Liz Truss

Liz Truss, who is widely expected to win the Conservative leadership contest, has pledged she will make an announcement on support for energy bills “o...

“And what I think is completely wrong is the idea that we take huge swathes of people’s money … Sticking plasters and kicking the can down the road will not do,” she said. Former Chancellor and fellow leadership contender Rishi Sunak. “And we need to make sure that we get through it and we need to have every tool in the toolbox and that certainly – as we're seeing in European countries – is certainly one of them. But what I am saying philosophically is I always favour people keeping more of their own money first. “What I can say is that if I'm elected as prime minister, within one week, I will make sure there is an announcement on how we are going to deal with the issue of energy bills and of long term supply to put this country on the right footing for winter,” Truss told the BBC.

The Tory leadership hopeful says Tory policy on distribution of income has failed to grow the economy.

But if her energy plan comes up short for some average households, she will be under pressure to explain why she is effectively keeping back tens of billions for lower NI and cancelling a corporation tax rise. In this specific case, the NI rise also broke a manifesto pledge, which is another reason she judges it as "fair" to reverse it. National Insurance contributions rose by 1.25% in April to fund the NHS and social care. The answer we have become used to on such issues would be that this is only one part of a wider package. Judging such moves in this way would inevitably show many tax cuts in a bad light. "Of course, there are some people who don't pay tax at all," she told the BBC. However, speaking to the BBC, she said she was a "great believer in the independence of the Bank of England". However she decline to give any details. "The second question is how you would pay for tax cuts, because while tax cuts can increase the growth of the economy, they don't do that by so much that the tax cuts pay for themselves." When households that on average have for decades spent roughly £1,000 a year on energy, then move to £3,500 and then £4,000 or £5,000, it is presentationally challenging to prioritise a tax cut that generates that amount of saving only for the richest 10% of the country. But Mr Sunak, speaking on the same programme, said it was right to "focus the most help on the most vulnerable". "But to look at everything through the lens of redistribution I believe is wrong because what I'm about is about growing the economy and growing the economy benefits everybody."

Foreign Secretary expected to give help to poorest households, as she promises to 'act immediately' if she becomes new prime minister.

But she added: "To look at everything through the lens of redistribution I believe is wrong. [ other measures, such as a VAT reduction.](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/08/27/liz-truss-considers-nuclear-option-five-per-cent-vat-cut/) One said: “I’m confident there will be a mechanism introduced that freezes bills”. [ she would prefer not to give “handouts” ](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/08/08/liz-truss-may-use-handouts-tackle-cost-of-living-crisis-ally/)as the solution to the cost of living crisis. [ pointing to her wider tax cut promises.](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/03/first-100-days-pm-liz-truss-words/) The proposal is backed by other energy firms. She added: “I don’t think we should be predicting a sort of Armageddon scenario. Another said the idea had been discussed “quite a lot in the last fortnight”. [ tipped to become chancellor](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/04/liz-truss-warned-divided-party-shuts-rishi-sunak-supporters/) if Ms Truss wins, appeared “very open” to options for a freeze. [declined to rule out a bills freeze for some households.](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/04/liz-truss-refuses-rule-energy-bill-cap-promises-immediate-action/) [ a freeze of some form is now expected.](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/08/17/liz-truss-rishi-sunak-policies-next-prime-minister-tory-leadership/) [ the cost of living crisis.](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/why-everything-more-expensive-bills-rising-cost-living-2022/)

The Foreign Secretary is widely expected to become the new PM when the results of her battle with Rishi Sunak are announced at 12.30pm.

[Germany today announced a near £60 billion plan](https://metro.co.uk/2022/09/04/germany-announces-nearly-60-billion-of-support-to-help-with-the-cost-of-living-17298062/) to deal with inflation and soaring energy costs. [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). [here](https://metro.co.uk/how-to-subscribe-to-metro-news-notifications/). [ news page](https://metro.co.uk/news/). I’m not going to predict’, Lord Lister said. [Find out more »](https://metro.co.uk/news-updates-newsletter/) [Liz Truss rules out energy rationing and says she’ll keep Boris’ £110,000 decor](https://metro.co.uk/2022/08/31/liz-truss-rules-out-energy-rationing-in-last-hustings-with-rishi-sunak-17278821/?ico=more_text_links) Or you can submit your videos and pictures [here](https://metro.co.uk/submit-stuff/). [politics](https://metro.co.uk/tag/politics/?ico=auto_link_news_P3_LNK1). [announcement on the issue within a week](https://metro.co.uk/2022/09/04/energy-bill-help-to-be-announced-within-one-week-if-liz-truss-becomes-pm-17295654/), amid whispers that she is planning a package worth more than £100 billion. [Twins aged eight killed along with sister, 18, in 'violent incident' in Dublin](https://metro.co.uk/2022/09/04/twins-aged-eight-killed-along-with-sister-18-in-violent-incident-in-dublin-17296381/?ico=more_text_links) [Rishi Sunak](https://metro.co.uk/tag/rishi-sunak/?ico=auto_link_news_P2_LNK1) to the keys to Number 10, which would make her Britain’s 56th PM.

On cost of living crisis the likely new prime minister says 'Britain has been through worse'

The new Tory leader will be asked to form a government, triggering the starting gun on what is expected to be a swift reshuffle. He and the new Conservative leader will both travel on Tuesday to Balmoral to see the Queen. Lord Hammond said that while the Conservative Party supported low taxes, “we have to be pragmatic and cutting taxes at a time when we have a huge deficit ... But Ms Truss may still face the type of party unrest that eventually brought down her predecessors. “To look at everything through the lens of redistribution, I believe, is wrong,” she said. If and when she enters Downing Street, Ms Truss will face the most challenging set of circumstances of any new prime minister in recent years. The winner will be informed of their victory only 10 minutes beforehand. [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) There are warnings that vital public services like schools and hospitals could buckle under the soaring charges they face. [Privacy policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en) and [Terms of service](https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en) apply. I mean, why not [tell us now]?” she said. [Kate Devlin](/author/kate-devlin) Comments [Liz Truss](/topic/liz-truss) has warned she will make unpopular decisions as [prime minister](/topic/prime-minister) and defended [tax cuts](/topic/tax-cuts) that benefit the wealthy as “fair”, despite growing calls to ditch them.

At around 12.30pm this afternoon, the returning officer for the Conservative leadership election - chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, ...

I think he would be very successful in a further general election." She'll want to show the public she hears them." [Read more: Who is in the running for top jobs in the next government?](https://news.sky.com/story/conservative-leadership-contest-whos-in-the-running-for-the-top-jobs-in-the-next-government-12680338) [hinted that this may not be the end of his career in frontline politics](https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-could-make-political-comeback-ally-lord-lister-hints-and-says-never-write-him-off-12689772). [Read more: What time is the result and what happens next?](https://news.sky.com/story/conservative-leadership-race-what-time-is-the-result-and-what-happens-next-12690139) [energy bills set to rise](https://news.sky.com/topic/energy-crisis-9741) to around £3,500 this winter for the average household. [promised to unveil a plan to deal with the energy crisis within a week](https://news.sky.com/story/im-ready-to-take-action-on-energy-bills-vows-truss-as-johnson-urges-party-unity-12689524) if she becomes PM. And Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby understands from political and Whitehall sources that - if she wins the leadership contest - Ms Truss will announce a package of support that is going to be bigger than perhaps expected. [leadership race](https://news.sky.com/story/conservative-leadership-race-draws-to-a-close-as-voting-ends-with-winner-to-be-announced-on-monday-12687923) will be looking ahead to appointing their top team after visiting the Queen in Balmoral. On the eve of the announcement, Ms Truss - who has been widely tipped to defeat rival Mr Sunak for the majority of the contest - At around 12.30pm, the returning officer for the Conservative leadership election - chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, Sir Graham Brady - will announce the result of the contest. At around 12.30pm this afternoon, the returning officer for the Conservative leadership election - chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, Sir Graham Brady - will announce the result of the contest.

Where does Boris Johnson stand in the pantheon of modern British prime ministers? He's clearly not in the Churchill or Thatcher first class, and his personal ...

Below is a selection of his very best work, telling the story of Johnson’s time leading the country. The premiership of Boris Johnson has been the most controversial in recent memory. Whether it is Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak who claims the leadership of the Conservative Party and enters Downing Street, they will be hard-pressed to provide such fertile material for cartoonists. [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) However, Brexit and his election success put him above May and Cameron, writes Sean O’Grady However, Brexit and his election success put him above May and Cameron, writes Sean O’Grady. [Privacy policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en) and [Terms of service](https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en) apply. Dave Brown](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-prime-minister-cartoon-dave-brown-b2158351.html) [Where does Boris Johnson stand in the pantheon of modern British prime ministers?](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-prime-minister-uk-b2159346.html) [Refugees minister quits government and declares his job ‘essentially complete’](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/refugees-minister-quits-job-complete-b2159638.html) He’s clearly not in the Churchill or Thatcher first class, and his personal flaws and precipitate fall from power means he’s demoted below the likes of Blair and Wilson in the second division. [Burqas, kippers and Peppa Pig: Twenty one of Boris Johnson’s biggest gaffes](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-speech-biggest-gaffes-jokes-b2159337.html)

Leadership frontrunner urged against handing all top jobs to loyalists, as senior Tories caution against repeating Boris Johnson's mistakes.

[The leadership frontrunner](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/03/how-liz-truss-won-battle-no-10/) is expected to announce a series of appointments for her closest allies if she wins the contest on Monday, including Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor and James Cleverly as foreign secretary. It wasn’t a meritocratic Cabinet – it wasn’t the best people.” [Sir Iain Duncan Smith](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/07/13/sat-cabinet-liz-truss-why-should-next-prime-minister/), who has been a key figure in her campaign, will return to the Cabinet for the first time since he resigned in 2016 over his opposition to cuts to disability benefits. was the fact he “But if she gets a lower share of a significantly lower turnout, it will be very incumbent on her to show she can bring the entire party together.” [basically created a Cabinet of loyalists](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/07/24/boris-johnson-prime-minister-new-cabinet-latest-news-speech/).

Foreign secretary widely tipped to win Conservative leadership race on Monday.

But I want to provide reassurance that this will be done in a fiscally responsible way. [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) [Privacy policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en) and [Terms of service](https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en) apply. That is why I cannot go into details at this stage. Once the result of the contest is known, Mr Johnson and his successor will go to Balmoral, rather than Buckingham Palace, for the appointment of the new prime minister on Tuesday, in a break from tradition. She told the BBC “growing the economy benefits everybody” and it is “wrong” to look at everything through the “lens of redistribution”. “This is the moment for every Conservative to come together – and back that new leader wholeheartedly,” he wrote in the Sunday Express. The new leader is expected to make a speech following the announcement, before spending the rest of the day finalising their choices for Cabinet and wider ministerial roles and writing their first prime ministerial speech. “This is why it will take a week to sort out the precise plans and make sure we are able to announce them. Liz is committed to a lean state and, as the immediate shock subsides, we will work to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio over time,” he wrote. [Kwasi Kwarteng](/topic/kwasi-kwarteng), widely tipped to be the next chancellor if Ms Truss is successful on Monday, used an article in the Financial Times to stress that the next [Government](/topic/government) will behave in a “fiscally responsible” way. Mr Kwarteng, a close political and ideological ally of Ms Truss, offered a vision for how he would operate the Treasury as he said that the next Government would be “decisive and do things differently”.

Ahead of the results being announced, several reports suggested Ms Truss is strongly considering freezing energy bills to help households through the cost-of- ...

[Sir Keir Starmer](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/sir-keir-starmer) at the dispatch box in the House of Commons for their first Prime Minister’s Questions at noon. Reports in The Daily Telegraph and The Times suggest that Ms Truss is likely to introduce an energy bills freeze in some form. The package could be on the sale of the furlough scheme introduced by then-chancellor Rishi Sunak when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, reported The Times. However, Brexit and his election success put him above May and Cameron, writes Sean O’Grady [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) However, Brexit and his election success put him above May and Cameron, writes Sean O’Grady. [Privacy policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en) and [Terms of service](https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en) apply. “As parents battle rising costs of living, soaring childcare costs are making life ever harder for families,” she said. [Where does Boris Johnson stand in the pantheon of modern British prime ministers?](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-prime-minister-uk-b2159346.html) [Kwasi Kwarteng](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/kwasi-kwarteng), who is expected to be Britain’s next [chancellor](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/chancellor), said [Liz Truss](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/liz-truss) will not blow a hole in the public finances as he strived to reassure [markets](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/markets) ahead of the results of the Tory leadership race. [When will the Tory leadership result be announced?](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liz-truss-rishi-sunak-tory-leadership-result-vote-when-b2159333.html) [Conservative Party](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/conservative-party) leadership race to replace [Boris Johnson](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/boris-johnson) are scheduled to be announced in Westminster at 12.30pm by [Sir Graham Brady](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/sir-graham-brady), chairman of the party’s [1922 Committee](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/1922-committee) of backbenchers.

Having made tax cuts a key priority during her leadership campaign, Ms Truss had remained tight-lipped into Sunday about what kind of support package she might ...

But I want to provide reassurance that this will be done in a fiscally responsible way. Once the result of the contest is known, Mr Johnson and his successor will go to Balmoral, rather than Buckingham Palace, for the appointment of the new prime minister on Tuesday, in a break from tradition. That is why I cannot go into details at this stage. This will be followed by an audience with the new Tory leader, where she or he will be invited to form a government. The new leader is expected to make a speech following the announcement, before spending the rest of the day finalising their choices for Cabinet and wider ministerial roles and writing their first prime ministerial speech. Liz Truss is strongly considering freezing energy bills in a bid to ease the burden on households this winter, according to reports.

Team Rishi was running a general election campaign, but Truss knew her audience – the Tory members – and kept her eye on the ball. LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST ...

“It was a really bad mistake and it shouldn’t have got through but they scrapped it really quickly so it didn’t become a problem, they admitted it was a f*** up,” the source said. “We’ve had enough of that, we need to get away from the chaos and back to something much more consistent and competent.” “They were always on the front foot, they had strong consistent messages, and they landed really well in the key papers, where they always had content,” they said. “It was a message people liked, people thought it was a roll of the dice but a gamble worth taking.” “Rishi’s team were focused on the MPs for a week-and-a-half, and then once it became clear they were in the final two, they thought they were running a general election campaign. “Rishi’s team fell into the trap of thinking a couple of nice social videos and the Instagrammability of Rishi would be enough.” “Rishi lost the moment Liz made it to the final two and there was a candidate to the right of him,” they said. The insider said: “Liz was very smart in having Mark Fulbrook as he knows that one bit of politics really well – the Tory Party – and that was a massive advantage. Meanwhile, the MP admitted that Mr Sunak’s team perhaps underestimated Ms Truss “in terms of the way she performed” and would go on to perform in hustings and debates. “Liz had a very difficult start to the campaign, she improved a lot from her first hustings appearance” they said. “I think people underestimating her, and how badly she wanted it, and how quickly she could improve, was actually a massive advantage to her,” they said. The MP also conceded the fact that Mr Sunak is “very clearly from a wealthy background” amid a cost of living crisis “clearly affected him”.

Liz Truss look set to ignore warnings and appoint a ministerial team made up of her own supporters and Boris Johnson allies.

It’s a Cabinet that’s picked on the basis of loyalty to the Prime Minister.” Kwasi Kwarteng and Therese Coffey, two of Ms Truss’ closest allies, are expected to be appointed Chancellor and Health Secretary on Wednesday. David Davis, another Sunak supporter, told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge that “the greatest mistake Boris Johnson made … Former Tory Cabinet minister David Gauke said there should be a diversity of views in the new Cabinet that “reflected a range of views across the parliamentary party and fundamentally selected on merit on ability, rather than on personal loyalty to the prime minister”. He said the next Prime Minister’s “loyalty is to a bigger entity – your loyalty is to the party and the country”, adding: “There is a real risk the party will feel divided [after Monday’s result] and if that’s the case we won’t win the next election, so it’s going to be really important she pulls people in.” Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, a leading supporter of Mr Sunak and one of the fiercest critics of Ms Truss’ campaign, is expected to be sacked from the Cabinet.

The Scottish Labour leader and the SNP's Ian Blackford joined the chorus of calls for immediate action on the energy crisis.

The second thing they need to do is call a general election.” “Scotland wants a different future to the one being imposed under harmful Westminster control. The first thing the Prime Minister needs to do is freeze energy prices. Labour currently has a healthy lead over the Tories in the polls but with the next general election not due until late 2024 Truss is expected to get a bounce in support when she enters Number 10 and announces emergency help for bills. Sarwar said that regardless of who wins the contest the new premier will be “Boris Johnson with neater hair, but without the jokes”. It’s just more of the same.