Viewpoints: Leaders need to do more

Letters this week in our 'Viewpoints' section of the Manchester Evening News paper see readers focus on the Conservative Party and the upcoming decision on who will next lead the country.

Although Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss participated in the downfall of Boris Johnson they appear anxious to convince their supporters that they have not departed from upholding his general principles and are concerned in case they are seen to be in danger of adopting a more liberal attitude towards those at the bottom of the wages ladder.

Mr Sunak apparently feels that he must still give the impression that he will not be reckless with tax cuts: both to the party faithful and to those who may not be full-blooded Tories but who back the party, perhaps a little reluctantly, because they feel that they are the traditional good managers.

On the other hand Mrs Truss feels the need to show that the only changes she will contemplate are stronger measures which will widen, even further, the gap between rich and poor, one of her main points being that ‘there will be no handouts’.

READ MORE:Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak tear into "miserabilist mayor" Andy Burnham during Manchester Tory leadership hustings

It is quite clear that our country is in for a tough time financially but have Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss forgotten that whilst it is the Conservative Party members who will vote one of them into the highest political office in the land, it was actually the millions of ‘red-line’ voters who changed sides at the last election, persuaded by the prospect of a brighter future with Brexit?

To return to the analogy of the ladder, I wonder if either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss has noticed that when someone is working from a ladder someone else at the bottom of