Liz Truss has matched her rival Rishi Sunak’s commitment to back the newspaper industry if she becomes the next Prime Minister.

The would-be Tory leader has confirmed she will put the new Digital Markets Unit on a statutory footing and repeal Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 if selected by her party’s membership.

The unit has been launched as part of a new regime aimed at better regulating the tech giants, and Mr Sunak said last month in a letter to the News Media Asssociation that he would power to step in to solve pricing disputes between news outlets and platforms.

He also confirmed plans to repeal Section 40 before the next general election if chosen.

The legislation, designed to force publishers to sign up to a ‘recognised’ system of press regulation, would have seen media organisations having to pay the legal costs of both sides in libel and privacy cases, regardless of whether they win, unless they signed up to an approved press regulator under the government’s Royal Charter.

Ms Truss, pictured, has now confirmed her stance on the same issues in an interview with the Eastern Daily Press.

Asked by local democracy reporter Noah Vickers whether she would match Mr Sunak’s two promises, she said: “I absolutely have already said that I will keep those commitments.”

In a first-person piece reflecting on his encounter with the South West Norfolk MP, Noah wrote: “The interview with Ms Truss took place at Breckland Council’s headquarters in Dereham, where the Tory leadership frontrunner had been meeting with members of her party to encourage them to vote for her.

“Men in black suits kept watch in the car park – and journalists were not allowed to watch the discussions between Ms Truss and the membership.

“A quiet stillness hung in the July air, and the anticipation built as her aides gave assurances that the foreign secretary would be coming out ‘any minute now’.

“When she did emerge, accompanied by an entourage of aides and security, she was full of smiles and warmth – displaying an ease and confidence which has been increasingly prominent in the televised debates between her and rival Rishi Sunak.”