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Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Chris McCall

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak devoid of ideas to help Scots facing terrifying energy bills

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have struggled to explain how they would help Scots who face terrifying energy bills this winter.

The two MPs are bidding to replace Boris Johnson as the next prime minister but had little new to say to an audience of 650 Conservative Party members at an event in Perth on Tuesday evening.

They both ruled out allowing Nicola Sturgeon to hold a second independence referendum next year and claimed they would continue to support Brexit.

Asked why she opposed Labour's calls to freeze the energy price cap, Truss said: "What people are concerned about are energy bills.

"It's a problem for consumers and for businesses. What we need to do is deal with a supply issue. I understand why people are struggling and this is why I think this is the wrong time to put up taxes."

Truss refused to say what support other than pausing the green energy levy she would offer people to limit the impact of energy bill rises.

The Foreign Secretary said she did not want to pre-empt a budget given by a chancellor she would appoint.

"What I’m not going to do here is write the next chancellor’s budget when we are still in the middle of this leadership election,” she
said.

When pressed, the Foreign Secretary said she believed in “appointing competent people who can do the job” rather than a “presidential No 10”.

Sunak claimed it was "frankly barmy" for the Scottish Government to be talking about an IndyRef2 during a cost of living crisis. He added the First Minister only believed in devolution when it brought power to the Scottish Government.

The former chancellor said: “Nicola Sturgeon says she believes in devolution, but she doesn’t really.

“Devolution to her just means powers to her. Real devolution is down to the communities and councils of Scotland, that’s what we’re going to deliver.”

Sunak also ruled out freezing the energy price cap to help struggling households with growing costs. Asked if he would rule out the proposals by Labour, Sunak said: “Yes I don’t think that is the right approach.”

Asked what he would do to help businesses with energy costs, Sunak added that things he had done as chancellor, including a cut to business rates, were already “making a difference”.

SNP MP Kirsten Oswald said: "This was depressing watching for Scots - almost two hours of two out-of-touch Tory ministers trying to out-Thatcher one another, denying Scots their democracy, and trashing the record of the same Tory government they’ve been a key part of.

"It seems both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have very short memories - and it became even clearer that neither have a clue what ordinary folk are facing during this cost-of-living crisis, nor do they have a plan to support them.

"That is because they have spent their time in the Tory government making the rich richer and the poor poorer."

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