Liz Truss ‘flip-flopping’ on energy bills causing ‘unnecessary worry’ – Labour

Liz Truss’s “flip-flopping” on support for families facing skyrocketing energy bills is causing them “unnecessary worry”, Labour has said.

The opposition accused the Tory leadership frontrunner and her rival Rishi Sunak of lacking a plan to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

As the race to replace Boris Johnson at No 10 enters its final week, neither candidate has spelled out exactly how they would further support households this winter.

Ms Truss has argued it is not “right” to announce her full plan before the contest is over or she has seen all the analysis being prepared in Whitehall.

Over the weekend, the Foreign Secretary’s team said she is leaning towards targeted support over help for all, but maintained she is not “ruling anything out”, while it was also reported she is considering slashing VAT by 5% across the board.

Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden said: “The more different ideas spill out of the Tory leadership crisis the clearer it becomes that neither candidate has a plan to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

“It is energy prices that are driving this crisis. It is energy prices that are driving people to despair as they worry how to make ends meet.

“This flip-flopping by Liz Truss, floating one policy idea after another, is causing the country unnecessary worry about their bills.

“That’s why Labour’s plan is focused squarely on the energy prices which are at the heart of this – with a fully costed proposal to freeze bills over the winter months.”

Mr McFadden published a list of 10 of Ms Truss’s contradictory statements, starting with her allies claiming her apparent rejection of “handouts” in favour of tax cuts had been misinterpreted earlier this month.

The Foreign Secretary’s team was on Sunday forced to clarify that she “isn’t ruling anything out” after the BBC reported that she had “ruled out” direct support for every household to assist with soaring bills.