In the Conservative leadership race, Rishi Sunak has stepped up his promise to tackle the cost of living crisis while trying to close in on rival Liz Truss.
Sunak said on Thursday that he would use a “tried and tested” welfare scheme to provide targeted assistance in addition to the VAT cuts he had previously pledged.
This means energy consultancy Auxilione’s expected billing costs continue to swell by the day, with annual energy bill price caps reaching £3,628 in October and £4,538 in January, according to new estimates on Friday. It could reach 168% at £5,277 a month. higher than the current cost.
Mr Sunak said his plan to cut VAT on energy bills is expected to cut £200 from every household’s bill.
The former prime minister previously announced payments of £650 to low-income households, £300 to pensioner households and £150 to disabled people, as well as a 25% windfall tax on energy company profits to fund the package. It also announced that it would impose
He promised to pay more “using the same channels, such as winter fuel payments and cold weather payments.”
Sunak said he would not lock in a number, instead looking at the “exact level of support” when looking at the “exact increase” in electricity bills. Energy price ceiling.
Sunak, who campaigned for tighter fiscal policy and criticized the truss promise of immediate tax cuts as irresponsible and inflationary, said that revenues from windfall taxes on energy companies were higher than expected due to high energy prices. said it was likely to generate revenue for the company and cover some of the costs. Sunak also promised to “find” more money by identifying savings across the government. This means that other spending may be stopped or suspended.
But despite having been against borrowing throughout the campaign, Sunak said that if the situation “requires limited, temporary, one-time borrowing as a last resort to get through this winter,” also said it was “ready”.
Sunak argued that his promises differed from Truss’ plans to reverse the rise in national health insurance and drop plans to raise corporate taxes, saying he would “provide targeted support in the midst of a crisis.” It is good to temporarily borrow a relatively small amount of money for the Conservative Government. .”
Truss has promised to reverse the 1.25% rise in national insurance premiums if she becomes prime minister. She also said the green energy tax, which is estimated to cut £150 from the bill, will be temporarily suspended.
The foreign minister had previously said the way to support the rising energy bill was “a conservative way of reducing the tax burden rather than subsidizing it”, but her campaign was later announced by the truss directly. He denied that he was excluding any kind of support.
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Lily Zhou is a freelance writer primarily covering British news for The Epoch Times.