Boris Johnson is facing growing calls to end a “summer of drift” and take action on the cost of living crisis, as he was accused of failing hard-up Britons by refusing to offer fresh help or even hold emergency meetings.
Labour said the government’s failure to act on spiralling inflation showed it had “lost control” of the economy after No 10 dismissed former prime minister Gordon Brown’s call for the recall of parliament and an emergency Budget.
The head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) backed Mr Brown’s call for immediate intervention, urging Mr Johnson to meet Tory leadership rivals Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to discuss potential help on soaring energy bills.
The Liberal Democrats pressed the government to cancel the decision by regulator Ofgem to raise the cap on energy bills after analysts predicted household energy bills could hit £3,600 in October.
And Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon called on the PM to discuss possible action with devolved government leaders this week. The SNP leader said the economy was “fast deteriorating” and many people across the UK could “not afford to wait until September for further action”.
It comes as Tory MPs told The Independent that Mr Sunak and Ms Truss would have to announce extra help with energy bills in September, regardless of campaign pledges made in the race to succeed Mr Johnson in No 10 in four weeks’ time.
Tony Danker, the CBI’s director-general, said the urgency of the crisis ahead meant Mr Johnson “must bring together both leadership candidates” now to agree on extra support for consumers and businesses on energy bills before the price cap is announced on 26 August.
The business chief warned against a “summer of drift”, arguing that it was vital to offer reassurance that “people will be significantly supported – not waiting until 5 September or later”.
However, Downing Street rejected the idea of a meeting between the three leading Tories. No 10 also dismissed Mr Brown’s calls for regular Cobra meetings and an emergency Budget to help avoid a “humanitarian crisis” this winter.
Mr Johnson’s official spokesman insisted that it would be up to a future prime minister to decide whether or what measures are required, arguing it would break convention for the outgoing PM to be involved in any “significant fiscal measures”.
Labour’s Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said: “People are worried sick about how they’ll pay their bills and do their weekly food shop, and all this Tory prime minister does is shrug his shoulders.”
She added: “An economic crisis like this requires strong leadership and urgent action – but instead we have a Tory party that’s lost control and are stuck with two continuity candidates who can only offer more of the same.”
In a letter sent on Monday, the SNP leader Sturgeon urged the PM to move a proposed meeting between the heads of the UK’s governments from September to this week, saying many of the “levers of government” required to tackle the issue remain reserved to Westminster.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said Ms Truss or Mr Sunak should agree to cancel the £1,400 energy price cap increase set to come into force in October – arguing that the government could absorb the £36bn cost as part of an “energy furlough scheme”.
“This is an emergency, and the government must step in now to save families and pensioners £1,400 by cancelling the planned rise in energy bills this October,” he said.
The Lib Dems backed Mr Brown’s call for a recall of parliament so “emergency support” can be voted on and put in place as soon as possible, saying families and pensioners “can’t afford to wait any longer”.
The party’s Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine told The Independent: “Johnson has sat on his hands while Sunak and Truss fail the nation with their terrible leadership pitches.”
Mr Brown decried the “vacuum” at the top of government, pointing to research showing that around 35 million people were under threat of fuel poverty in October. The former Labour leader told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “It’s not just that they’re asleep at the wheel – there’s nobody at the wheel at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Mr Sunak seized on Ms Truss’s rejection of cost of living “handouts”, arguing on Monday that her promise of immediate tax cuts would not “touch the sides” for families on low incomes.
Truss has vowed to immediately scrap green levies on bills and reverse a national insurance (NI) hike. But the former chancellor’s team said the NI cut would be worth only £59 to those on the national living wage.
Mr Sunak said he would press Whitehall departments to make savings to help fund extra support on bills. The former chancellor said his plan involves keeping any one-off borrowing to an “absolute minimum” by seeking “efficiency savings” across government departments.
Former minister David Davis, a Sunak backer, told The Independent: “It’s important to get extra help in place before the bills in October ... It’s going to take some fast movement by whoever is elected.”
The senior figure added: “There’s plenty of people who pay very little tax who are facing enormous costs – more targeted expenditure to help is almost certainly a better bet [than tax cuts] to make it tolerable. Some getting tax breaks while others suffer is not a way to unify the country.”
Fellow Tory Nigel Mills, who is uncertain which candidate to back, believes the next PM “will want to reveal a cost of living package very quickly”, saying more payments to ease energy bills were inevitable.
The Amber Valley MP suggested that whoever wins could increase the existing £650 one-off payment to benefit claimants or increase the winter fuel payment for pensioners.
John Stevenson, the Tory MP for Carlisle, added: “Whoever takes power is going to have to take stock and, I suspect, introduce a further package of support. They’ve got to do more to help.”
But key Truss ally Brandon Lewis repeatedly refused to say if those things would include any new cost of living payments, despite insisting that his preferred candidate would look at “further things” she could do to help
Asked nine times on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether Ms Truss would consider extra support payments, the former Northern Ireland minister said: “That would be pre-judging a budget we’ve not had yet.”
It comes as campaigners warned that the nation faces a “cold, hungry” winter and poverty levels not seen in decades. Ms Truss’s recent comments that she did not want to offer more “handouts” were branded “insulting” by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).
“It’s pretty insulting to use the word handouts when what people are asking for is help through a frankly unprecedented cost of living crisis,” said Sarah Ogilvie, head of policy at CPAG. “The government’s response has been tone deaf. The support offered so far is not enough.”
Age UK said older people on low incomes faced an “increasingly frightening” situation as energy bills continued to spiral upwards.
“Older people and others living on low incomes will also need more financial support … because these relentless price rises are so rapidly eroding the extra help they were given only a few months ago,” said Caroline Abrahams, director at Age UK.
