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Liz Truss will act 'very quickly' to combat cost of living crisis, ally insists

Liz Truss - Jane Barlow/PA
Liz Truss - Jane Barlow/PA

Liz Truss recognises "a lot more will have to be done" to help families cope with the cost of living crisis and "nothing has been taken off the table", one of her leading supporters has said.

Sajid Javid, the former chancellor, said Ms Truss will act "very quickly" if she becomes prime minister, holding an emergency budget "within weeks".

Mr Javid said Ms Truss is "thinking very carefully about the commitments" she will make, amid mounting pressure for her to set out in detail how she would take the sting out of rising prices and surging energy bills.

Ms Truss has been ambiguous during the Tory leadership contest on what she would do to help households, simply stressing that her priority would be to cut taxes.

She has hinted that she would be willing to bring forward some direct support for struggling families, but she has so far refused to be drawn on specifics and has made clear she intends to wait until she is in office to make announcements.

In contrast, Rishi Sunak, Ms Truss's leadership rival, has promised a £10 billion package of extra support if he wins the contest to replace Boris Johnson.

VAT would be temporarily scrapped on energy bills, saving people £200, while £5 billion would be put into more support for the most vulnerable.

Team Sunak has said that "families need certainty now" and the Foreign Secretary must "come clean".

Mr Javid gave an indication of the scale of additional support that Ms Truss could bring forward, saying that the Foreign Secretary "recognised that a lot more will have to be done".

Told that Ms Truss’s tax cutting plans would not address the short term pressures faced by low earners and pensioners, Mr Javid said: "Well, she’s also announced she is going to freeze the energy levies on bills for at least a year and that will help.

"But I think she has also recognised that a lot more will have to be done, and the right way to do that is if you become prime minister... is to sit down and work out, taking into account the latest picture, the latest evidence, we will have more information for example on the price cap by then, and to decide but to do it very quickly.

"She is absolutely right to say there will be an emergency budget. I would assume the Treasury is already working on plans for an incoming new prime minister. They will present those to Liz and her team and she will act very quickly and that is what is going to matter."

Mr Javid added that Ms Truss is "campaigning to be prime minister and if she wins she has to deliver on everything that she has said".

The former health secretary said that as a result Ms Truss is "thinking very carefully about the commitments" she makes.

"But one of those clearly is to have this emergency budget which will happen within weeks and to take further action, nothing has been taken off the table, because she recognises as I do and as I think most politicians do that this is a very, very serious crisis for families at home," he told Sky News.

Mr Javid argued Ms Truss’s tax cutting plans will "benefit everyone", and added: "But having a look at if targeted action can be taken, I am sure that will be considered when it comes to the emergency budget."