But have Tory members already made up their minds? Polls showed Truss ahead of the former chancellor among rank-and-file members. Stephen Bush, who runs the Inside Politics newsletter, warns that Sunak has limited time to close the gap with Truss, as “most Conservative members will vote as soon as their ballot papers arrive”. Whoever wins the leadership race will inherit a wave of industrial discontent. Thousands of BT workers will walk out on Monday in the second of two strikes, led by the Communications Workers Union, in a dispute over pay. In response to BT’s £1,500 pay deal offered to staff in April, the CWU said company bosses had “stuck two fingers up” at workers. Dock workers at the UK’s largest container port are also expected to strike in August. Across the Atlantic, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will address the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas despite international backlash after a speech he gave on race led to the resignation of one of his close aides, who called it “pure Nazi”. Speaking of controversial international travel, Kathrin Hille reports that China is pulling out all the stops – possibly including the military – to prevent US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from visiting Taiwan in the coming days. Doom and gloom aside, we can look forward to a weekend of feasting. As well as World Beer Day on Friday, Brighton’s streets will be awash with glitter as one of the UK’s biggest Pride events kicks off. The annual LGBTQ parade will see thousands of people flock to the south coast of England. And don’t miss Fire of Love on the big screen, writes our film critic Danny Leigh.

Financial data

The Bank of England will be in a tight spot on Thursday as its Monetary Policy Committee considers how high to raise interest rates in a bid to reduce inflation to its 2% target. It is currently at a 40-year high of 9.4 percent and is expected to climb higher. Gov. Andrew Bailey said a half-percentage-point increase — which would be the biggest increase in 27 years — is on the table. The BoE is under pressure to step up efforts to curb inflation after the US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points for a second consecutive month on Wednesday. The White House will trumpet any good news from US employment data this week to play down fears of a recession. The economy contracted for a second straight quarter and “core” personal consumption expenditures rose 0.6% in June.

Companies

The August earnings lull isn’t quite upon us. After last week’s frenzy, things will only ease up a little in the coming days, says FT corporate commentator Cat Rutter Pooley. The narrative of consumer goods and drinks groups raising sales forecasts on rising inflation has been set ahead of results from Heineken on Monday and Kellogg’s on Thursday. Windfall gains by oil and gas groups were also a major focus of the earnings season. After Shell raked in $11.5 billion in profit in a record quarter, it’s BP’s turn to step into the political storm on Tuesday. The UK imposed additional taxes on energy companies this year, but another round of record profits could increase calls for additional levies. And while major US banks have given their updates on what it looked like centuries ago, reports from European banking are still circulating. HSBC will report on whether lockdowns in China continued to weigh on its profitability in Asia, while Bank of Ireland and Commerzbank both report on Wednesday. Read the full calendar for the week here.