Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss is determined to introduce an emergency budget “within a matter of weeks” if she becomes prime minister, according to Brandon Lewis MP. The former Northern Ireland secretary told LBC: “I know she’ll be looking to do that within a matter of weeks of becoming prime minister if she’s in that fortunate position.”
He said the underlying principle of Ms Truss’s plan will be a low tax economy with growth to ensure people have more money in their pockets, adding that she wanted to “deal with the green levies in the short term”.
“This is something that is affordable within the headwind we’ve got – to go beyond that, obviously does need an emergency budget and that’s the work that’s going on at the moment,” he said.
Mr Lewis denied the Conservatives were “taking a kicking” from Labour over the energy crisis and described Sir Keir Starmer’s plan as “unfunded”.
He also played down suggestions that Boris Johnson has “thrown in the towel” after reports emerged at the weekend that he was on his second holiday in two weeks. He told LBC: “Even when you are not in the office in Downing Street you are working.”
He added: “He’s probably in about his second week [of] holiday in the last year or so certainly this year. So while somebody is away whether they are secretary of state or let alone the Prime Minister, they will be continuing to work.
“I can assure you he will still be going through inboxes, he will still be dealing with national security issues where relevant. Being out of the country does not mean the Prime Minister stops working.”
