Sky News debate crowd cheers as Liz Truss says she won't apologise to Nicola Sturgeon

Asked by Kay Burley whether she would say sorry to Scotland's First Minister, the Tory leadership contender said "No I won't".

The Foreign Secretary received cheers from the Conservative membership audience for her response.

Truss sparked a major backlash earlier this week after she said Sturgeon is "an attention seeker" that she would "ignore" if she wins the Tory contest.

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Despite later backtracking on her comments, at a leadership hustings in Cardiff on Wednesday, Truss defended her insult against Sturgeon.

At the same event, she took a swipe at Wales's First Minister, calling Mark Drakeford a "low energy Jeremy Corbyn".

The South West Norfolk appeared on Sky News along with her opponent Rishi Sunak on Thursday.

Truss also refused to say whether she would strip the Tory whip from Boris Johnson if he is found to have lied to MPs, saying she would not make any “prejudgments” before then saying he “didn’t mislead Parliament”.

Asked at the Sky debate, the Tory leadership contender said: “I’m not making any prejudgments, I’ll see what the committee says.”

Kay Burley, middle, hosted the debate between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss

She added: “I’m not making any prejudgments about that, but by the way I’m very clear he didn’t mislead Parliament.”

Truss came under fire from Conservative Party members, being told that her abandoned £8.8 billion policy pledge to cut the public sector wage bill had been “quite offensive”.

The member asked her: “Why did you announce a well researched and fully-costed policy in which you openly said you valued the work of teachers, nurses and police officers in Newcastle where I work, less than you value those in Guildford, for example? We’re having this election because of poor judgment and trust. Why should we trust your judgment?”

Truss repeated her claim that she had decided to drop the policy because it was being misinterpreted.

She was asked by the member: “Will you apologise? Because it was actually quite offensive.”

Truss stopped short of apologising, saying: “I have been very clear that I will not go ahead with this policy, and that I have made a decision to do that straight away.

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“And I’ve been upfront about that. I don’t think there is anything to be ashamed of, of saying publicly that this is not working as I wanted it to work, and therefore, I have changed the position on it and I’m not going ahead with it.”

At the Sky event, Sunak vowed he will not concede despite Truss being the frontrunner, and pledged to “fight incredibly hard ’til the last day” of the leadership campaign.

Rishi Sunak said he will fight until the end of the leadership battle

The former chancellor told a Conservative party member who asked if there was a point when he would stand aside: “The quick answer is no, and that’s because I’m fighting for something I really believe in and I’m taking my ideas around the country.

“I’m talking to all of you, our members across the country about what I think is best for our country at a really difficult time. And I want to have that debate with people because I passionately believe what I’m saying is right. I want to convince as many people of that as possible and hopefully I can do that with you all tonight.”

He added: “I’m going to fight incredibly hard ’til the last day of this campaign for each and every one of your votes.

“The stakes are really high. I’m passionate at what I believe in, and I want to try and convince you all that I’m right.”