Liz Truss vows to reverse National Insurance hike and 'put money in people's pockets'

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has criticized former Chancellor Rishi Sunak's handling of the economy and public finances. She says she opposed the National Insurance hike and wants to help struggling Britons

Liz Truss launched her campaign to become the next Prime Minister (

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The vengeful Tory leadership candidates clashed over taxes today as the fierce race for number 10 kicked off the weekend.

Competition favorite Penny Mordaunt even admitted that public services were “in a desperate state” after 12 years of Tory rule.

A live televised leadership debate on Sunday is seen as crucial to keeping the chances of struggling candidates Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch alive.

The pair will try to salvage their stuttering bids for Downing Street today in a primetime Channel 4 one-on-one.

Earlier, the five leadership candidates faced off in an election campaign for party loyalists organized by the ConservativeHome website.

During the 75-minute showdown, contest favorite Ms Mordaunt, who has been a minister on and off since 2014, admitted: 'Many of our public services are in a desperate state, not least because of the pandemic .

Penny Mordaunt launching her campaign (

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“We have a lot of catching up to do, so we have to recognize that we need to modernize Whitehall to get there.”

As the candidates outlined their plans to tackle the chronic housing crisis, Mr Tugendhat bizarrely claimed that Labor wanted to build 'socialist houses'.

"A Labor solution would make the whole country a reality, leave us with socialist houses that belong to the state and that we can rent out on a temporary basis," he said.

"That's not what we want."

But the Prime Minister's rivals turned their guns on each other as infighting engulfed us...