BETA filters Key Events (1) Aubrey Allegretti Boris Johnson is “hoping to do a Berlusconi” and stage a “populist comeback” in Downing Street after being ousted by his own MPs, according to a former Tory cabinet minister. In an interview with the Guardian, Rory Stewart told People they needed to be reminded that Johnson was forced to stand down – following a series of scandals – because some supporters wanted Johnson to “come back”. Several of Johnson’s allies believe his critics will end up removing him from office once his successor takes office and will dismiss the poor polling as midterm blues. But some Tory MPs have privately expressed concerns that the party could lose the next general election, in part because of the damage Johnson has caused – evidenced by a string of election defeats and no lead in the polls since December 2021 . Stewart, who is running against Johnson in the 2019 Tory leadership election, called Johnson “dangerous” and said “there are people who want him back”. He added: “I think we need to remind people why he left. He should have gone much, much earlier. What he did was deeply, deeply shameful – and dangerous.” Meanwhile, Alistair Darling argued the government must take bold action to tackle spiraling energy prices to avoid a “lethal cocktail” of recession and high inflation. The former Labor chancellor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: You need something important and meaningful and you need it now because people’s bills will start coming in in a few weeks. If you don’t do that, then you have the risks I described, that the economy will slide into recession with all that that entails. And when you figure that out, on top of the fact that you already have inflation at very, very high levels that we haven’t seen since the 1970s, that’s a deadly cocktail, so bold action by the government is needed now, without dealing with small measures that frankly won’t make any difference. Darling said the lesson he had learned from the 2008 financial crisis was that the government needed to do “more than people expect”, as he called for more action to tackle rising energy prices. He added: One lesson I learned from what happened in 2008 is that you have to do more than people expect and you have to do it faster than others expect if it’s going to work. It will cost money. When I announced the package in 2008 when it was the banking crisis, it totaled about £500 billion, that we actually got all that money back over the next few years… So what I think we need to see today from the government, from the new prime minister, are measures that will be big enough to deal with it. You need to look at things like the proposal from my former colleagues in the Labor Party, who are talking about freezing prices for a period while we sort these things out, and you need to announce that now. The government is working on plans to help people with energy bills this winter, a Tory minister has claimed. Victoria Prendi, minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told Times Radio on Monday: It’s right that people need help and I’m really here to try and make sure that the government is making plans to help people as they’re going to need it with their energy bills this winter. She added: I would like to reassure you that there are many, many different plans being drawn up by civil servants and ministers at the moment, and whoever comes in as the next Conservative leader and our next Prime Minister will have the background ready and be able to make those difficult choices very quickly and before it is needed. Prentis, a supporter of Rishi Sunak, argued that nationalizing Britain’s energy industry or freezing the price cap was not the answer, but that targeted support was needed. He said: What we need to do is not necessarily to help everyone in the country in the same way. We need to ensure that while we will provide some general support… most of our support goes to those really vulnerable households, particularly pensioners, people with disabilities, for example, people who really have no other options.
Liz Truss ‘rules nothing out’ for immediate financial support for all
Good morning and welcome to the UK politics live blog on August Bank Holiday Monday. I hope you are having a good weekend so far. We start with news from Team Truss. Her camp said the Tory leadership front-runner was leaning towards targeted support over help-for-all to reduce the cost of living in the crisis, but said she was not “ruling anything out”. A number of different possibilities have been floated in the media, with Rishi Sunak’s team warning that a 5% VAT cut would be “regressive” amid reports over the weekend that his opponent was considering the move as a “nuclear” option, Press Association. mentionted. The Sunday Telegraph reported that this was one of a number of potential pressure-relief strategies being drawn up by the Treasury for the new prime minister to consider when they take office. It was also reported by the BBC on Sunday that Liz Truss had “ruled out” immediate support from everyone to help with rising bills. But a source in the secretary of state’s team later said that – while she was more attracted to targeted aid – she had yet to rule anything out. They said: Liz has been clear that we need to reduce the burden of taxation and focus on strengthening energy supply and this will be her priority as Prime Minister. It is also clear that further support may be needed to help. Her preference is to target those most in need, but she doesn’t rule anything out. Liz Truss during an event at the Holiday Inn, Norwich North, Norfolk, as part of her campaign to become leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister. Photo: Joe Giddens/PA It comes as The Times published a new poll suggesting almost half of today’s Tory voters want Britain’s energy industry re-nationalised. The newspaper said 47% support returning energy companies to public ownership, while 28% are opposed and 25% are unsure, according to the YouGov survey. The poll, carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, also found that Labour’s plan to temporarily freeze energy bills, estimated by the party at £29bn, is supported by 51% of Tory voters, with only 17% to oppose the policy. With the energy price cap set to rise by 80% by October, whoever is named as Boris Johnson’s successor on September 5 will have a mammoth task on their hands to lead the country through winter.
