Truss poised to plunge UK economy into ‘inflation spiral’, says Sunak
Liz Truss will plunge the economy into an “inflation spiral” if she does not choose between her unfunded £50bn tax cuts and providing cost of living support, her Conservative party leadership opponent, Rishi Sunak, has claimed.
Sunak’s leadership campaign said Truss would increase borrowing to “historic and dangerous levels” and place public finances into “serious jeopardy” if she attempted to do both.
The comments came after Truss, the frontrunner to be the next prime minister, signalled another U-turn with direct support for companies and households with soaring energy bills this winter.
In a statement, Sunak’s campaign said: “Following weeks of rejecting direct support payments as ‘handouts’, Truss supporters have slowly woken up to the reality of what winter brings. They now say that they will provide people with help – but what help, for who, when and how it will be paid for remains a mystery.
“The reality is that Truss cannot deliver a support package as well as come good on £50bn worth of unfunded, permanent tax cuts in one go. To do so would mean increasing borrowing to historic and dangerous levels, putting the public finances in serious jeopardy and plunging the economy into an inflation spiral.”
The row comes before Ofgem’s announcement on Friday when the regulator is expected to increase the cap on energy bills from £1,971 to about £3,600.
The former chancellor’s team also commented on reports that Truss wasnot planning to ask the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) for a forecast ahead of the emergency budget she is planning for next month.
“It’s no wonder they want to avoid independent scrutiny of the OBR in their emergency budget – they know you can’t do both and it’s time they came clean about
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