Truss, the strong favorite to be the next prime minister, has promised to cancel the rise in national insurance, scrap a planned rise in corporation tax, spend more on defense and remove the green levy on energy bills for households and businesses – all these would cost billions. He has also proposed boosting freeports, which would entail tax cuts for businesses, and backed an increase in the marriage tax allowance. The Foreign Secretary said her plans for tax cuts could cost £30bn, but economists said the real figure was likely to be significantly higher. A Guardian analysis of Truss tax and spending policies during the campaign found the figure could exceed £50bn a year, while Labor said the Tory leadership campaign was full of “fantasy finance and unfunded announcements’. Truss is refusing to commit to any benefit rises or further cuts on energy bills to help the poorest struggling in the midst of the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. Truss’ key ally Brandon Lewis repeatedly refused on Monday to commit to any further measures to help the most vulnerable with their bills. The energy price cap is now set to rise above £3,000. At the weekend, Truss said she would “do things in a conservative way to reduce the tax burden, without handing out leaflets”, although her team later insisted that this had been misinterpreted and that it could consider further measures. Tras’ insistence on further tax cuts delivered through an emergency budget in mid-September appears designed to appeal to Tory members, with polls showing her firmly ahead. But Dominic Raab, deputy prime minister and prominent Sunak supporter, told The Times that her economic prescription amounted to “electoral suicide”. “If we go to the country in September with an emergency budget that is not up to the task, voters will not forgive us as they watch their living standards erode and the economic security they value disappear before their eyes,” he wrote. . . Pair expense chart In one of the strongest attacks yet on Truss by the Sunak campaign, Raab said: “Such a failure will be read to the public unmistakably as an election suicide note and, as night is sure to follow day, will see our great party cast into oblivion. of the opposition. The wrong move could prove economically damaging and politically fatal.” Sunak previously described the Truss tax cuts as a “big deal” for big business and the wealthy that would do little to help those most in need during the winter. A source in the Truss camp said: “The Truss tax cuts are part of a sensible economic plan that will reduce the debt within three years. To pay off the debt and interest, you ultimately need growth, which this plan provides. Higher growth will lead to higher treasury income and subsequently lower debt.” Stuart Adam, senior research economist at the IFS, said the Truss’ tax cuts and spending pledges were very likely to add up to “more than £30bn and could well be more than £40bn”, but it was difficult to we are accurate because some of its policies were discussed rather than finalized and others were unclear. He said the tax cuts “fundamentally don’t do much for those at the bottom of the distribution who are struggling the most to make ends meet,” and also pointed out that both candidates had not laid out plans for lower spending if they were to pursue tax cuts. “You can’t permanently do one without the other,” he said. The Resolution Foundation think tank said the tax cuts came at a high price and “were not a serious response to the current crisis”. It said scrapping the corporation tax rise could cost £19bn, while Treasury figures suggest reversing the rise in national insurance would cost around £13bn. The defense spending pledge could cost an extra £10 billion a year until 2025-6, while the increase in marriage tax benefit could cost £6.7 billion. Removing green levies from bills could cost up to £11 billion, although it is unclear whether the Treasury will absorb the costs or scrap some of the schemes. Ryan Shorthouse, the chief executive of Bright Blue, a liberal conservative thinktank, praised Truss’s overall economic direction to “borrow now and get growth going and reverse some of the tax increases”, but said the details were “regressive ” and “not very well targeted”. He said spending was not “terrifying” in terms of its overall level, but he would like to see it better distributed and handout policies in place to help the poorest with cost-of-living pressures. The CBI and Gordon Brown on Monday called on Boris Johnson to hold talks with Truss and Sunak to agree further cost-of-living measures, but No 10 said he would have to wait until he becomes prime minister in early September. Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said people were “worried sick about how they are going to pay their bills, do their weekly grocery shop and get by” while the leadership candidates were not offering real solutions . “An economic crisis like this calls for strong leadership and bold action – but instead we’re getting fantastic economic and non-funding announcements from the Tories, with nothing to reassure the families and pensioners who need help the most,” he said. “The Tory leadership candidates are losing credibility with every half-baked, no-cost policy they announce. Labor will boost our economy, revitalize our public services and support people in difficult times. Only Labor can deliver the new start Britain needs.”