The foreign secretary said she would make the move in an emergency budget in September, while announcing other tax cuts. But leadership rival Rishi Sunak hit out at her plans, contrasting his “pure realism” with Ms Truce’s “starry-eyed booster”. Arguing that inflation must be brought under control before tax cuts, Mr Sunak accused the foreign secretary of “gambling” savings and pensions. On Saturday, Ms Truss ruled out “handouts” to help households cope with the worst income squeeze in 60 years – although her team insists this no longer means direct support. Former leadership hopeful Penny Mordant told Sky News this morning that Ms Truss’ comments about the leaflets had been “misconstrued”. He said Ms Truss made a “general point about the benefits of enabling people to keep more of what they earn”. “All future help is not ruled out. In fact, part of her reason for bringing in an emergency budget is to really address some of these issues,” Ms Mordaunt said. “What he has, I think, rightly questioned is the wisdom of taking large sums out of people’s pockets in taxes and then giving them back in ever more complicated ways.” Ms Truss argues that her tax plans will make the economy more competitive and could prevent an impending financial crisis. In an attack on Mr Sunak’s plans, he told reporters during a visit to the West Midlands on Saturday: “Having the highest taxes for 70 years is not going to deliver that economic growth and is driving our country into recession.” Image: Liz Truss at an event at Solihull Moors FC Meanwhile, Mr Sunak has promised billions more to help families overcome the cost of living crisis, according to the Sunday Times. He told the paper that if he became prime minister he would “go further” than the support he announced when he was chancellor, as there was “certainty about exactly what the bills will be in the autumn”. However, it is not clear how much further Mr Sunak would be willing to go. Asked on Sky News whether the former chancellor would extend the energy support programme, his supporter Damian Hinds MP said: “I’m not in a position to say exactly what he will do.” But he added: “His track record is absolutely to take the required actions, doing it in a timely, time-bound, targeted manner.” Tax cuts could fuel inflation – forecast to reach 13% The row comes after a report found that some families are up to £1,600 a year worse off because of the cost of living crisis – even after government help is taken into account. Former prime minister Gordon Brown, who commissioned the report, is urging Boris Johnson, Richie Sunak and Liz Truss to agree an emergency budget this week – and says time is running out to update the Universal Credit payment system before the next increase of the energy price. Earlier this week, in an interview with the Financial Times, Mrs Truss insisted she would press ahead with the tax cuts, despite claims they would fuel inflation – already forecast to hit 13%. Former deputy governor of the Bank of England Charles Bean told Sky News that Ms Truss’ plans were “not particularly targeted in terms of dealing with the people who are most affected” by rising energy prices. He added: “The existing package put in place by the previous chancellor Rishi Sunak was more consciously targeted towards the poorest households and I think it’s pretty clear that any fiscal maneuvering we have at the moment should be directed primarily towards them and not more broadly.” Image: Rishi Sunak exiting the Hovercraft on the Isle of Wight Tory voters are moving behind Truss Despite the warning, Ms Truss has a seven-point lead as the best prime minister over Mr Sunak (27% to 20%) and a 26-point lead among Conservative voters in 2019 (48% to 22%). Research by Opinium found across the board the 2019 Tories are more positive about Ms Truss than two weeks ago and more negative about Mr Sunak. A third of all voters (34%) think the government should keep taxes and spending on public services about where they are now, while 26% think there should be an increase in both.
