Rishi Sunak has ramped up his promises to tackle the cost-of-living crisis as he seeks to gain ground on his rival in the Tory leadership contest. Asked at the hustings whether she was for or against “handouts”, Ms Truss stressed that her “first preference” has always been to “reduce taxes”. Mr Sunak also refused to rule out “some limited and temporary one-off borrowing as a last resort to get us through this winter”. While Ms Truss stressed she was keen to cut taxes, Mr Sunak warned at Thursday’s hustings the country “will never ever forgive us” if the Conservatives do not provide “direct support” to millions of pensioners. Quizzed on the billions of profit made by energy giants, Ms Truss said she would ensure companies in an oligopoly were held to account.

Source: The Times August 11, 2022 23:20 UTC