The favourite to win the race for 10 Downing Street has vowed to set out 'immediate action' on energy bills in her first week of office, should she be named Prime Minister. Liz Truss is widely expected to pip Rishi Sunak to the post as Conservative party leader when the winner is announced on Monday (September 5).
The Foreign Secretary insists she is capable of making 'difficult decisions' as the country is gripped with a cost of living crisis. Boris Johnson's 'zombie government' has come in for widespread criticism over the summer with announcements on additional support for families and businesses lacking.
Energy bills are expected to rise to around £3,500 this winter for the average household, while Labour has announced what it would do to freeze bills if it was in power. But writing in tomorrow's Sunday Telegraph , Tory leadership frontrunner Ms Truss says she would appoint a council of economic advisers to help guide her and her chancellor.
She wrote: “I understand how challenging the cost of living crisis is for everyone. These are tough times and the months ahead will be hard."
Ms Truss says that she will take 'immediate action' to tackle the cost-of-living crisis for families and businesses, while also delivering a 'broader plan to get our economy growing, make it more resilient and make it more competitive'.
“If elected, I plan within the first week of my new administration to set out our immediate action on energy bills and energy supply," she wrote. "A fiscal event would follow later this month from my chancellor, with a broader package of action on the economy."
Ms Truss added: “We need to take the difficult decisions to ensure we are not in this position every autumn and winter. Sticking plasters and kicking the can down the road will not do. I am ready to take the tough decisions to rebuild our economy.”
The energy crisis, according to the Sunday Times , will also be the focus of Ms Truss’ address from Downing Street once she is appointed. The paper reports it is expected to be 'very short', but that an announcement on energy will come quickly once Ms Truss takes charge, with a 'fiscal event' set to take place in the coming weeks.
Throughout the campaign she has pledged to 'start cutting taxes from day one' with a new Budget and Spending Review that would reverse April’s rise in national insurance and next year’s corporation tax increase from 19% to 25%. In the Telegraph , Ms Truss said: “I recognise that many of the growth measures we take won’t have an immediate impact, but it is vital we get started now and build a better economy for the future and pay down our debt as a country and provide the future for our children.
“There will be tough decisions to be made, and I am prepared to make those tough decisions as prime minister.” Recent days have been full of speculation about who could make up the Cabinet in a Truss administration, with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tipped to become her chancellor.
There is also a growing expectation that the next prime minister will make an early visit to Kyiv to shore up support for Ukraine. After the leadership contest winner is announced on Monday, outgoing PM Boris Johnson and his successor will go to Balmoral for the appointment of the new prime minister on Tuesday.
The Queen will receive Mr Johnson on Tuesday at her Aberdeenshire home, where he will formally tender his resignation. This will be followed by an audience with the new Tory leader, where Ms Truss or Mr Sunak will be invited to form a government.
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