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In a television debate between the two contenders for the leadership of the Conservative party (and hence the prime ministership), Rishi Sunak said it would be irresponsible to put the country in even more debt by cutting taxes and Liz Truss said that the tax rises he approved would put Britain into a recession. Mr Sunak was criticised for interrupting. A later proposal he made to cut VAT when the price cap on energy bills rose above £3,000 only brought accusations of a U-turn. He agreed to be interviewed by Andrew Neil on Channel 4, but Ms Truss didn’t. Opinion polls put Ms Truss well ahead among Conservative voters; Labour voters preferred Mr Sunak. Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, made a speech favouring ‘growth, growth and growth’, in pursuit of which he would establish an Industrial Strategy Council to set out ‘national priorities that go beyond the political cycle’. Lord Trimble died aged 77. As the Ulster Unionist leader he was awarded the Nobel peace prize with John Hume, the SDLP leader, in 1998.
The Commons health and social care select committee, chaired by the former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, said the National Health Service faced its worst workforce crisis. The percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus rose to one in 17 in England and one in 15 in Scotland (from one in 19 and one in 16 a week earlier), according to surveys by the Office for National Statistics. Deaths involving Covid in the United Kingdom had totalled more than 200,000 by June.
National Grid had paid £9,724 per megawatt hour, more than 50 times the typical price, to Belgium the day after the hottest day, to prevent London losing power.
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