With energy regulator Ofgem expected to raise the price cap to £3,500 a year from October for the average dual-fuel tariff, Truss warned that the issue of spiraling fuel costs was not short-term. “If people think this problem will end in six months, they are wrong. This is a long-term problem,” he told the audience in Norfolk. But Sunak said her planned tax cuts would fail to help pensioners and those on lower incomes, adding that extra support for businesses struggling with energy bills was “obviously something the new prime minister will have to look at”. The two candidates’ financial plans were at the center of the appeals Thursday night, given the risk of a worsening cost-of-living crisis. But Truss appeared more relaxed, given she is comfortably top in the Tory member polls, and confidently took shots at Mr Sunak, the BBC and French President Emmanuel Macron. The foreign secretary said she would prefer Boris Johnson to be prime minister than her rival in the leadership race. When asked if Macron was friend or foe, he said: “The jury is out. If I become prime minister, I will judge him by actions and not by words.” And he said anyone who thought the BBC was neutral was “kidding ourselves”. After Sunak claimed the downsides of lockdowns had not been properly considered during the Covid pandemic, Truss went further to argue that schools should never have closed and said she raised concerns about whether the government was being “too draconian”. Truss pointed to education when asked by Talk TV host Julia Hartley-Brewer what public service had improved in the last 12 years of Conservative government. Sunak struggled to name one, but emphasized the success of the furlough program he introduced. He was more polite when asked whether Johnson or Truss would make a better prime minister, choosing his opponent over the outgoing leader. Despite crossing familiar territory for the two candidates, the issue of the cost of living became more relevant in light of Ofgem’s impending announcement on Friday. Sunak said reversing the rise in national insurance and suspending the green levy “doesn’t help” millions of people who are at risk of “falling into poverty”. He said it was “not credible” that the government would protect everyone but would “go further” by providing extra financial support to pensioners and those on the lowest incomes – around a third of workers – as well as cutting VAT on energy bills . “If we don’t do something concrete for these people, there is a big risk that millions of people will fall into poverty,” the former chancellor said. The tax cuts “don’t help” those groups, he added. Truss admitted there was “a huge problem with people not being able to afford energy”, but added: “What’s not right is just pumping more money into the system, what we really need to do is fix the energy supply. “ He said there should be greater supplies of nuclear and renewable energy, as well as oil from the North Sea. Truss last night pledged to get people out of the energy crisis. Writing in the Daily Mail, he said he would use an emergency budget next month to “ensure support is on the way to get us through these difficult times”. “I know how difficult it is for millions of Britons and how serious the concerns are about the consequences of Ofgem’s decision today on the next energy price cap,” he wrote. “The rest of Europe faces the same challenge, which will be great as winter sets in. “If elected leader of the Conservative party and prime minister, I will take decisive action to get into No 10 to provide immediate support, but I will also tackle the root causes of these issues so that we are never in this predicament again. For those of you feeling the squeeze, my message is clear: I will ensure that support is on the way and that we get through these difficult times.” The Times reported that Truss this week also held talks with Kwasi Kwarteng, who is likely to be appointed chancellor if she wins the Tory leadership contest, to discuss emergency support payments for the most vulnerable over the winter. The pair apparently met at Chevening, the foreign secretary’s grace and favor in the province, to discuss a multi-billion pound package aimed at pensioners and the poorest households. Among the measures said to have been discussed were adopting Sunak’s plan to scrap VAT on energy bills and using universal credit to increase help for people with larger families or people with disabilities.
