Johnson favorite to win says risk of UK recession not inevitable – International

Liz Truss, the British foreign secretary and favorite to succeed Boris Johnson as head of the British government, said in an interview with The Sun this Sunday (21) that the prospect of an economic recession is inevitable.

“We often hear that there will be a recession,” Truss said. “I don’t believe it’s inevitable.

An opponent of former finance minister Rishi Sunak, Truss differs from him on how to act, especially in a tense economic and social environment, with inflation above 10% and strikes in various sectors.

The foreign minister is promising immediate tax cuts instead of providing direct financial aid to sections of the population hardest hit by inflation, which has drawn criticism from Sunak and his allies.

In this controversy, Sunak received the support of Michael Cove, a prominent figure in the British Conservatives who held several ministerial portfolios.

This Saturday, Gove accused Truss of being “out of touch with reality” with his plans to combat the effects of inflation.

“I am deeply concerned that the tone of the leadership debate has become, for many, disconnected from reality,” Gove wrote in an article published this Saturday in The Times.

“The response to the cost of living crisis cannot be limited to rejecting more bailouts and cutting taxes,” added Gove, who has served in government for eleven years under three prime ministers.

According to him, the tax cuts proposed by Truss will favor “the rich” and big corporations, to the detriment of small and risky entrepreneurs.

Conservative activists in England, some 200,000 strong, have until September 2 to choose their new leader in a postal vote.

With the party holding a parliamentary majority, the winner will assume leadership of the administration, succeeding Johnson, who resigned in early July amid multiple scandals and internal turmoil.

The voting results will be announced on September 5.