Truss offers only “more of the same old failed Tory ideas”, Rayner says

Labour’s Angela Rayner has said that Liz Truss “offers more of the same old failed Tory ideas that got us in this mess” as the Conservative Party announced that the Foreign Secretary has won the Tory leadership election.

Commenting after it was revealed this afternoon that Truss had beaten rival candidate Rishi Sunak, securing 81,326 votes (57.4%) to his 60,399 (42.6%), the deputy Labour leader said that “all Britain has to show for the last 12 years of Tory government is low wages, high prices, and a Tory cost-of-living crisis”.

“During this leadership campaign, she had more to say about cutting tax for huge corporations than what she is going to do about the cost-of-living crisis affecting every household,” she added.

“She must now stop delaying and get on the side of working people, back Labour’s plan to ensure no one would pay a penny more on their energy bill this winter, and fully fund it with a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.”

The Labour Party announced last month that it would freeze gas and electricity prices immediately, keeping the energy price cap at its current level of £1,971 until April – a move it said would save the typical household £1,000.

The party said the proposal could be paid for in part by making changes to the windfall tax, including backdating the tax to include excess profits made since January and closing a loophole allowing tax relief on investment in the North Sea.

Keir Starmer said this afternoon that “there can be no justification for not freezing energy prices”. He accused Truss of being “not on the side of working people” and said the cost-of-living crisis is the “single most important thing”.

“We’ve heard far more from the latest Prime Minister about cuts to corporation tax over the summer than we have about the cost-of-living crisis, the single most important thing that’s bearing down on so many millions of households,” he said.

“That shows not only that she is out of touch, but she’s not on the side of working people. So, she needs to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, she needs to deal with the fact the NHS is on its knees and she needs to deal with the collapse of law and order. And there can be no justification for not freezing energy prices.

“There’s a political consensus that that needs to happen. She needs to answer the question how is she going to pay for that. Labour has been clear there needs to be a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.”

Truss’ campaign said that she will reveal proposals to support households with rising bills within a week. Allies are understood to be discussing a £100bn package that could include freezing energy bills. The winner of the Tory leadership election has also pledged to reverse a national insurance rise.

Truss promised in her acceptance speech to put forward a “bold plan” to cut taxes and grow the economy and “deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply”.

She praised “my friend”, the outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, adding: “Boris, you got Brexit done, you crushed Jeremy Corbyn, you rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to Vladimir Putin. You were admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.”

Ofgem announced last month that the energy price cap will rise by 80% to £3,549 in October as the regulator approved the £1,578 increase on the current figure of £1,971 for the average dual-fuel tariff for gas and electricity bills. The cap will be almost treble what it was last October, when it was raised to £1,277.