British Foreign Secretary and Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss. Getty
British Foreign Secretary and Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss. Getty
British Foreign Secretary and Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss. Getty
British Foreign Secretary and Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss. Getty

Sajid Javid endorses Liz Truss as polls put her ahead in UK race


Soraya Ebrahimi
  • English
  • Arabic

Liz Truss's leadership campaign was given a boost on Wedneday as two surveys showed her far in the lead and she received the backing of Sajid Javid, who attacked Rishi Sunak’s more cautious plans for tax cuts.

A ConservativeHome website survey put the foreign secretary 32 per cent ahead of Mr Sunak after an earlier YouGov poll of party members showed Ms Truss had a 34-percentage point lead over her leadership rival.

Mr Javid, who resigned as health secretary minutes before Mr Sunak left the Cabinet and started the cascade that forced Boris Johnson to quit as Tory leader, has now thrown his support behind the frontrunner.

The failed leadership candidate warned that “tax cuts now are essential”, as Mr Sunak resists adopting Ms Truss’s more radical plan to get to rein in spiralling inflation first.

A former chancellor, Mr Javid also warned in an article for The Times that the nation was at risk of “sleepwalking into a big-state, high-tax, low-growth, social democratic model which risks us becoming a middle-income economy by the 2030s”.

“If we can renew our government with a bold agenda, the Conservatives can still beat Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP at the next election – and the evidence suggests Liz is the best-placed candidate to do so,” he said.

Mr Javid launched a leadership run on a platform of swift tax cuts but quickly pulled out, struggling to win enough nominations from Tory MPs to go through to the first round of voting.

His support for Ms Truss came shortly before the latest hustings of Conservative members at an event in Cardiff on Wednesday evening.

The YouGov survey showed 60 per cent of the party members polled between July 29 and August 2 saying they intend to vote for the foreign secretary, with 26 per cent backing Mr Sunak.

The poll of 1,043 Conservative Party members indicates only 11 per cent do not know who they will vote for, while 2 per cent said they would not take part in the contest.

A further indication of her dominance came with a survey of 1,003 members by the ConservativeHome website, which had 58 per cent backing Ms Truss to Mr Sunak’s 26 per cent.

But Ms Truss insisted she was taking nothing for granted, as a delay in ballot papers being issued due to cyber-security concerns gave her rival a little more time to catch up.

She acknowledged that there is “still a long way to go” in the contest as she continues to face questions about abandoning a key policy pledge.

Her campaign has endured a rocky period as she dropped the £8.8 billion ($10.7bn) pledge to cut the public sector wage bill by paying workers in cheaper areas of the country less than in more expensive parts.

Ms Truss claimed it had been “misrepresented”.

But she refused to say why the policy was being abandoned entirely if the problem is merely one of presentation.

Critics of the plan had claimed it would go against the government’s "levelling-up" agenda by cutting wages in more deprived areas of the country, although Ms Truss insisted it was never meant to affect people’s current pay rates.

The information put out by her campaign said the potential £8.8bn saving from the policy depended on it being “adopted for all public-sector workers in the long term”.

“I wanted to make sure that our important frontline workers like doctors and teachers weren’t worried," Ms Truss said. "That’s why I cancelled the policy.

“I did it straight away. I was decisive and I was honest with the public about what I was doing.”

THE APPRENTICE

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The bio

Favourite food: Japanese

Favourite car: Lamborghini

Favourite hobby: Football

Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough

Favourite country: UAE

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At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Company%20profile
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The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

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The five pillars of Islam
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List of alleged parties
  • May 15 2020: Boris Johnson is said to have attended a Downing Street pizza party
  • 27 Nov 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
  • Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson 
  • Dec 13 2020: Mr Johnson and his then-fiancee Carrie Symonds throw a flat party
  • Dec 14 2020: Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative Party headquarters 
  • Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
  • Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party 
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
  • Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
  • Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
  • Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
  • For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
  • Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
  • Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
  • Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz

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Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush

Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”

A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.

“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Updated: August 03, 2022, 9:03 PM`