Inside Politics: Black and white

Tory leadership rivals set out opposition to second Scottish independence referendum as new figures show inflation tops 10 per cent, writes Matt Mathers

Liz Truss said she would “not allow” another referendum on Scottish independence (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

Nasa is set to roll out a huge new rocket to prepare for its maiden flight to the Moon. Should we put Liz Truss on it to search for solutions to the energy crisis? After a hustings event in Scotland last night the foreign secretary is still refusing to set out the precise details of what she would do to help families with soaring bills.

Inside the bubble

Parliament is not sitting.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper on Sky News Breakfast at 8.05am.

Tory MP and Rishi Sunak supporter John Glen on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.35am.

Tory leadership hustings in Belfast at 1pm.

Daily briefing

Constitutional conundrum

We didn’t learn a whole lot new from last night’s Tory leadership hustings in Scotland (bit of a theme developing here, isn’t there?). As expected, both candidates again set out their opposition to a second independence referendum and confirmed that they would not adopt Labour’s plan to freeze the energy price cap in October to help people with their energy bills.

Sunak’s response to the union question, ‘would you ever allow another independence referendum’, was slightly more considered than his rival’s, pausing slightly before saying he “couldn’t imagine the circumstances in which I would”, while adding that he accepted that we live in a union of consent and democracy “and I accept that”.

Truss, never passing up an opportunity to whip up the party base into a frenzy, was far more forthcoming with her answer. “If I am elected as prime minister I will not allow another independence referendum,” she said, to rapturous cheering from the Tory faithful in Peth. This exchange perhaps perfectly crystallises the difference between the two candidates: nuance versus black and white politics. But as most reasonable observers will probably agree politics, and life more broadly, is full of grey.

What happens if the supreme court decides that a poll can go ahead, after a hearing in October, or if it rules against it, and the SNP then fights the next election, as it has pledged to do so, on the single issue of independence? Would Truss then refuse to recognise the mandate if the SNP then won said election? Whoever enters No 10 in September, which is looking like Truss – who did show restraint in her attacks on first minister Nicola Sturgeon last night – will need to come up with a better answer than simply “no” when it comes to the constitutional question.

In other campaign updates, Truss is coming under pressure after she was recorded saying that British workers needed to show more “graft”, remarks which Labour claims amount to the foreign secretary calling her fellow countrymen and woman “lazy”. Questioned about the comments, leaked to The Guardian, Truss appeared to deny any knowledge of ever making them. “I don’t know what you are quoting there.” But hours earlier sources in her own campaign team suggested they were genuine, describing them as “half-a-decade-old”.

Both candidates are in Belfast later today, where Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol and the constitutional questions arising from it will be high up on the agenda.

Age UK has written to Tory leadership contenders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak urging them to commit publicly to emergency support (PA) (PA Wire)

Inflation nation

Don’t Tory members deserve to know what their next PM would do to help with soaring gas and electricity bills, when an intervention come October looks nailed on? After suggesting earlier in the week that she favours more targeted support, the foreign secretary last night refused to go into any specific detail on her plan.

And she is likely to come under further pressure to do so this morning as new figures published within the past hour or so reveal that inflation has risen to a 40-year high.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 10.1 per cent in the 12 months to July, up from 9.4 per cent in June and remaining at the highest level since 1982, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Inflation is expected to peak later this year at 13.3 per cent and will push the UK into a recession, according to the Bank of England (BoE).ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said a wide range of price rises such as in dairy and meat products drove inflation up this month.

“Price rises in other staple items, such as pet food, toilet rolls, toothbrushes and deodorants also pushed up inflation in July,” Fitzner said.

“Driven by higher demand, the price for package holidays rose, after falling at the same time last year, while air fares also increased.

“The cost of both raw materials and goods leaving factories continued to rise, driven by the price of metals and food respectively.”

Today’s cartoon

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(Dave Brown)

On the record

Truss dismisses Labour cost of living plan as ‘sticking plaster’.

“We’re still in the leadership contest at the moment. Now, my priority is reducing taxes so people can keep more of their own money at the same time as making sure we boost energy supply. It is wrong to just keep sticking plasters on this problem. What we actually need to do is make sure we are unleashing more energy, for example, from the North Sea. We’re investing in technologies like nuclear, and we’re finding more renewable energy as well. We need to solve this problem for the long term.”

From the Twitterati

Talk TV executive editor and presenter Tom Newton Dunn on Truss’s remarks about British workers.

“Interesting leak. What might cause Truss more damage among Tories is not her attack on UK’s working culture, but on a main argument for Brexit. ‘We say it’s all Europe that’s causing these huge problems …these migrants… but actually what needs to happen is more graft’”.

Essential reading

• John Rentoul, The Independent: Has a prime minister ever checked out of No 10 early before Boris Johnson?
• John Rentoul, The Independent: Stamer’s energy price policy is a shrewd opposition tactic
• Daniel Finkelstein, The Times: Reagan guru reveals the flaw in Trussenomics
• Adila, The New European: Here’s how my life has changed after a year of Taliban rule

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