BETA filters Key Events (1) Paul Scully, the Business Secretary, is giving interviews this morning on behalf of the Liz Truss campaign. Referring to Dominic Raab’s article in The Times (see 9.13am), Scully criticized the Rishi Sunak campaign for negative campaigning. He told Times Radio: It’s a shame we hear such language. This kind of blue-to-blue, as it is always known, language doesn’t really help. People on the outside looking in should be tearing their hair out because all we want to do is do the best for the country, for the people. Scully also defended Truss’ cost of living proposals (described by Raab as a potential “election suicide note” for the Tories). He said: What Liz said is the right thing, the conservative thing, is to not take money from people in the first place, instead of taking money to give it back to them… Ofgem will decide on the price cap in the coming weeks. And at that point, we can make a quick decision… We clearly need to support people as best we can. Liz is much bolder, more ambitious, more optimistic about the economy. And the combination of targeted tax cuts and targeted support can help both in the short term and grow the economy for medium term solutions. As Annabelle Dickson reports in her London Playbook update for Politico, privately the Truss camp’s response to the “electoral suicide” article is much stronger. “The suicide note here is Rishi’s high taxes and his failed economic policy that he has been peddling for the last two and a half years when he was chancellor,” they say. Updated at 09.50 BST
Truss’ cost-of-living policies could be ‘electoral suicide note’ for Tories, Raab says
Good morning. At 7pm this evening, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will address the fifth official meeting of the Conservative party. TalkTV’s Tom Newton Dunn is presiding, and the event may provide some insight into how both candidates appeal to the “red wall” district. The Tories won Darlington in 2019, but until then it had been a Labor seat since 1992. It is a key target for the opposition. Truss and Sunak will also be pressed to spell out exactly what they would do to help people cope with crippling energy bills later this year. A column in the Sun yesterday said Britain was “on the brink of a full-blown disaster of war proportions”. In a statement released overnight, Sunak went further than he has done in the past, saying he would essentially repeat the support package he announced earlier this year as chancellor. He said: People need proven methods that will pay off quickly. So I will use the framework I have created to provide further support and give millions of people the peace of mind they desperately need ahead of winter. Sunak actually announced three energy support packages in the first half of this year, but the briefing note from his campaign only refers to May’s £15bn package, implying that this will be the model. Economists praised the measures as “highly progressive”, saying they would help the poor more. Truss was less clear about what she would do. Her team said an interview she gave to the Financial Times late last week, in which she said she wanted to “do things in a conservative way to reduce the tax burden, not hand out leaflets”, did not mean she ruled out potentially providing people with Sunak-style lump sum payments. But she insists her main focus remains on helping people through tax cuts. This morning the Guardian published a story by my colleague Rowena Mason about the criticism of ‘Trussonomics’ from economists and others who say its plans could cost £50 billion a year while failing to protect those most at risk of cost of living crisis. You can read Rowena’s story here. And it turns out that the Rishi Sunak camp largely agrees with the experts Rowena cites. Dominic Raab, the justice minister, deputy prime minister and leading Sunak supporter, wrote an op-ed for The Times today in which he claims Truss’ policies would amount to an “election suicide note” for the Tories because voters would not forgive the party. because it does not help the most vulnerable. He says: Deep down, we know that the consequences of a global pandemic, exacerbated by a war on our near shores, are having a tangible impact on people up and down the country. So, in addition to relentlessly reducing inflation, it is wrong to rule out further immediate support for worried families who are not sure how they will cope in the coming months. So it is right that we carefully consider how we will step in and shield them from the full force of the global economic headwinds we now face. We need to deal with these problems in a way that does not lead to increased borrowing and therefore inflation – and with our medium-term focus constantly on this goal of reducing taxes and increasing taxpayers’ money. This is the economic tightrope we must walk and we cannot avoid it… As Conservative party members decide which way to vote in the coming weeks, I urge them to consider this point carefully. 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 financial security they cherish disappear before their eyes. Such a failure will unmistakably be read to the public as an electoral suicide note and will see our great party consigned to powerless opposition oblivion. I’ll be here all day to report on this debate as it unfolds, and I’ll be covering tours of Darlington tonight. Otherwise, the calendar is relatively empty, although Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labor leader, is speaking at an event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at 12pm, which may provide some news. I’m trying to follow the comments below the line (BTL) but it’s impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, include “Andrew” somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I try to answer questions and if they’re of general interest I’ll post the question and answer above the line (ATL), though I can’t promise I’ll do it for everyone. If you want to get my attention quickly, it’s probably best to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow. Alternatively you can email me at [email protected] Updated at 09.43 BST
