Liz Truss faces mounting pressure as she is accused of plunging poor Brits into “destitution” with a tax cut that will give them just 76p a MONTH.
New analysis warned the Tory leader favourite’s National Insurance change will hand a paltry sum to the worst-off tenth of households - compared to £93.19 a month to the richest tenth.
The poorest will be £50 a month worse off from October, even after help with bills, the Tony Blair Institute said.
Ms Truss’ rival Rishi Sunak warned she will leave people at risk of “real destitution” as energy bills are set to top £3,600 a year from October and £4,200 from January.
In a bombshell intervention, he told Tory members: "If you support a plan that Liz is suggesting, which says she doesn't believe in doing that, doesn't believe in providing direct financial support to those groups of people.
“We are going to, as a Conservative Government, leave millions of incredibly vulnerable people at the risk of real destitution," he said.
Liz Truss supporter Therese Coffey, the Tory benefits chief, once again refused to confirm new direct payments on Friday - saying “we’ve already had” some.
But she also insisted “handouts” were “absolutely” a possibility under Ms Truss and “every option will be considered”.
Boris Johnson and his Chancellor will break cover with visits on Friday after the PM finally showed up to a meeting of energy bosses - but announced no new action to help Brits.
New figures today show the UK's economy shrank by 0.1% between April and June. While it was put down to Covid spending coming to an end, experts are predicting the UK will slip into a recession later this year.
Mr Sunak spelt out his “three-part” plan to top up cost-of-living payments for the most vulnerable through benefits, for pensioners through Winter Fuel Payments, and some support for everyone via a £200-per-home VAT cut.
But despite attacking Liz Truss for putting debt on Britain’s "credit card" he admitted some of his plan - costing in the low billions - would have to be funded by borrowing.
He said the shortfall “now is in the region of £400 to £500” adding: “When we know precisely what the increase is, I will come forward and confirm the exact level of support.” Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has said he should give around £1,200.
Writing in The Times, Mr Sunak said efficiency savings in Whitehall “will be my approach and I will be relentless in chasing these down. But I will also be honest.
“If it requires some limited and temporary, one-off borrowing as a last resort to get us through this winter, I'm prepared to do that.”
Ms Truss has said she would reverse April’s National Insurance rise, pause green levies on energy bills worth just over £150 per household, and look at further support in an emergency budget if she’s made PM on September 6.
But on Thursday night she stood by her tax-cutting plans, warning against "Gordon Brown economics", as she said "you take money off people in taxes and give it back in benefits".
Asked at the hustings whether she was for or against "handouts", Ms Truss stressed that her "first preference" has always been to "reduce taxes".
She has previously hinted she would consider further support for struggling households if made prime minister, but insisted she will not "write the Budget in advance".
With a dire new warning that energy bills could top £5,000 by the spring, the cost-of-living issue continues to dominate the exchanges in the battle to succeed Boris Johnson.
After GDP shrank by 0.1%, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Under the Conservative government’s current plans, the Bank of England says that we are heading for a recession.
“Ministers must do much more to get pay rising. We need an early boost to the minimum wage this autumn and pay rises across the public sector that keep up with inflation. This will help protect demand and business confidence.”
The fall on the month was also influenced by the timing of the Platinum Jubilee, said experts, which meant there was an extra working day in May and two fewer in June.
But the Resolution Foundation said consumer-facing services were flat in June, and “the outlook is bleak” with the Bank of England predicting recession later this year.
