", etc.

Economic issues are the most intense part of the two’s debate. Sunak said Trass’ tax cuts would “put millions in trouble” and cost the Conservatives the next election, questioning whether Trass wanted to leave Britain’s debt to future generations morally. Tras retorted that other countries in crisis did not try to pay their debts quickly by raising taxes. Then the two sides quarrel broke out, and Tras criticized Sunak for his extravagant clothing and possession of wealth. Sunak accused Tras of being an economic idiot and a European-remaining person. Sophie Lavos, the host of the debate, had to intervene.

During the debate, Sunak interrupted Trass repeatedly. Trass' supporters believed that Sunak seemed too aggressive in the debate, but Sunak's camp denied this. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Rab said after the debate that it was a "shame" for Tras to be unable to defend himself and said that the "noisy" debate is an important part of becoming the Prime Minister.

The British " Guardian " reported on the 25th that Sunak's political fragility lies in the fact that he is not only rich, but also because he belongs to the elite, not just an ordinary elite class, but a global financial elite. This has an implicit sense of offense in the current situation in the UK. Tras said that she "had been to public schools and saw many children being let down." She was inspired by politics, which compared with Sunak's elite education.

both accused the other party of being weak towards China

The debate involved diplomacy mainly focused on British-China relations. The day before, Sunak suddenly turned to express his toughness towards China. During the debate, he once again emphasized the need to close Confucius Institute . British media generally believed that this point was mainly aimed at Tras' support for Confucius Institute during his tenure as Minister of Education. At the scene, Sunak also accused Tras of saying in 2016 that "China-UK relations are entering a golden age." Tras refuted Sunak's "re-update old things", and Sunak also said last month that it was necessary to strengthen China-UK bilateral economic relations. In addition, Tras proposed to suppress Chinese companies such as TikTok. She said the UK should definitely crack down on this type of company and should limit the amount of technology exported to the so-called "authoritarian" regime. Obviously, Tras' statement is directed at Sunak's support for economic and trade exchanges with China when he served as the Minister of Finance.

Interestingly, even though both accused each other of not being tough enough against China in the past, Sunak and Tras did not give positive answers when asked, "Are you really committed to cracking down on Britain's largest trading partner?" Some media commented that the two revealed the "old past events" to each other, accusing each other of being a "pro-China faction", and now showing their tough stance towards China is just to attract votes.

Johnson Want to make a comeback?

As British Prime Minister Johnson's Cabinet Secretary, Sunak and Tras inevitably talked about their relationship with Johnson in this debate.

In response to the accusation of betrayal of Johnson, Sunak still emphasized that he and Johnson had differences on economic issues, so he chose to resign. He was proud of his work in the government.Tras said he was a loyal supporter of Johnson, and even if he made a mistake, he still did not hide his shortcomings.

As for whether Johnson will join the new prime minister's cabinet, both of them expressed negatives. Sunak said that Johnson had done enough, and Tras claimed that Johnson needed some time to rest.

The Guardian said on the 26th that Johnson, who is about to step down, recently revealed to former Finance Minister Crudas that he "don't resign" and hopes to "sell the next general election as the leader of the Conservative Party." The report quoted Crudas as saying that Johnson's speech was "unambiguous" and that he "very surely stated that he did not want to resign. He hoped to continue to be prime minister. Moreover, he believed that he had the support of the Conservative Party members behind him and he could do it." Due to a series of scandals such as attending parties during the UK's strict epidemic prevention control measures last year, Johnson was finally forced to announce his resignation on July 7, and he will remain in office until the new Conservative Party leader is established on September 5.

A poll published by the Financial Times on the 26th showed that Conservative voters believed that Tras performed better, while Labor believed that Sunak performed better. Media said that although Sunak easily won the vote of Conservative MPs, a series of polls showed that Tras was the most likely person to win.

But the debate was jointly criticized by the Conservative Party, Labor Party and Liberal Democratic Party . Francis Maud said the two disastrous debate was smashing the Conservative Party's "signature". The Liberal Democratic Party and Labor Party said that the two candidates did not give any solution to the problem, only endless quarrels and familiar promises.

This debate once again highlights the extreme division within the Conservative Party. A senior Conservative MP said: "We are a group of split people in public, tearing each other and unable to reach an agreement on anything." The Guardian published an article by commentator on the 26th saying that the debate was unparalleled and that the two sides were fighting and attacking so fiercely, it is hard to imagine that they were from the same party. The two sides have refused to give in to each other on many issues, but there have been 17 contradictions in their statements and commitments recently.