Tory hustings - live: Truss vows to take on ‘Treasury orthodoxy’ in swipe at Sunak

But Lib Dems say foreign secretary has had no physical meetings with ministerial counterparts or foreign ambassadors for over six weeks

Boris Johnson meets with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Independence Day

Liz Truss has vowed to “take on” the so-called “Treasury orthodoxy” under which money is handed to areas already heavily invested – in an apparent swipe at Rishi Sunak.

Mr Sunak and Ms Truss faced yet another grilling from Tory party members as they tried to win votes to become the next leader and prime minister.

But both candidates have faced sharp criticism.

Ms Truss was accused of abandoning her duties as foreign secretary, having been absent from nearly all of her ministerial duties since she joined the Conservative leadership race nearly seven weeks ago, according to the Lib Dems.

And scientists hit back at Mr Sunak over his suggestion it was a “mistake” to empower experts during the coronavirus pandemic, in a series of claims labelled “dangerous rubbish” by former No 10 aide Dominic Cummings.

The ex-chancellor told the Spectator magazine that he “wasn’t allowed to talk about the trade-off” of lockdowns during the early phases of the Covid crisis, which he said could have been “quicker”, and claimed to have fought against the “fear narrative” which drove public messaging.

Key Points

• Truss accused of being ‘absent from duties’ as foreign secretary during Tory leadership race
• Ex-chancellor laments ‘mistake’ of empowering scientists
• Consider raising tax to fund energy bill support, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak told

[25 August 2022 06:05 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

Government 'must do more' to help energy consumers pay soaring bills

The government must increase its energy bills discount by at least 150 per cent, a consumer group has warned.

The government “must do more” to help energy consumers pay soaring bills, the consumer group “Which?” warned ahead of Friday’s announcement of the energy price cap for the three months from October.

The current package of government support was announced in May, but price cap forecasts have risen massively since then.

[25 August 2022 06:00 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

Rishi Sunak says it was a 'mistake' to empower scientists during pandemic

Rishi Sunak said that one of the major mistakes was to empower scientists during the Covid pandemic.I

n an interview with The Spectator, he said that it was a mistake to allow the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to have so much sway over policy.

He also revealed that he was banned from discussing “trade-offs” of restrictions, such as missed doctor appointments and mounting NHS backlogs.

He claimed during the interview that he became “very emotional” at times about the damage closing schools would cause to children, but said his objections were met with a “big silence” from colleagues.

[25 August 2022 05:50 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

Tory leadership candidates come face-to-face for penultimate hustings

The two Tory leadership candidates are going head-to-head today in the penultimate debate of the campaign.

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have both tried to woo voters even as the cost of living crisis grips the country and rising energy bills continue to overshadow the contest between the two.

On Wednesday, Mr Sunak said: “Inflation has got to be the priority and that is why I will grip it in a way that no-one else will.”

He added: “Actually, alternative plans that are complacent about the risk of inflation pretend that we can just borrow tens of billions of pounds and that there are no hard choices for Government, I don’t think are realistic.”

On the other hand, just ahead of Thursday’s face-to-face, Ms Truss focussed on her plans of tax cuts, supply-side reform, better regulation and targeted investment zones.

Ms Truss also pledged to tackle trade union strike action, such as that at the Port of Felixstowe this week.

[25 August 2022 05:43 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

ICYMI: Liz Truss says no need for ethics adviser because she knows ‘difference between right and wrong’

Liz Truss has signalled that she will not appoint an ethics adviser if she replaces Boris Johnson, suggesting it was unnecessary because she knew “the difference between right and wrong”.

Read the full story by Adam Forrest here:

[25 August 2022 05:22 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

£110bn needed to cover energy bill rises over next year, study finds

The government would need to spend more than £110bn to cover almost all of Britons’ extra energy costs over the next year, a new report by Institute for Government (IfG) has found.

It would cost £23bn to cover October’s energy price cap hike, according to the think tank – with the average household set to spend £900 more on energy this autumn than was expected only three months ago.

Read the full story by Adam Forrest here:

[25 August 2022 05:18 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

Boris Johnson urged Britons to endure cost-of-living crisis to support Kyiv

Boris Johnson has urged the British public to endure higher energy bills as the price of freedom in Europe because “the people of Ukraine are paying in their blood.”

In a surprise visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, UK Prime Minister said: If we’re paying our energy bills for the evils of Vladimir Putin, the people of Ukraine are paying in their blood.

“And that’s why we know we must stay the course. Because if Putin were to succeed, then no country on Russia’s perimeter would be safe.”

Ukraine “can and will win this war” with Russia, Boris Johnson said as he visited Kyiv to mark the country’s Independence Day.

The Prime Minister, making his last visit to Ukraine before leaving office, said the UK “will continue to stand with our Ukrainian friends” as he set out a further £54 million package of military aid.