Truss claims recession ‘not inevitable’ despite Bank of England warning
Liz Truss has been forced to back away from her rejection of cost of living “handouts” amid growing calls for an emergency budget to help families facing a “financial timebomb” this winter.
For the second time in a week – following her earlier U-turn on regional pay – supporters claimed that the Tory leadership frontrunner’s comments had been “misinterpreted”.
But leadership rival Rishi Sunak said the foreign secretary was “simply wrong” to rely on tax cuts rather than direct payments to help the millions of people struggling to pay energy bills.
Meanwhile, former prime minister Gordon Brown has demanded the government to come up with an emergency budget before a “financial timebomb” in October “pushes millions over the edge”.
A report commissioned by the former Labour prime minister found that families will be up to £1,600 worse off this year, even after existing government support of up to £1,200 per household has been paid out.
Further, Labour has warned that one pound in every five spent by pensioners this winter will go on energy bills
Labour slams Raab for ‘considering changes to ministerial accountability in judicial reviews’
The Justice Secretary is reportedly considering introducing changes that could limit ministers’ accountability in judicial reviews.
According to a leaked Ministry of Justice (MoJ) paper, reportedly seen by The Guardian, Dominic Raab is weighing up a move that would likely make it more difficult for claimants who have concerns about decisions taken by public bodies to bring successful legal challenges against the Government.
The document reportedly states: “You (Mr Raab) have indicated that you are minded to consult on further reforms to judicial review.”
Proposed changes in the document reportedly range from dictating the criteria judges must apply in cases, to increasing the cost burden if parties are found not to have standing.
Shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said the reported changes showed the government thinks “the law only applies to the little people”.
The Labour MP said: “This leak is yet more proof that the Lord Chancellor and this arrogant Conservative government thinks that the law only applies to the little people.”
Emily Atkinson8 August 2022 07:20
Major campaign bids to boost green investment in London
A major campaign aimed at boosting green investment across communities in London is being fronted by celebrities and sports stars.
The £500k Opportunity London Project is backed and partially funded by London mayor Sadiq Khan, the cross-party group London Councils, which represents the capital’s 32 boroughs, and the City of London Corporation.
A group of London Ambassadors, which will include recognisable names from the sporting and cultural worlds, will become the faces of the campaign, representing what London is about as a city.
The ambassadors will be selected and appointed over the next few months and will come from all backgrounds, including property, with some drawn from supporter organisations.
Their mission will be to showcase London as one of the best places in the world to invest – particularly in real estate, regeneration and green infrastructure.
Mr Khan said: “To maintain London’s place as a leading global city we need to compete for investment in sustainable growth with other leading cities.
Namita Singh8 August 2022 07:05
Thatcher’s energy secretary says Tory leadership contenders’ response to price spike ‘inadequate’
Margaret Thatcher’s former energy secretary has denounced the plans of the two candidates for the Tory leadership to deal with the power price crisis as “completely inadequate”.
David Howell said that the expected hike in the energy price cap to an average £3,700 or more will “paralyse” the lives of huge numbers of Britons.
He called for immediate action to relieve suffering this winter, both through grants and loans to those most vulnerable and through international diplomacy to open up more supplies of gas and oil.
Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have said they are ready to look at means of easing pressure on families facing a cost-of-living crisis, with inflation forecast by the Bank of England to hit 13 per cent this year.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports:
Thatcher’s energy secretary says Tory rivals’ response to price spike ‘inadequate’
‘Let them eat cake’: Promises of future nuclear, wind and solar power ‘like Marie Antoinette’
Namita Singh8 August 2022 06:50
Thousands of infected blood victims to receive £100,000 compensation ‘as soon as possible’
Thousands of victims of the infected blood scandal will receive £100,000 interim payments in compensation “as soon as possible”, the government is to announce.
The Infected Blood Inquiry was established to examine how thousands of patients in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.
There are believed to be more than 4,000 surviving victims from what has been labelled the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, during which about 2,400 people died.
Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the inquiry, last month called for the compensation to be paid “without delay” to all infected blood victims and bereaved partners.
Read the details in this report by Chiara Giordano:
Thousands of infected blood victims to receive £100,000 compensation
Estimated 4,000 victims survived what has been labelled the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS which saw 2,400 die
Namita Singh8 August 2022 06:35
Pensioners to spend one pound out of every five on energy bills, warns Labour
One pound in every five spent by pensioners this winter will go on energy bills, Labour has warned.
With rises in the energy price cap forecast to push typical annual bills above £3,700 in October and as high as £4,400 in January and £4,700 in April, keeping warm will cost the elderly eye-watering sums.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is understood to be finalising a package of support that Labour will propose as a means of staving off the worst hardship.
Without further support, the party calculates that pensioners’ spending on electricity and gas will this year be almost triple the figure for 2020/21, as a proportion of their outgoings.
Read the details in this report from our political editor Andrew Woodcock:
Pensioners to spend one pound out of every five on energy bills, Labour warns
Proportion of outgoings taken by gas and electricity has almost trebled
Namita Singh8 August 2022 06:20
Existing package not enough in ‘extraordinarily difficult times’ concedes Tory MP
Tory MP Damian Hinds conceded the existing package was not enough in these “extraordinarily difficult times”.
He told Sky News: “Things have been getting worse even since that was put into place in terms of projections for energy bills… and he’s been clear that more may well be needed and he is ready to do that as required.”
Namita Singh8 August 2022 06:05
Former PM Gordon Brown demands emergency fund before ‘financial timebomb’
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has demanded the government come up with an emergency budget before a “financial timebomb” in October “pushes millions over the edge”.
A report commissioned by the former Labour prime minister found that families will be up to £1,600 worse off this year, even after existing government support of up to £1,200 per household has been paid out.
The new report, carried out by Professor Donald Hirsch at Loughborough University, found that 13 million households – a fraction under half of the country – are at risk of fuel poverty after the next hike in the energy price cap to £3,700 or more in October.
“A financial timebomb will explode for families in October as the second round of fuel price rises in six months sends shockwaves through every household and pushes millions over the edge,” said Mr Brown.
If the prime minister and the contenders to replace him refused to put forward an emergency package, he said, “parliament should be recalled to force them to do so”.
Former PM Gordon Brown demands emergency budget before ‘financial timebomb’
A new report commissioned by Mr Brown suggested Government measures fell well short of addressing households’ needs.
Namita Singh8 August 2022 05:53
Sunak camp hits out at Truss for ‘U-turn’ on cost of living
Liz Truss’s rival Rishi Sunak hit out at the foreign secretary for saying that she would help tackle the cost of living crisis by “lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts”.
Slamming the remarks, he said: “It’s simply wrong to rule out further direct support at this time as Liz Truss has done. And, what’s more, her tax proposals are not going to help very significantly people like pensioners or those on low incomes who are exactly the kind of families that are going to need help.”
Supporters of Mr Sunak accused his rival of another U-turn after she last week rowed back on proposals to cut public sector pay outside London.
Former chief whip Mark Harper tweeted: “Stop blaming journalists (again) – reporting what you actually say isn’t ‘misinterpreted’.
“2nd time in just 5 days. This kind of thing happened under the current PM & hugely damaged trust in us all.
“So just what does ‘not giving out handouts’ mean then?”
The former chancellor’s camp also rounded on Ms Truss’s plans to use a September emergency budget to immediately reverse the national insurance rate rise brought in by Mr Sunak when he was chancellor.
Namita Singh8 August 2022 05:30
Truss misinterpreted over ‘handouts’ remark, says Mordaunt
Trade minister Penny Mordaunt put her weight behind Liz Truss as she denied that the foreign secretary ruled out expanding direct payments.
Claiming that the comments were misinterpreted, the former Tory leadership candidate said: “It’s not that she’s ruling out all future help; that’s a misinterpretation of what she said.”
“What she is looking at, though, is enabling people to keep more of the money that they earn. It makes no sense to take money off of people and then to give it back in very, very complicated ways. We need to simplify this and we need to ensure that households are as resilient as possible, and stopping taking large sums of tax from people is one way of doing that,” she said
Namita Singh8 August 2022 05:19
Liz Truss backs away from rejection of cost of living crisis ‘handouts’
Liz Truss has been forced to back away from her rejection of cost of living “handouts” amid growing calls for an emergency budget to help families facing a “financial timebomb” this winter.
For the second time in a week – following her earlier U-turn on regional pay – supporters claimed that the Tory leadership frontrunner’s comments had been “misinterpreted”.
But leadership rival Rishi Sunak said the foreign secretary was “simply wrong” to rely on tax cuts rather than direct payments to help the millions of people struggling to pay energy bills.
He signalled that he planned another multibillion package of assistance if he were to become prime minister in September.
More in this report from our political editor Andrew Woodcock:
Liz Truss backs away from rejection of cost of living crisis ‘handouts’
Calls for emergency budget to avert ‘financial timebomb’ for families
Namita Singh8 August 2022 05:03