Truss, in an interview with the Financial Times, defied the Treasury’s “financial abacus”, insisting he will push ahead with tax cuts despite claims they will fuel inflation, which is already forecast to hit 13%. The Foreign Secretary did not rule out breaking up the Treasury and took aim at the Bank of England’s use of quantitative easing and its impact on inflation, saying it was time to review the bank’s mandate. Truss has also ruled out an early general election if she is elected Tory leader and therefore becomes UK prime minister on September 5 – a move that can take advantage of a honeymoon period before the economic crisis worsens. “I can absolutely rule it out,” he said. Asked how he intended to help households facing spiraling fuel bills this winter – the energy price cap could rise by more than £2,000 in less than a year – Truss insisted the answer was tax cuts and reforms from the supply side. “Of course I’ll look at what else can be done,” he said. “But the way I would go about it is in a conservative way to reduce the tax burden, not hand out pamphlets.” Truss has already promised to reverse a rise in national insurance rates, introduced by her leadership rival and former chancellor Rishi Sunak, as well as a temporary scrapping of the green levy from energy bills, worth around £150 per household each year. But economists point out that this will not nearly cover the rise in average annual energy bills, which were capped at £1,971 in April but with some forecasts saying they could top £4,200 in January. They argue that Truss’s “pro-growth, pro-business, pro-business, pro-investment” policies will take time to materialize and that, in the meantime, households are facing crippling hardship. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said whoever becomes the next prime minister would have to fund a new multibillion-pound support package, including helping those on incomes too low to benefit from tax cuts. The scale of the financial challenge either Truss or Sunak will face was set out by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey this week. On Thursday, he warned of a 15-month recession, rising unemployment and inflation peaking above 13% later this year. Truss’ response is to prioritize long-term reforms to boost growth – including reversing Sunak’s planned corporate tax increase from 19% to 25% – rather than short-term palliatives. “I think it’s completely counterproductive to raise corporate tax,” he said. “I think that will hinder growth and make it harder to pay down the debt.” Truss said that, if elected, she would “immediately” hold a budget and reverse the entire planned rise in corporation tax, a move that would blow a £17bn hole in the public finances. The Foreign Secretary insisted she could afford tax cuts costing more than £30bn by using “headroom” in current budget forecasts – although economists believe a sharp economic downturn could wipe that out. Truss declined to discuss the “hypothetical” situation of the head’s disappearance, but insisted he would not let lending skyrocket. It would stick to the current fiscal rule and “start paying down the debt after three years.” He was speaking at the London headquarters of insurer Aviva and said the City would play a “critical role” in unlocking investment, including boosting Britain’s domestic energy supply. But Truss has been highly critical of the culture at the Treasury, which Sunak ran until the former chancellor resigned last month, refusing to rule out splitting it into separate finance and economy ministries. “I wouldn’t want to give anyone any warning on that front,” he said. Truss said the Treasury was absorbed in “the abacus economy of making sure taxes and spending add up”. He said he would create a “strong finance unit at Number 10”, suggesting he would seek to exercise close control over a “strong chancellor and a very strong team at the Treasury”. Trus allies claimed the BoE was too slow to raise interest rates to tame inflation. While the foreign secretary defended the bank’s independence, she said its mandate needed to be reviewed. “One of the issues I want to look at is money supply control and in particular quantitative easing policy and the impact it has had,” he said.