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Rishi Sunak has promised to give “hundreds of pounds” more to people for energy bills while Liz Truss refused to commit to extra support for struggling families.
Mr Sunak said he is “confident” he could find the money needed to support people with the rising cost of living from government efficiency savings if was to become prime minister.
He told ITV News it “would be wrong” to put a precise figure on how much money he would give people as we do not know how much energy bills are going to go up by after analysts warned energy bills could top £4,200 in January.
However, asked if it would be “hundreds of pounds more”, Mr Sunak said: “Yes. I want to make sure pensioners and the low-income households that I care most about do get the help that they need.
“And I want them to have peace of mind.”
Elaborating on how the additional funding would be paid for, he said: “I’m confident that we can find the money from across government.”
Last night, his team said he would make Whitehall departments cut back by using underspending from their capital budgets to fund the energy bills help.
The underspend has been around £3bn a year recently.
His pledge came after the two candidates faced renewed calls to explain how they would help after Cornwall Insight forecast average bills could hit £4,200 in January, up from £1,971 today.
Ms Truss insisted her priority was driving through tax cuts to kick-start the economy and would “see what the situation is like” in the autumn.
But Mr Sunak said he was concerned his rival Ms Truss’s plans on tax will not provide any help for low-income and pensioner households.
He also criticised her for suggesting at the weekend there should be no more “handouts”, with his spokesman saying she is…
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Source : skynews
