LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – In their bitter campaign to become prime minister, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have sparred about spending and taxes, immigration, and the UK’s standing on China, but have not spoken much about many other urgent concerns. Here are a few crucial contestant issues that have thus far been mostly ignored.
Brexit reality
The contenders in the election have brought up Brexit, promising to reduce EU red tape, with Sunak criticising Truss for having supported remain.
Truss has stated that she will move forward with her combative Northern Ireland protocol bill, even at the risk of starting a trade war. In his remarks during Thursday’s hustings, Sunak echoed Johnson’s smugness when he said Northern Ireland firms should “dump” any documents they were asked to sign because the legislation would allow “free-flowing trade” without the need for a border.
However, there hasn’t been any real debate about the long lines of families at Dover waiting to have their passports stamped, the loss in trade with the EU, or a number of other real-world difficulties.
The NHS
Prior to the host of Tuesday’s TalkTV debate passing out, a cancer patient named John, posed the question to the candidates: “Why is the NHS broken?” .
It was one of the few times during the campaign to date when the terrible situation of the healthcare system was brought up. Sunak emphasised the significance of modern technologies, while Truss wished to see the NHS administration structure simplified.
However, none could address the urgent problem at hand, when more than 6.6 million people were in need for care. Truss even acknowledged that her local hospital was in such a terrible shape that it was supported by “stilts,” but she had little to say about that could be corrected.
Public life standardsĀ
When his own MPs failed to defend or explain the continuous lies coming from No. 10, Boris Johnson was ousted from government. He had violated Covid rules, permitted the appointment of an alleged serial sexual harasser to the position of whip, and witnessed the resignation of two ethics advisers who were too disgusted to continue.
Nevertheless, the topic of “cleaning up politics” has hardly come up in the discussion. Truss and Sunak have even defended Boris Johnson, with Sunak claiming that the outgoing prime minister had “a good heart” at the launch of his event.
There have been some signs of change; Sunak has promised to recruit a new ethics adviser, and Truss stated at the hustings on Thursday that she will relocate the Tory whips’ office back to No. 12 Downing Street. However, none has adequately addressed the need to restore public confidence in politics following the Johnson administration.
Covid
During the campaign, the pandemic was brought up in retrospect: Truss asked if schools should have ever been closed while Sunak boasted of helping stop a lockdown during Christmas in December 2021.
The management of the present and upcoming Covid waves has not received much attention. Despite Omicron and its sub variants being less hazardous than their predecessors, the virus has continued to devour critical NHS resources and cause widespread worker absences.
The future prime minister may need to make crucial decisions about combating the virus with a booster programme scheduled to begin in the fall and more dangerous versions are constantly a possibility.
