Tory leadership race: Liz Truss insists U-turn over regional pay policy shows she is ‘decisive’
Rishi Sunak’s plan to balance the books following the economic devastation wrought by the Covid pandemic is “riskier” than his rival’s pledge to cut taxes, Sajid Javid has claimed.
The former health secretary was out on the broadcast round earlier after backing Liz Truss in the Tory leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson as party leader and prime minister.
In an interview with Times Radio, he acknowledged Ms Truss’s pledge to grow the economy by cutting taxes was “risky” but “not cutting taxes now is also risky and I think it’s the riskier option”.
Meanwhile, Mr Truss is facing questions over why she did not declare thousands of pounds spent on schmoozing Tory MPs in the run up to her bid to succeed Boris Johnson.
Around a dozen Conservative MPs attended a so-called “Fizz with Liz” champagne dinner hosted by the foreign secretary at Mayfair members club 5 Hertford St last year.
The event was paid for by club owner, multimillionaire aristocrat Robin Birley.
What is driving the policy merry-go-round of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak?
The two candidates are engaged in a policy arms race ahead of ballots arriving on Tory members’ doormats, writes Ashley Cowburn
Read Ashley’s full piece here:
What is driving the policy merry-go-round of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak?
The two candidates are engaged in a policy arms race ahead of ballots arriving on Tory members’ doormats, writes Ashley Cowburn
Liz Truss facing first sleaze investigation over ‘murky donations’
Liz Truss is facing the possibility of her first major sleaze probe amid claims she failed to declare “murky donations” related to her leadership campaign.
Labour on Thursday appealed to Cabinet secretary to open an investigation into the Tory frontrunner over funding for a so-called “Fizz with Liz” champagne dinner.
Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports:
Liz Truss facing first sleaze investigation over ‘murky donations’
Labour writes to Cabinet secretary demanding ‘urgent’ probe into ‘Fizz with Liz’ event
ICYMI: Rishi Sunak could be PM in a month – does this count as ‘vilifying’ Britain?
For reasons only they can truly understand, writes Tom Peck, both candidates evidently feel they have an obligation to launch new policies every single day, for six full weeks.
Read Tom’s full piece here:
Sunak could be PM in a month – does this count as ‘vilifying’ Britain? | Tom Peck
For reasons only they can truly understand, both candidates evidently feel they have an obligation to launch new policies every single day, for six full weeks
Government must come forward with more help for energy bills
The government has “got to come forward” with more help for people struggling to pay their energy bills, Labour has said.
Darren Jones, chair of the business committee, spoke to LBC earlier after the Bank of England hiked interest rates to 1.75 per cent, warned inflation will hit 13 per cent by the end of the year and that the country is set for a recession.
He said Labour would cut VAT on energy bills to help people pay. More comments from Mr Jones below:
Ken Clarke: Truss tax cuts ‘for wealthy’ could stoke inflation
Conservative former chancellor Ken Clarke suggested Liz Truss’s plan for immediate tax cuts runs “the risk of contributing to the problem”.
Lord Clarke of Nottingham said the country is in “total stagflation”, telling BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “It may be the government has to do something to help the people who will be badly hit, and some households are being badly hit already, but it should be very narrowly, strictly targeted to the people who can’t cope – who are the poor.
“I very much hope we don’t see an increase in the number of people destitute in this country. We already have too many people in abject poverty and the number is likely to rise, and I think the government should be looking at things that help the very poorest and the very low-paid, and things like universal credit.
“What we don’t want is immediate tax cuts which cheer up the better off and are particularly valuable to the very wealthy.”
He cautioned such an approach could make inflation “worse”, adding: “It’d really run the risk of contributing to the problem so I don’t think tax cuts are terribly relevant at the moment.
“I think targeted help for the poorest and less well-paid is justified – they’ve done some of that already and I think they may have to do more.”
Should the West stop helping Ukraine like Jeremy Corbyn suggests? No – and here’s why
The idea of a ‘brokered peace’ in Ukraine comes from the fantasy notion that Putin doesn’t want this war, writes Sunny Hundal.
Read Sunny’s full article below:
Opinion: Should the West stop helping Ukraine? No – and here’s why
The idea of a ‘brokered peace’ in Ukraine comes from the fantasy notion that Putin doesn’t want this war
The cult of Boris Johnson spells trouble for Liz Truss
Conservative Party members are not reconciled to the prime minister’s departure, writes John Rentoul
Read his full piece here:
The cult of Boris Johnson spells trouble for Prime Minister Liz Truss | John Rentoul
Conservative Party members are not reconciled to the prime minister’s departure, writes John Rentoul
Don’t Pay: Government says campaign for energy bill payers’ strike is ‘highly irresponsible’
The government has said a campaign for energy bill-payers to go on strike and refuse to pay rising tariffs is “highly irresponsible”.
A campaign group called Don’t Pay says 70,000 people have so far pledged to cancel their direct debits for gas and electricity in protest at escalating costs.
Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports:
Government says campaign for energy bill payers’ strike is ‘highly irresponsible’
Campaign group Don’t Pay says thousands are pledging to cancel their direct debits
‘I’ve wasted a year’: Afghan evacuee has spent 11 months in hotel
An Afghan evacuee who lived in a hotel near Leeds for almost a year has described feeling like her family’s “lives are paused” as they await news of permanent accommodation from the Home Office.
In a letter seen by the BBC, refugees minister Lord Harrington appealed to councils to help house the 10,500 Afghans currently staying at hotels across the UK.
Marwa Koofi, 21, fled Kabul, Afghanistan when the city fell to the Taliban in August last year and has lived in two hotels over the last 12 months.
She said the year has felt “wasted” and has recently been split up from family members after three of them were moved from a hotel in Selby, North Yorkshire to one near Crawley, West Sussex.
“I stayed in a hotel for 11 months, I don’t want to stay in a hotel for another 11 months,” Ms Koofi, who is set to study International Relations at King’s College London in September, said.
“I have wasted a year because my hotel (in Selby) was in a location where I couldn’t do anything. When I think back to the year, I just see it as a blank – it’s nothing, I haven’t done anything.
“You don’t even have the energy to get up from your bed because you know your day is nothing. I feel like our lives are paused, I just want our lives to be played.”
Truss threatens to interfere with Bank of England mandate after policy disagreement
Liz Truss is to review the Bank of England‘s mandate after supporters of her leadership campaign said it had been “too slow” to raise interest rates.
The Tory leadership frontrunner believes the bank, which has been independent of government since the 1990s, should have raised interest rates “a long time ago”.
Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports:
Liz Truss to interfere with Bank of England mandate after policy disagreement
Tory leadership frontrunner has taken issue with Bank policy on interest rates
