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The Foreign Secretary was interviewed by GB News’ Alastair Stewart during a town hall in Leigh for the People’s Forum on Wednesday. Ms Truss vowed to “put spades in the ground” and deliver more jobs, as well as to take action on “repulsive” grooming gangs.
However, despite the interview with the Tory candidate for Prime Minister, Ms Truss’ remarks were not broadcast on the BBC or ITV 10pm bulletins on Wednesday.
The interview with Ms Truss was praised by the Times as “better than a sort of conferred cockfight”, with the mood said to be “serious, amiable, curious, lightly sceptical”.
Dr Chris Newton said on Twitter in response: “The mainstream mocked GB News even before it started, but it is showing the rest how it should be done. They’re not laughing now.”
Mr Stewart then added: “I thought BBC News & ITV news ignoring this event on their 10pm bulletins last night was extraordinary.”
User @AbarthRocket595 asked: “could it have been jealousy, perhaps?
“This showed other channels how it SHOULD be done, as I learned more in those 60 minutes than in all previous weeks.
“No showmanship – just intelligent, informed debate and honest answers.”
User @PaulCurtis1956 added: “It’s because the ‘impartial’ BBC are #ReadyforRishi.”
Another user, @JohnRConstable, added: “Maybe this GB News Truss event didn’t meet the BBC/ITV minimum threshold for impartiality?
“Nothing to do with the interviewer, who was reasonably neutral. The audience. Which was very ‘onside’ right from the start.”
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Audience member Brian noted that levelling up, a key manifesto pledge in 2019, was a significant factor in why the Red Wall town of Leigh backed the Tories.
However, he said residents “can’t see any of it” and, despite understanding the economic circumstances Britain finds itself in, this frustration could push voters back towards Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour.
Responding, Ms Truss insisted that Labour “let down Leigh for years, and years, and years”.
The 47-year-old said she has a vision for the country and a proven track record of “getting things done”.
She said a key part of levelling up is creating jobs, for which she promised she could “put spades in the ground” and deliver.
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The Foreign Secretary joked to Mr Stewart about how uncooperative the French are being about stopping small boat crossings.
Mr Farage said Ms Truss “had nothing to say about pushback” and warned “Prime Minister Liz Truss will just see tens of thousands more people crossing the Channel”.
He added that she “seemed very proud” of the Rwanda policy, noting that her appearance was “very, very disappointing” as she “didn’t take” the opportunity of breaking away from Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party leadership race.
The former Chancellor attacked Ms Truss’s promise to prioritise tax cuts as he stressed his priority if he wins the Tory leadership contest would be to provide more direct financial support to pensioners and low earners as they struggle with rising energy bills.
Speaking at a Tory hustings event hosted by The Telegraph in Cheltenham tonight, Mr Sunak said: “If you support a plan that Liz is suggesting which says she doesn’t believe in doing that, doesn’t believe in providing direct financial support to those groups of people and that is what she has said because she thinks her tax cut is going to help them which it is not, we are going to as a Conservative government leave millions of incredibly vulnerable people at the risk of real destitution.
“Now, I think that is a moral failure.”
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