The former chancellor said it was difficult when those at the top had fundamentally opposing views, adding: “I wouldn’t want to end up in a situation like this again.” He gave the answer to BBC Radio 2’s Vanessa Feltz as she pressed him about rumors that Truss could offer him the job of health secretary if he wins the Tory leadership as expected. “I’m not focused on all of this and I doubt it’s Liz,” he said. “I don’t think about jobs for myself or anyone else. One thing I’ve also thought about a little bit is that being in a government, in the cabinet, for the last couple of years, you really have to agree with the big things. Because it’s hard, as I’ve found, when you don’t. And I wouldn’t want to be in that situation again.” Sunak, the outsider in the leadership contest, also delivered his strongest yet criticism of Truss’ economic plan for the government and accused his rival of “promising land to everybody”. Asked if he failed to be politically savvy in a contest vying for the votes of 200,000 right-wing Tory members, Mr Sunack said: “He’s honest and, for better or for worse, that’s what I’m going to do.” He said: “I would like a tax cut, who doesn’t? But I think my priorities are the right ones for the country right now. Liz’s plans promise the land to all. I don’t think you can have your cake and eat it too. I don’t think life is that simple, and I think her plan risks making everything worse.” His campaign earlier argued that Truss would plunge the economy into a “deflationary spiral” if it did not choose between its £50bn of unfunded tax cuts and cost-of-living support. Sunak’s campaign said the Trust would increase borrowing to “historic and dangerous levels” and put public finances at “grave risk” if it attempted to do both. A Sunak ally, Kevin Hollinrake, suggested people would be homeless “on the streets” without further help paying their energy bills this winter. The MP for Thirsk and Malton told Sky News that Truss’ campaign promises to cut taxes would only provide an extra “pound a week” to the poorest households, while it would provide “around 30 a week” to a household like his. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “It’s just not right,” he said. “These people will take to the streets. Things will be so bad for some households.” Sunak’s criticism of Truss has escalated in recent days as the contest enters its final days with him seemingly falling far behind. Another Sunak supporter, Mel Stride, said Truss’ plans for an emergency budget needed to be transparent and affordable so ministers were not “jumping in blindly”. The chairman of the Commons Treasury committee told LBC: “At the moment Liz’s camp are saying, I believe, that there will be no OBR forecast at the time, and that’s like flying in blind. “It means you’re doing all these dramatic things in tax and so on, but you don’t really know what the independent forecaster thinks the impact on public finances is going to be, and I think it’s a very serious situation if it happens.” Another Sunak supporter, Michael Gove, said in an op-ed for The Times over the weekend that Truss was on a “holiday from reality” with her plans for tax cuts during a financial crisis. Gove, who was equalization secretary until sacked by Boris Johnson before Johnson quit the Tory leadership, said Truss’ vision put “FTSE 100 executives’ stock options” ahead of the poorest of the country. Instead, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng defended Truss, saying there would be support for the poorest households in the cost-of-living crisis. Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Kwarteng said: “I understand the deep concern this causes. As winter approaches, millions of families will be worried about how they will get by. But I want to reassure the British people that help is coming.” Truss expressed optimism about the economy, saying there was “a lot of talk that there will be a recession”, as she insisted a recession was not inevitable despite the Bank of England’s predictions. In an interview with the Sun on Sunday, she said she was looking for help “across the board”, in a hint that there could be more support for businesses and households. So far it has focused on cutting taxes, such as immediately reversing the rise in national insurance, while Sunak has focused on trying to reduce skyrocketing inflation.
