The debate between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, candidates for premier in the United Kingdom, had to be abruptly interrupted this Tuesday (26) after the presenter and mediator Kate McCann collapsed in the studio. Organized by the TalkTV channel and The Sun newspaper, the clash was being broadcast live.
Truss defended her proposals when a loud noise is heard. The current foreign secretary was startled, put her hands on her face and said “oh my God” before the image was cropped.
“Kate McCann passed out in mid-air tonight [tarde no Brasil] and while it’s fine, the medical advice was so we wouldn’t continue the debate. We apologize to our viewers and listeners,” the official TalkTV profile wrote on social media.
After the scare, the two candidates expressed solidarity with the mediator. Truss said she was relieved that Kate was okay. “I’m really sorry that such a good debate has to end,” she said. Sunak, for his part, said the recovery is good news.
The debate had about 30 minutes when it was interrupted. Before, the two candidates once again differed on economic proposals. Truss said Sunak’s plans to raise taxes will push the country into recession. “I think it’s morally wrong at this time, when families are struggling to pay for food, for us to tax ordinary people when we don’t have to.”
Sunak, a former finance minister, argued that, when he was in office, the tax increase was necessary to responsibly pay extra expenses in the health area. “I think it’s morally wrong to ask our children and grandchildren to pay bills that we are not prepared to pay,” he countered.
The debate that did not end would be the second among the candidates. The first, on Monday (25), was marked by attacks on current economic policies, mentions of China and questions about the role of Boris Johnson, who announced his resignation at the beginning of the month, in the new term. Truss and Sunak ruled out a position for the current prime minister in government.
The race to succeed Boris in the UK is in the final stretch. After a series of votes, lawmakers from the Conservative Party kept Truss, dubbed by supporters “the new iron lady”, in reference to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in the race, and Sunak, one of the most important members of Boris’ administration. resign at the time of crisis.
In recent days, Truss has been at the forefront of opinion polls of members of the Conservative Party, who will vote to elect the party’s leader and, by extension, the new prime minister. The winner will be chosen by the approximately 200 thousand members of the legend in a vote carried out by mail, which will be open until September 2. The result should be released three days later, on September 5.
Whoever takes up the post will have to deal with soaring inflation and low economic growth in the UK, as well as a lack of British confidence in politics after Boris’ period in power.
