Tory tribes must unite to stop Britain sleepwalking into socialism

A MAN whose integrity, intelligence and commitment to his country was tested in the fire of the pandemic and the subsequent financial crisis addressed his nation in the rain.

- DAVID WILLIAMSON

Rishi Sunak stood outside 10 Downing Street and made the case for why the British electorate should keep him at this address.

He is not ready to exit into the sunset but wants a mandate to restore true prosperity in the UK.

He didn't flinch when a lunatic protester with a loudspeaker tried to drown him out by playing New Labour's de facto theme tune from 1997, Things Can Only Get Better.

The moment captured the sharp choice facing the country. We can stick with a stoic Prime Minister with a legendary work ethic or embrace nostalgia-drenched Leftwingers who are addicted to protest, gesture politics and cheap stunts.

Challenge

If Mr Sunak had been a US President, aides would have held an umbrella over him as he made his pitch. But a PM who delivered the jobs-saving furlough scheme as Covid-19 ravaged the country is not intimidated by the rain.

At the age of 44, he faces the challenge of his lifetime.

He has restored economic stability after harrowing chapters of turmoil and now the goal is to revive growth and defend our borders. To take the country forward, he must win back support for the Conservatives, defy the pundits and the pessimists and lead the party of Churchill and Thatcher to a new election victory.

Different traditions in the Tory and Brexiteer tribes must unite to stop Britain sleep walking into socialism.

There was no hyperbole when the PM said this "election will take place at a time when the world is more dangerous than it has been since the end of the Cold War".

Mr Sunak knows the true nature of the threats posed by a Russia in the grip of a gangster regime and a mighty China intent on shaping the world to serve its interests.