Boris Johnson has said whoever succeeds him as prime minister will announce “another huge package of financial support” as Britain faces sky-high costs this winter.
The outgoing PM hinted at the scale of the options to ease the burden being teed up for either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak to consider, as he insisted “we must and we will help people through the crisis”.
But his likely successor, Liz Truss, has so far been vague about what form of assistance she might make available besides slashing green levies on energy bills and reversing the controversial national insurance hike.
She has argued it is not “right” to announce her full plan before the contest is over or she has seen all the analysis being prepared in Whitehall.
Truss has also attracted backlash from the Rishi Sunak camp over reports she is considering a 5 per cent VAT cut.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the 20 per cent headline rate of VAT could be cut 15 per cent, saving the average household more than £1,300 per year.
But a source from Mr Sunak’s campaign said this would be “incredibly regressive” and cost north of £30 billion.
Writing in the New Statesman today David Gauke said Truss is likely to run into trouble soon with a worsening economic picture.
It will leave the Tories facing defeat at a General Election and they could be prepared to gamble on Johnson again, something Rory Stewart believes to be credible.
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