Tory leadership: Sunak emphasises handouts to tackle cost of living while Truss rejects ‘Gordon Brown economics’
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are accused of “fighting like rats in a sack” over who will be the next prime minister while households are “desperately worried” about how they will pay energy bills this winter.
Labour shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said that the “zombie government” is “doing absolutely nothing” to ease the cost-of-living crisis.
It comes as independent energy consultancy Auxilione said the cap on energy bills could be lifted to an eye-watering £5,000 in spring 2023, a prediction that Ofgem has advised “extreme caution” over.
Mr Reed told Sky News: “Millions of families are desperately worried that they will be going into debt just to pay their energy bills this winter.
“And instead of doing anything to help, this government has Sunak and Truss fighting each other like rats in a sack and the government doing absolutely nothing about coming up with proposals for how they can help people face this crisis – which is looming and terrifying.”
Earlier, Mr Sunak said he would offer more support to the most vulnerable amid the cost-of-living crisis, while Ms Truss pledged tax cuts and accused him of wanting to impose “Gordon Brown style politics”.