Liz Truss is considering introducing a freeze on energy bills if she is elected as the next prime minister, according to reports.
The foreign secretary, who is widely expected to be confirmed as the next occupant of No.10 by Monday lunchtime, has remained relatively tight-lipped on how she would tackle the energy crisis throughout the leadership race.
But, The Times’ front page on Monday said the package could be as large as the furlough scheme then-chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled during the Covid pandemic.
This cost £69 billion at the time – but sources for The Times suggested the plan to help with energy bills could cost even more than that.
The newspaper also suggested that help for the bills would come either through refunding energy companies for the cost of buying wholesale energy above the price cap, or offering loans to these firms to cover it in the meantime.
The Daily Telegraph had a similar front page, although it claimed the details of the policy are still being debated.
The energy price cap is set to soar to £3,549 come October 1, an increase expected to leave millions of households in fuel poverty and prompting speculation that there could be organised blackouts within the UK.
The freeze on energy bills, if introduced, will be an echo of the Labour Party’s plan to tackle the crisis which was unveiled last month.
Truss promised to introduce help to all struggling households facing soaring energy bills within a week during a BBC interview on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
She did not deny that her plans could cost £100 billion during the programme, but did still did not reveal any more details.
“Before you have been elected as prime minister, you don’t have the wherewithal to get things done,” Truss said. “This is why it will take a week to sort out the precise plans and make sure we are able to announce them. That is why I cannot go into details at this stage.”
Much of Truss’ campaign has focused on her plan to introduce tax cuts and her priority on economic growth.
This has sparked fears that the wealthiest households will end up being greatest winners in any of her plans. In response, Truss claimed that it was wrong to look at everything through the “lens of redistribution” and that “growing the economy benefits everybody”.
Kwasi Kwarteng, who is expected to become Truss’ chancellor, wrote in the Financial Times that the government will behave in a “fiscally responsible” way on Sunday.
It appeared to be an effort to reduce fears around Truss’ tax-cutting strategy, after her opponent Sunak has warned that this would only worsen the current cost of living crisis.
When the new leader of the Conservative Party is confirmed at midday, they are expected to make a speech before turning their focus to their cabinet and ministerial appointments.
After this announcement, outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson will officially hand in his resignation to the Queen in Balmoral.
His replacement will then be invited by the Queen to form a new government.