Tory leadership rivals prepare for another round of live television mudslinging: Sunak and Truss locked in furious row over immigration and China as poll shows Liz on course to win but Rishi more popular with the public

• Increasingly bitter battle to replace Boris Johnson and enter No10 in September
• They clashed over immigration plans and takign a hard line against China 
• Allies of Ms Truss labeled Mr Sunak a ‘totally boring failed economist’ 
• His camp said ‘Remainer Truss’ was ‘on the side of human rights lawyers’
• Former party chairwoman said leadership race ‘more toxic than I’ve ever seen’

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are preparing for more live television Tory bloodletting  tonight after their allies clashed angrily over immigration and standing up to China.

In an increasingly bitter battle to replace Boris Johnson and enter No10 the two rival camps spent the weekend tearing into each other to paint the other as a dangerous liability.

Allies of Ms Truss, the foreign secretary, labeled Mr Sunak a ‘totally boring failed economist’ after he vowed to double down on the £120m scheme to send migrants to Rwanda.

He also suggested that some could be housed in disused cruise liners to cut down on a multi-million-pound hotel bill for arrivals crossing the Channel in small boats. 

It prompted claims he was offering unworkable ‘red meat’ to Tory rightwingers because he is losing, but his own camp told the Times: ‘Good to see Remainer Truss on the side of human rights lawyers.’

The pair also clashed over China. When Mr Sunak last night declared Beijing to be ‘the biggest long-term threat to Britain, ‘allies of Liz Truss accused Mr Sunak of being ‘soft on China’ and pursuing closer trade links.

The two are due to appear on a live debate on BBC tonight at 9pm. The last scheduled debate, on Sky News, was pulled at the last minute amid concerns that the party was damaging itself in public.

Former party chairwoman Amanda Milling today branded the leadership race ‘more toxic than I’ve ever seen’. She added that if the two camps didn’t calm down ‘the lasting damage to our Party could see us out of power for a decade’.

It came as a new poll showed that while Ms Truss is more popular with Tory voters, Ms Sunak is ahead when it comes to all voters.

Allies of Ms Truss, the foreign secretary, labeled Mr Sunak a ‘totally boring failed economist’ after he vowed to double down on the £120m scheme to send migrants to Rwanda.

It prompted claims he was offering unworkable ‘red meat’ to Tory rightwingers because he is losing, but his own camp told the Times: ‘Good to see Remainer Truss on the side of human rights lawyers.’

The former Chancellor has been criticised for pushing for closer trade with China, despite the nation cracking down on peaceful protests in Hong Kong (pictured)

It came as a new poll showed that while Ms Truss is more popular with Tory voters, Ms Sunak is ahead when it comes to all voters.

Education Secretary James Cleverly, who is baking Ms Truss, today said a suggestion from Rishi Sunak’s campaign that asylum seekers could be housed on cruise ships could be ‘reputationally quite a negative thing’ for holiday destinations if the ships are moored nearby.

he told Times Radio: ‘It’s understandable that (Mr Sunak) needs to put across a strong position on migration issues. I get that.’

He added: ‘I haven’t seen the practicalities of that. I do think that it would be interesting to see where those ships would be moored because typically the places where you can moor a cruise ship are holiday destinations.

‘And I’m not completely sure that that would suit the tourist industry in our coastal towns which need I think a boost rather than what might be reputationally quite a negative thing, but I will look at that.’

Mr Cleverly added: ‘What we have seen is Liz has consistently taken a strong line on these things, the Foreign Office was of course heavily involved in the negotiation of the Rwanda scheme.

‘Liz Truss has said she is going to extend that to other countries. She has got pre-existing and very strong relationships with a number of other countries around the world, and I think that is a very credible plan.’

 He also said Truss has been talking about addressing the influence of China for ‘quite some time’, and suggested the issue is new for Rishi Sunak’s campaign.

Last night former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of five British MPs sanctioned by China for speaking out on human rights abuses, said it was ‘surprising’ that Mr Sunak was claiming to be tough on Beijing.

Ahead of the leadership contenders’ first head-to-head TV debate tonight, Sir Iain – who is backing Miss Truss – said: ‘Over the last two years, the Treasury has pushed hard for an economic deal with China.

‘This is despite China sanctioning myself and four UK parliamentarians, despite China brutally cracking down on peaceful democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, threatening Taiwan, illegally occupying the South China Sea, committing genocide on the Uyghurs and increasing its influence in our universities.

‘After such a litany, I have one simple question to Mr Sunak: where have you been over the last two years?’ 

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