BRITISH politics all too often produces a race to the bottom, and there can be fewer better examples than the Conservative Party’s current leadership election.

If nothing else, the tone of the contest is proving true to the agenda that has run through their tenure in government: making the majority pay for the greed of the class that funds them, rolling back our hard-won rights, spreading division and siding with reaction across the world.

Even back when there were five candidates in the running, Rishi Sunak’s comment during a hustings that there was “unity” among all of the contenders when it came to “difficult decisions” over pay was revealing — whatever their view on the exact moment when Boris Johnson became a liability for their career prospects, the next Tory leader is guaranteed to be someone who will seek to further drive down living standards at a time millions are already feeling the squeeze.