Cost to taxpayer of Truss’s £100bn energy package has escaped scrutiny
There can be no starker contrast between how the two political parties are judged on economic policy than the way the past fortnight has played out for Liz Truss.
The astonishing scale of state spending to relieve the energy crisis and enable tax cuts has been announced with total omertà thus far on how much the proposals will cost the British taxpayer.
One Labour shadow cabinet minister observed this week that they had been irritated by an interview with Rishi Sunak earlier in the leadership contest on how he would fund his own energy crisis package – costing a mere £15bn – where he had admitted at least £10bn would come from borrowing.
“We’d have been crucified for that,” the shadow cabinet minister observed. “But since then we’ve had the new PM announce hundreds of billions and refused to say anything at all.”
The new energy package for business announced on Wednesday also has no detail on the anticipated costs of discounting wholesale power prices for companies, charities and public sector organisations, including schools.
The whole package was announced via a press release from the department and a video posted on Twitter by the business secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg.
There will be no statement in the House of Commons where Rees-Mogg can be questioned – MPs are using the time swearing new oaths to the King, even though there is no obligation for them to do so. There was no cabinet meeting to sign off the proposal this week – Truss is in New York at the UN general assembly.
Parliament will have a chance to debate the proposals only this Friday, the last day before another recess, where Kwasi Kwarteng is expected to announced another slew of new tax cuts, including national insurance, cancelling the proposed corporation tax
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