Government on ‘war footing’ over cost of living crisis, minister claims – but offers no new help

Ministers considering ‘various cards’ next PM can play, says Kit Malthouse – as Liz Truss accused of ‘moral failure’ over refusal to extra payments

Boris Johnson’s government is on a “war footing” over the deepening cost of living crisis, the Cabinet Office minister has claimed – but insisted that no new support could be offered until the next prime minister is at No 10.

Kit Malthouse said he and other ministers were “thinking carefully about the various cards the prime minister can play in the autumn”.

There were no guarantees of further help, as inflation reached a 40-year high of 10.1 per cent and heaped more pressure on families struggling with soaring bills and food prices.