MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Likely future UK PM would not hesitate to use nukes

According to the latest polls, Truss is 26 points ahead of Sunak

Foreign Minister Liz Truss, the leading candidate to become the United Kingdom's Prime Minister next month, has said she would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if the time comes. “I am ready to do it,” said the Conservative leader who is competing against former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson.

 “I think it's an important responsibility of a prime minister. I am ready to do it,” Truss said on a YouTube radio broadcast. She admitted she would use weapons of mass destruction even if it meant global annihilation under the proper circumstances.

Truss looks increasingly likely to head the British Government starting next month when the announcement is made after the Summer recess.

Her controversial remarks came during a meeting of Conservative Party members in Birmingham Tuesday when she was asked how she felt about pressing “the button.” The top British diplomat seemed emotionless when replying.

Truss and Sunak are the two final contenders for the post of prime minister, which came after Johnson's resignation on July 7 following numerous political scandals.

The last round of voting in the Tory leadership race is underway. Nearly 200,000 party members are choosing Johnson's successor by mail. The results are expected to be Sept. 5.

The foreign secretary did not elaborate on which country the UK might be persuaded to use nuclear weapons against. In the past, Truss has repeatedly targeted Russia and strongly sides with Ukraine in the ongoing conflict. She also pledged to raise military spending by 3% of GDP by the end of the decade.

Both Truss and Sunak have blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the poor performance of Britain's economy amid high inflation, soaring gas prices, and an increasingly unaffordable cost of living.

Ahead of the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia, Sunak wants Putin banned altogether while Truss would rather confront him at the event.

According to the latest polls, Truss is 26 points ahead of Sunak, who was among the first to quit his post in Johnson’s cabinet, thus unleashing the incumbent Prime Minister's fall.