Liz Truss appears to be edging closer to a cost-of-living U-turn after a key ally said she will look at “targeted help” for Brits.
The next Prime Minister favourite refused to rule out cost of living payments - seconds after branding them “Gordon Brown style economics I don’t support”.
Her ally James Cleverly revealed: “For the people who won’t benefit directly from tax cuts, she is looking at targeted help.”
And she told the Evening Standard: “I can assure you that I will do all I can to help households across Britain. I understand how difficult the circumstances are.
“I’m somebody who gets things done. I look at the evidence and I sort things out and that’s what I’ve committed to doing.”
It’s thought Ms Truss is not currently looking at targeted help, despite what Mr Cleverly said, but is preparing to look at it as the crisis unfolds. Allies of Ms Truss insisted her comments were not a U-turn, as she had always said "of course I will look at what more can be done."
It comes as Ms Truss faces an avalanche of calls to rethink and offer what she brands “handouts” to disabled, out-of-work or pensioner Brits.
Ms Truss last night dismissed calls for more cost of living payments - as energy bills are tipped to more than double to £4,200 a year from January.
But crucially, she has not ruled out U-turning and implementing them when she holds an emergency budget.
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis warned her plan to cut National Insurance and remove green levies is not enough, and a "sticking plaster on a gaping wound”.
He said claims the government cannot act now are “complete bull”, adding: “What we’re facing here is a financial emergency that risks lives”.
Ministers will hold crisis talks with the energy sector to "knock some heads together" tomorrow, and are considering an expansion of the 25% windfall tax on oil and gas giants.
But Boris Johnson has ruled out making any announcements before a new leader is in place, and Ms Truss has rejected pleas to sit down with the PM and Mr Sunak to devise a plan.
Rishi Sunak has already promised “a few hundred pounds” more in payments to the most vulnerable if he wins the race for No10 on September 5.
At 3pm Ms Truss issued a further clarification, saying "our first port of call" should be tax cuts but not ruling out other action.
She said: "I understand how difficult the rising cost of living is making life for many, and if elected I will do all that I can to help struggling households.
“As it stands we are hurtling towards a recession. If we don’t get our economy growing we won’t be able to help anyone."
Her campaign angrily claimed “Rishi Sunak wouldn’t know how people benefit from a tax cut because he has never cut a tax in his life."
Ms Truss’ ally James Cleverly, a Cabinet minister, said she was examining “targeted help” for those who won’t benefit from tax cuts.
“She has said that she is going to bring forward an emergency budget to address the support needs of people who need it most,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He added: “She has said she will look at support packages for the people that need it most. So, for the people who won’t benefit directly from tax cuts, she is looking at targeted help.
“For those people who do pay tax, what she has said, quite rightly, is to make sure we don’t take any more money from them than we really need.
“And we’ve slipped into a situation now under Rishi’s Chancellorship, we’ve got a higher tax burden than any time in the last 70 years.”
Today Ms Truss told reporters she wanted to “work to increase energy supply”, including to “look at fracking in parts of the country that support that”, to help solve rising bills.
She added: “What’s wrong is taking money from people in taxes then giving it back to them in benefits.
“That’s Gordon Brown style economics and I don’t support that.”
But asked if she was ruling out cash payments in whatever form and will only help people through tax cuts, she replied: “That’s not what I said!
“What I said is my priority is to make sure we’re not taking money off people then giving it back to them later on.
“I believe in people keeping their own money and I believe in a low tax economy. That’s the way we’re going to drive growth.
“I’m not going to announce the contents of a Budget in future at this stage in August.”
A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak’s campaign said: “Liz Truss's policy on the number one issue facing the country is as clear as mud.
“On Friday she ruled out direct support and since then has repeatedly refused to confirm if she will provide it.
“Yet this morning her supporter James Cleverly has said more support would be provided. This is starting to look like another major u-turn, after she abandoned plans to cut the pay of nurses and teachers outside London last week.
“She now urgently needs to clear up her position. She needs to be honest with the millions of people concerned about how they will pay their bills, and confirm whether or not they can expect direct support from her.”
Tomorrow, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will ask gas and electricity company executives to submit a breakdown of expected profits and payouts as well as investment plans for the next three years.
Education Secretary James Cleverly confirmed Thursday's meeting as he sought to downplay concerns over energy blackouts this winter.
The Cabinet minister said the UK is in a "better position than many" when it comes to domestic energy production but cautioned: "It's not going to be easy."
Leaked Government documents have warned a "reasonable worst-case scenario" could see outages for homes and businesses in January if there is a combination of below-average temperatures and a drop in gas imports, according to reports.
In a new dire outlook for households, Cornwall Insight said bills are set to soar to around £3,582 in October, from £1,971 previously, before rising even further in the new year.
There has been widespread anger at Shell, BP and British Gas owner Centrica announcing bumper financial results while households struggle with soaring bills.
Mr Cleverly told ITV's Good Morning Britain (GMB): "The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Business Secretary are actually calling in the leaders of those big energy companies to knock some heads together and basically hold them to account about what they're going to do with those profits.
"The increase in energy costs has been driven by the war in Ukraine and a global crunch, this is affecting everyone pretty much across the world, everyone in the developing world is seeing those energy bills go up.
"What we need to do is make sure that we have a short, medium and long-term plan, so the Chancellor and the Business Secretary are getting those energy companies in as part of the short-term response.
"Our system means that once the Prime Minister has said he is going to stand down there is a well-established principle, which is that an outgoing prime minister should not make very big policy-changing decisions."
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke said the government is “working up a package of cost of living support that the next Prime Minister can consider when they take office.”
He added: “It is absolutely right to consider these options in the round when the new Prime Minister has taken office - rather than announce new un-costed policies, without sight of all the details of the pressures people could face, during a leadership election.”
