Newspaper headlines: 'Advantage Truss' ahead of 'blue on blue dogfight'

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By BBC News
Staff
PA Media

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is considered the favourite to be the next prime minister after making it to the final two of the Tory leadership race

Amid predictions of a bitter contest ahead, the papers size up the chances of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss - and run through some of the policies they hope will make them prime minister.

In an article in the Daily Mail, Ms Truss pledges to hold an emergency budget to immediately reverse the recent national insurance rise and suspend the green levy on energy bills. She says the party has been going in the wrong direction on tax and promises to be "a true tax-cutting, freedom-loving Conservative".

In a piece for the Daily Telegraph, Mr Sunak says he respects his rival and agrees with her that tax cuts are ultimately needed for economic growth. The paper says the language represents a softening of his criticism of Ms Truss. But he also argues that growth can only be achieved on a foundation of low inflation and sound public finances.

Most papers say Liz Truss is seen as the front-runner. The Financial Times says she starts as the "slim favourite", while the Telegraph says it is "advantage Truss".

The Times highlights opinion polls suggesting that she is nearly 20 points ahead among Conservative members. The paper says Rishi Sunak faces an uphill struggle. A Tory strategist says party members associate him with tax increases and "he doesn't excite them" because they see him as "technocratic and wooden."

There's almost unanimous expectation that the contest will be brutal. The Independent website predicts a "summer of vicious infighting", while the Guardian says the Conservatives are braced for "a blue on blue dogfight".

Reuters

World champion chess player Magnus Carlsen has announced he will not defend his title this year

The Sun says there will be "blue on blue bloodshed". The Telegraph says Mr Sunak's side will target Ms Truss over her decision to vote to remain in the EU and what critics have dubbed her "stilted communication style". According to the Times, allies of Ms Truss will launch personal attacks on Mr Sunak, blaming him for high inflation and accusing him of disloyalty to Boris Johnson.

The Daily Mirror's Kevin Maguire says the contest is "made in heaven" for Labour. He describes Ms Truss as "a vacuous chancer who would be out of her depth in a puddle" and Mr Sunak as "the moneybags chancellor who hiked taxes to 1940s levels, while his family avoided their fair share".

According to the i newspaper, there is a great deal of anger among Conservative Party members that Penny Mordaunt didn't make it into the final two. The paper says it has spoken to a number Conservative association chairmen in England and Wales and many of them feel the party's chances of winning the next election will be damaged with either Ms Truss or Mr Sunak at the helm.

Away from the leadership contest, the Sun reports that the Ukrainian army is using British missiles to strike Russian ammunition dumps and field headquarters behind the front line. Ukraine's deputy defence minister tells the paper the missiles are a game changer and have enabled his troops to halt Russian advances.

And the Financial Times reports on dismay in the global chess community. World champion Magnus Carlsen has decided not to defend his title. The 31-year-old Norwegian, one of the best players in the history of the game, said he wasn't "motivated to play another match".