The latest Conservative leadership debate showed why Liz Truss is the best candidate to be the new Prime Minister, Lichfield’s MP has said.
She faced off against Rishi Sunak on TV last night (25th July) as the two sought to convince the party membership why they should get their vote.
Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant – who had previously backed Penny Mordaunt before she was eliminated from the race to be leader – said Mr Sunak had failed to give enough focus on the West Midlands region during his time as Chancellor.
“The TV debate last night has confirmed my view that Liz is the better candidate for the West Midlands.
“I fear that when Rishi was Chancellor, he was ‘captured’ by the civil servants into conventional Treasury thinking unable to find a way out of the world-wide cost of living crisis.
“Whereas the United States and other countries have decided to borrow in order to fund support for their citizens, Rishi Sunak sticks to the Treasury line calling for greater restraint and higher taxes when times are already tough – Liz Truss recognises this.
“I also believe that while Rishi’s targeted and generous support for those most needy, provided when he was Chancellor, was welcome, it fuelled inflation. In France and elsewhere, they were less targeted reducing prices at the fuel pump instead which, of course, reduces inflation and spiralling wage demands.
“But most of all, I believe that while Liz Truss will help the West Midlands, Rishi has concentrated all his focus on the north of England and has not always engaged constructively with the West Midlands Metro Mayor.
“While that is understandable as he represents a Yorkshire seat, this does not help our region.”
Michael Fabricant
Mr Fabricant said the loyalty shown to Boris Johnson by Mrs Truss should also be applauded.
“Liz has been a highly effective Foreign Secretary and Trade Secretary before that, and stayed loyal to Boris until the very end.
“She did not precipitate a crisis by resigning nor did she have a campaign preprepared including an expensive promotional video released the very day Boris stood down.
“She is imaginative and not constrained by Treasury thinking.
“To me character and loyalty count as much as ability and Liz has all three. She will make an effective Prime Minister, continue to provide support for Ukraine, and make the most of Brexit – she has my vote.”
Michael Fabricant
I have been here in UK for since 1978 and I have been witness with the Labour Party under ex prime minister James Gallaham. Every thing full of mess the House Common so roundabout by the chicken with a rubbish. When Mrs Margaret Hitacher take over the pover since then I’ve never changed another party. I has my Elizabeth Truss vote. All the best
According to Truss, “Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world,” they said. “We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor.” From Britannia Unchained.
According to Dr Johnson, “Sir, there is no settling the point of precedence between a louse and a flea.”
Presumably Fabricant shares Truss’ views on the voters.
I must’ve watched a different debate. I thought they were both appalling – Sunak came across as arrogant and entitled, and Truss came across as lightweight and lacking substance. If this is truly the best that’s on offer from the Tory party, I think it’s definitely time for a general election.
What’s genuinely scary is that these two are, allegedly, the brightest and best on offer. I wouldn’t put either in charge of a child’s birthday party, let alone a country.
Sunak has all the common touch of a part-time megalomaniac, and Truss simply cannot inspire an ounce of confidence via her insipid, I’ll thought through vision. Both are very, very weak and will hand Labour a resounding victory.
Seriously, can you imagine either of these two dealing with difficult world leaders? Putin must be laughing his leather chaps off.
@ Joanne Grange I agree but the Conservative Party members will vote for Liz Truss regardless, for various reasons. Either candidate will be a turn off to the red wall voters who liked their rogue and chancer, who did not play by the rules.
It was always going to be Truss our Mordaunt depending on who got on the ballot.
What price Boris to return one way or another?
Why is Fabricant harping on about the West Midlands? He “represents” Lichfield and Burntwood.
Oh hang on, his boyfriend is Andy Street – West Midlands Mayor…..
Mike, for once in your career, please vote for the people in your constituency and not in the interest of your colleagues or friends.
It’s no shock that Fabricant would support the “continuity Boris” candidate. Johnson is a liar and a charlatan, Truss is no better and it is saddening our MP supports them both. This whole process is an affront to democracy and we deserve so much better. The UK needs a general election.
Fabricant thinks that Truss is the better senior member of Boris Johnson’s government competing over who is best qualified to clean up the mess left by Boris Johnson’s government.
We have been going through a decade of austerity. Then massive inflation and unprecedented power and fuel costs. Food banks in their thousands; even for those in work!
It is not all down to Brexit and Covid. The economy has been poorly managed and profiteering has had a part in that. We are the ones who have to shoulder the costs. You see it writ high both nationally and locally with lack of services and facilities, and a ‘bowl of rice’ economy.
Neither of these two will improve the situation.
The whole of our economy needs reforming from A to Z. The gravy train that attracts these preditors has to be stopped. Otherwise the future holds more austerity and the prospect of public unrest.
Lying opportunist fool supports another lying opportunist fool. Who would have thought it?
Anybody supporting this disgusting party really needs to think again.
Before you ,you have two lack lustre people who have absolutely nothing to offer this country.
Liz seems nice enough but I wouldn’t want her running the local council,never mind the country.
Sunak lives on another planet.clearly unable to work out how he pays for his shopping.
Time for a General Election.
If you love your country please get rid of these inadequate people.
I truly despair for the future of this country. The NHS is in deep crisis and falling apart at the seams, the clear climate crisis is being virtually ignored, we have the complete shambles that is Brexit, and all these idiots can do is tear chunks out of each other about vague tax cuts. When can we get these clueless and corrupt fools out of power?
Odd that our MP should put so much store by loyalty when he and his chums showed anything but loyalty to the previous two Tory leaders, Cameron and May. His “loyalty” is to the worst Prime Minister this country has ever had.
As saint Thatcher of Tax Rises didn’t quite say, “You trust if you want to. The lady is not for trusting.”
Liz Truss will help the West Midlands? Andy Street is helping the West Midlands when he states that “Brexit is bad for business.” Until that universal truth is realised then there can be no helping the region. Managed decline is the best that Truss can hope for.
Who exactly thought it was a good idea to let the Russians have control of a large part of our energy supply? Or China building and financing (now two) nuclear power stations which will be paid for over the lifetime of their use, notwithstanding any political controversies that might occur meantime?
This is bad politics. They are not countries worthy of unconditional trust. Down the line it will surely go belly up. With unimaginable consequences. This is Tory capitalism (as is HS2) at its outrageous worst.
Cameron, May, Johnson; our MP rightly recognises Truss as a worthy heiress to continue the Prime Ministerial roll of honour. No doubt, heralding a new golden age in the sunny uplands of post-Brexit Britain! In the immortal words of George Michael ‘wake me up before you go go!
The latest revelation is the Tory MP for the Wrekin being on the payroll of an oil and gas company who are classic climate change deniers. Such things explain why the government is doing next to nothing about it, too busy feathering their own nests.
Truss will ensure we will be on our 5th PM in 7 years. I remember when we used to laugh at Italy as an example of political instability.
Hard to fathom why anyone would listen to the opinion of Fabricant as to which of the two awful Tory candidates should become UK next prime minister. Fabricant is a liar as are the two candidates. Reminder: Micky Fab told voters at the 2019 Lichfield hustings “We’re going to be wealthier after Brexit”. He knew full well what utter nonsense this is. We are so much worse. Can we sink any lower? The answer is probably yes. UK is about to mostly ditch the NI protocol risking the Good Friday Agreement and bringing about a trade war with the EU. Imagine that – in the midst of a cost of living crisis and Covid still very much with us. Truss thinks the bill for NIP is good. Truss is a lightweight nitwit politician – years ago she was a student Lib dem who stood up and spouted at conference how we should abolish the monarchy. Listen to her claiming to take on Putin and laugh! She’s like a school prefect and has no gravitas. A principle less vacuum easily manipulated by the European Research Group (a party within a party that brought us Brexit to avoid EU clamping down on tax avoidance). The full horror of the right wing ERG that Truss represents now (puppet on a string) will emerge soon enough. She is their choice – Fabricant’s choice too. We can look forward to the full privatisation of the NHS and insurance based healthcare thanks to Fabricant and his Tory UKip/ BNP party. And the erosion of our human rights. If you care about the future of the UK listen carefully to the lies spun by Truss and Sunak in the endless repetitious TV free adverts for the Tory party. The queues at Dover are wholly to do with Brexit, but when asked these awful wannabe Prime ministers said “No”. Brexit, still the elephant in the room. One last thing – charter cities/ free ports are going to be a nightmare – pirate lawless states around the country. The Tory party is going to make the UK a one party state. No one will like it. This is not democracy – this is the bullshit lying land of the sleepwalkers into fascism – the land of broken promises. Tories cannot be trusted. Hence the need for electoral reform, because the Nolan principles do not exist any more. I seriously wonder how anyone can remain a member of the Conservative party. Why have they opened up the leadership vote to foreign Conservative associations? BBC never mentions it. Strange that. Johnson is about to fill the House of Lords with another large bunch of high cost donors as peers – who it is said must sign to all future Tory legislation without argument. Corruption writ large. Fabricant supports the wooden tops candidate Truss. Sunak is not much better, but perhaps not so much the ERG puppet. UK politics stinks now. We have endured the majority of the past 100 years under Michael Fabricant’s dire party. Truss is more of the same but worse. As unfit to be prime minister as Johnson was. She’ll carry on doing his bidding. Don’t people really just want a government that will properly fund public services and stop all the privatisation (Fabricant is a big fan of it). So seriously, if you are a member of this UKip style party, perhaps it’s time to reassess. Don’t think so much about who’s going to be leader (clearly we urgently need a general election). Politicians lie and they get away with it – it’s become the norm. Johnson is the worst prime minister to date. Truss will be worse. Sunak will come close. Because they are both disaster capitalists. Truss supported Remain in the 2016 referendum, and put up a good argument. She’s now gone full right wing UKip to serve her political aspirations. As wooden as Theresa May (“Strong and Stable”) Truss is “Weak and Wobbly). But she would be an excellent puppet for the dirty bunch of ERG Mogg – Bone, Cash, Baker , Leadsom etc. They none of them care about any of us. UK has been sold off – in the future there will be no NHS or care services or much else at this rate. Michael Fabricant does not care either. He’s alright with his £80000 plus expenses salary and expenses. Year after year. A Tory parasite.
Christine – Winston Churchill would have agreed with you, “There will come a time when fascism would take over this great nation of ours and destroy the peaceful and economic ties we enjoy with our neighbours in Europe. They will come armed with their silver tongues and promising the earth, be extremely vigilant.”
Well said all and very well said Christine. No matter what anyone thinks about who is the better candidate, Truss will win because despite diversity within the ranks of cabinet jobs there is no way that the white middle-class tories are going to allow an Asian man to get the top job, not that I think he will a good PM and Truss will just be a puppet with lots of puppet-masters pulling the strings.
Fabricant supports someone who wants to cut the civil service wage bill by £11 billion. At the moment, the total wage bill is £9 billion. ‘Dim Lizzie’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Thank you for the commonsense opinions being expressed on here. It is alarming to see one of our main political parties lurching so far to the right. The current leadership contenders seem to be trying to outdo one another with how hateful they can be towards vulnerable immigrants and how much contempt they can show for our human rights. As for Liz Truss’s comments on ignoring Nicola Sturgeon, Liz Truss has just shown herself as patronising, anti-democratic and divisive – the last person who could reunite our divided country.
This is the kind of government you get when people vote for the politics of hate. Christine is quite right: UK politics stinks, and we risk sleepwalking into fascism, we are on that slippery slope, thanks in large part to the far right tabloids and the nationalism stirred up by Brexit. People need to stop swallowing xenophobic, Tory propaganda and start thinking for themselves. There is a better way, we have had better, kinder politics in the past, and we could do so again.
You talk about lightweight politicians what about starmer , thornberry , nandy , creasy , lammy , dodds , mcfadden , cooper and don’t forget abbott. They could join up with the dictator from Scotland and you could go back into lockdown which you all love.
Peobably the scariest bit is that Truss is deeply tied into the international charter cities network (as are Sunak and Mordaunt). This is the recreation of feudal fiefdom under total private control, no local government, write your own laws, private police. Read it up. Scares me, a fear shared by Cllr H Ashton.
ProfPineapple, you’re being very unfair to Liz there. If you look at the original press release, the savings weren’t just to come from civil servants, they were to come from the rest of the public sector outside of London. Except of course that that apparently that wasn’t what the press release meant.
It looks as if Liz is as cavalier with the truth as Boris.
Asellus aquaticus – Trust all is well with you. You are quite right to point out that only a bigly genius can understand the words she actually wrote. Dim Lizzie has yet to explain why she wrote exactly the same thing in 2018.
The 8.8 billion she isn’t going to save has yet to feature in her spending plans.
She has a truly astonishing capacity to switch unblinkingly from one fiercely held view to the complete opposite.
Dear belleview,
I note your comment ‘You talk about lightweight politicians what about…’ and other similar comments across the comments section.
Can I take a moment to introduce you to the concept of ‘whataboutism’:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
Because that’s a fairly bad cause you’re suffering from.
You’re welcome.
Did Fabricant attend Fizz with Liz or did he go to Pitcher with Pincher?
Well said, Christine and follow up writers, except of course belleview, who has come up with the usual Tory Twaddle. As a nation we are facing an existential crisis with our democracy seriously under threat from these swivel eyed Tory fanatics, whose aim is a one party state supported by laws that offer no legal processes to challenge ‘their’ state and few, if any, protections to individuals, including their supportive middle classes. Those who blindly and unthinkingly support and vote for the Tory party and believe the Daily Mail and other right wing media, be warned. You are only voting fodder for the current bunch of Tories at election times. As our rights are taken away, as the constitutional role of the monarch is diminished (Boris proroguing Parliament illegally), as the NHS disappears, as the role of the Electoral Commission is eroded, as it becomes more difficult for many to keep their right to vote, as the Tories continue to ignore independent evidence based reports and advice, as corruption in government continues, as ministers ignore the accepted protocols and rules of behaviour, honesty and honour, as ministerial incompetence and/or inaction continues exponentially, etc., etc., as we suddenly find ourselves in a one party state, YOU the Tory voting fodder will find yourselves just as ignored and disenfranchised as the millions of people who don’t vote for them already are. If you don’t wake up and smell the coffee, if you continue to believe that these Tories will look after you, then, my friends, you are in for a very rude awakening, as this country becomes a money making cash cow for the ruling elite.
PS – belleview and your ilk, before you accuse, I am neither a Leninist, Trotskyite nor a Corbinista, just an eyes open, normal, slightly left of centre, lover of this country who is scared of where the right wing Tory extremists are trying to take us but not scared to post my name.
What I don’t understand is why France limits electricity price rises to 4% and gas to 0% and we don’t have the EUSSR telling us we can’t. Open your eyes to Brexit lies.
I agree with everything that John Robinson has said here. Someone on Twitter says “If you support the Conservative party you are complicit in their corruption.” Local Tory councillors are silent on what is going on and of the utterly bonkers candidates for our next Prime minister. Why do people imagine that Truss and Sunak (puppets of the ERG party within the Tory party) want to take us out of the Equality and Human Rights Commission? What possible benefits could there be for us or our country? None. Only exploitation by these parasites. Fabricant is a nodding dog parasite. Complicit. Truss has said many despicable things as has Sunak – at their pathetic ego driven hustings. She says she will stop the committee looking into whether or not Boris Johnson misled Parliament. He lied to HM Queen Elizabeth. He illegally prorogued Parliament. The Met Police issued him with precisely one fine for his illegal attendance (not for having organised any of the events) £50. Some people were fined thousands of pounds during lockdown for less damaging events. Do you recall when people of Lichfield were told that they could not sit on a park bench during lockdown? Johnson made the laws that he broke. He is culpable. Yet the Police treated him with kid gloves. His birthday party (at No 10 or 11 which is it) was ignored by the Police. It was illegal. He told Parliament that there were no parties, and that no rules were broken. So Truss is a brazen liar willing to do anything to follow in his footsteps. Misleading Parliament by an MP is a resigning offence. He’s on holiday now whilst our taxes pay for his time. The government has gone AWOL. Zombie government. Truss is unfit for being a minister. Sunak in a hustings at wealthy Tunbridge Wells, proudly told the Tory members how he had undone Gordon Brown’s levelling up. That he had taken funds intended for the poorer areas in the north and given it to the areas that deserved it! Wow! These are the types of people that Lichfield in their sad ignorance or wilful denial of reality – vote for. And why the UK is doomed now for a one party state and the loss of human and worker’s rights. The only way they can get Brexit to work is to remove rights so that the utterly insane freeports can replace our world trade. Say goodbye to farming, fisheries, agriculture and any pay rises to match inflation. Food banks are here to stay. One last thing – what will also disappear according to Liz Truss should she become Prime Minister – is the right to peaceful protest. This is how fascism gets to take back control. Silly people who heard that phrase thought it meant of our borders, and immigration. No – not at all. Liz Truss thinks the French should control our borders at Dover – whilst Johnson denied the funding for extra passport controls. Brexit meant all those extra passport checks. Those who voted for Brexit voted for it. Dover traffic standstills are here for the future. HGV drivers no longer want to come here from the EU. Why would they? No toilets, no catering facilities, stuck in queues for hours. The Tory government always knew this was going to happen. So if you vote Conservative you are the cause of all this and what is to follow. A horror show.
Liz Truss, who doesn’t like the state giving handouts, has claimed £1,548 from the taxpayer in the last 3 years to pay the heating bills on her 2nd home. Her annual salary is £155,817
@JohnRobinson and your ilk : I don’t accuse people I leave that up to the lefties . I’m also scared of your left wing views. After the garbage you posted perhaps you need to keep your identity a secret.
Regards annabelle
@Professor Pineapple : we shouldn’t be paying no MP’s fuel bills they just had £2,212 pay rise. Most MP’s are just out of touch with cost of living these days. Being a MP today is a license to print money and I include all MP’s from all parties.
As a “lefty” may I point out I believe, along with many economists, that the only rational course of action is to nationalise water and power provision, as non profit. Currently power companies are ripping off consumers (see European responses to power crisis), paying massive dividends to shareholders (which boosts share price AND pays millions to the directors and CEO, all of it off-shore). Why is nationalisation ‘dangerous lefty dogma’? Water is a daily necessity for humans. Food provision is vital (Tories currently paying farmers to sell up, enabling corporate land grabs). The NHS is being starved of funds and largely privatised, with the consequent loss of service.
Come on, Tories, tell me why the current system is working for the average citizen?
Strange when a Tory like Fabbo supports borrowing when it’s something they’ve always criticised labour for.
as for truss, changed her mind several times on issues, appointed 2 personal photographers paid by the taxpayer, had to be corrected by an advisor at a meeting with a foreign government when making an incorrect statement.
Definitely not prime minister material.
@John Griffin : John i will try to answer some of your questions. I totally agree with you on protecting the consumers. I would like to see VAT removed and a opt in or out scheme on the green levy which is currently 12% of your bill. Cheaper ways of resourcing fuels , ie fracking. As for dividends to shareholders , big pension companys and investment funds invest in such company’s. Also this goes for small shareholders looking to make their money work for them. If you invest any money you would like to see a return. As for tories paying farmers to sell their land not sure what you are on about. I work for the nhs and I can tell you that there is plenty of money going in but it is just wasted. The nhs requires less management and less political organisations in it.
Liz Truss is a board member of a pro-privatisation think tank that wants to scrap the NHS and replace it with an insurance-style system.
@Professor Pineapple: Perhaps a insurance style system could work for 20,000 economic migrants that have arrived this year so far or the 6.35 million over the last ten years. I have to pay for my teeth , eyes , feet and back and on top of that pay national insurance and they get it free. I think liz truss is on to something here.
Bellview evidence of your statement needed
Liz Truss was an LD plant from the start, playing the long game to destroy the Tories.
I rather like Anna Soubry’s account of her, “I honestly believe she was given jobs – ministerial promotions – just to shut her up. Her ambition is, undoubtedly, considerably greater than her ability.”
I read once that around 5% of the UK population subscribe to the view, popularised by David Icke that the Queen is in fact a shape shifting lizard person. That’s obviously a rather extreme and fringe position. A small minority of the population.
However, it is ten times larger, than the group of people allowed to select the next Prime Minister. a group even more extreme, and less representative of the UK population, than people who believe that the Queen is in fact a shape shifting lizard person
Just another incompetent PM in a growing list of Tory leaders, from Cameron to Truss, with each new one being more incompetent than the previous one.
@Belleview Not everyone criticising the incompetence of our leaders are lefties. Self interest seems to be the main driving force of most of our Political leaders these days and not the country’s. Boris is probably upset he can no longer enjoy free holidays with his KGB m8 in Milan!…. Imagine the outcry from you if another party’s leader did the same?
You all talk as if you think you’re all so clever and have all the answers, why aren’t you running for PM then? The reality is that every single Prime Minister since Churchill (in fact, even Churchill in his time) is heavily criticised, deemed useless, apparently don’t care about normal people etc etc. I mean, what Prime Minister would any of you say actually did a great job in recent memory? It’s just groundhog day. When Labour was in power Blair was a lying warmonger who was apparently a Tory in Labour clothes and Gordon Brown had zero charisma and couldn’t inspire people. Nick Clegg’s credibility tanked when he got in bed with the Tories etc etc. So they’re all useless and all the same. If Labour get in it won’t be long before we all decide Keir Starmer is useless, if we haven’t already. So save your time and breath on here. I’d be more concerned with making change locally so our area is the best it can be.
Well this story aged well… Can we get the civil servants with their conventional treasury thinking back please? And it’s undoubtedly true that Ms Truss didn’t ‘precipitate a crisis by resigning’, she’s having a damned good attempt now and resigning may well stop her self-inflicted crisis turning into a complete and long-lived disaster.
Steve – Nobel Prize winners are usually quite clever, let’s look at what this one said, “Trussonomics is deeply stupid. But there seems to be a lot of hyperventilating going on. No, it won’t cause a global crisis — for God’s sake, Britain is only 3.2% of world GDP. And while British markets are a mess, we’re a long way from 1976. Get a grip.”
Talking of clever, I’m sure you will agree that Albert Einstein was also quite clever. Perhaps you will tellus about his definition of insanity?
Truss is planning to repeat the failed austerity programme of the 2010s. Sounds a good example of Einstein’s definition.
Steve… I think that most parliamentarians start out with good intentions. Presumably, as our votes gave them their positions, we had the same hopes that our lives might be improved in some way.
I don’t know what happens some get hounded by factions within their party. Teresa May, who I thought was well intentioned was in that category. Some let power go to their head (Boris) and others do not have the resilience for the job.
While the PMs becomes the target they are only the tip of the iceberg. The playmaker and manipulators still pull the strings.
Frankly I can’t see any politician who I have trust in and think they could serve well. Too many career and networkers for that.
Could I make a good MP? Probably, but not from Lichfield. Too many colour blind electors for that!