Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has vowed to “leave no stone unturned” in options for the next prime minister to offer businesses and families more support amid the cost-of-living crisis.
During a visit to the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) club for children at Sydenham school, he told broadcasters: “We leave no stone unturned.
“I’m looking at every option to be ready for September 5 for additional support.
“My message to your viewers, whether they are small businesses or families who are really struggling or really worried, as you say, is that we’ll be ready for more support as the new prime minister comes in.”
Nadhim Zahawi insisted the Government is not missing in action during the cost-of-living crisis.
He added: “I don’t agree with that, nor do I recognise it. The moment I walked into the Treasury on July 5, I gathered my top leadership team.
“We are working night and day to make sure we get this done and have all the options for the incoming prime minister for more help for both households that are really struggling and for small businesses.”
The Chancellor denied that the Government is waiting to provide families with additional support amid the energy crisis.
Asked why the country has to wait until January for support, while the Labour Party has set out a plan to freeze fuel bills, he told reporters in London: “We’re not waiting.
"We’ve got £37 billion and we’re part of the way through that, so £400 in the next couple of months off people’s energy bills for everybody.
“The eight million people who need the most urgent help are getting at least £1,200 of additional direct payments to them.”
Nadhim Zahawi said it is his “responsibility” to prepare options for tackling the cost-of-living crisis for Liz Truss if she becomes prime minister.
The Chancellor, who is backing Ms Truss in the Tory leadership contest, was asked by broadcasters what extra help she would give to struggling households, and replied: “Liz has said a couple of things: one is that she will have a moratorium on the energy levies which will help with energy costs. She will also reverse the national insurance increase, which again will help those families that really need help.
“But what she has also said is she won’t be writing a budget on the leadership campaign, she will do it once she walks into Number 10.
“My task, my responsibility, is to give her the options to be able to make that decision of how she targets the help for those families that we know are going to need it as we get through winter, and as we know that Putin will continue to use energy as a tool to get back at us for the help we are putting into Ukraine.
“We must remain united in the face of this threat on our continent. It is not right, I think, that we begin to divide and turn it into a domestic issue.”
Mr Zahawi had earlier said he was preparing options for the incoming prime minister to “hit the ground running” on September 5.
Nadhim Zahawi has criticised Labour’s plan to freeze fuel bills, saying it would reward “people like me who are the wealthier end of the spectrum”.
He explained: “They talk about paying for some of it because inflation would come down.
“What we see today, actually inflation plays through on food costs and so their numbers are out on this and they need to work out and be honest with the nation how they’re going to pay for this.
“The other problem with it is, actually, you’re rewarding people like me who are the wealthier end of the spectrum and people who might have very high energy uses and be wealthy.
“Is that the right thing to do when money’s tight, when we should be targeting it to deliver that help and be resilient against Putin? Is that really the right thing to do, to waste money on wealthier households that have high consumption?
“I don’t think that’s right, with respect to (Labour leader) Keir Starmer.”
Your Money Matters is a campaign launched by us and our sister titles across Newsquest to help you overcome the surge in the cost of living.
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