Inside Politics: Cost of living crunch

Rishi Sunak mulls further measures to help with rising bills and a Tory MP is arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault, writes Matt Mathers

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Is Rishi Sunak about to announce measures to help with the cost of living crisis? Today’s papers contain plenty of briefings about what the chancellor might or might not do to ease the burden on families who are struggling to pay their fuel, food and energy bills. Labour will today keep up the pressure on the government to act as it forces a vote on an emergency budget. Elsewhere, an unnamed Tory MP has been arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault.

Inside the bubble

Our political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer will lock horns in the first session of prime minister’s questions for three weeks. They are likely to clash over the economy rather than Partygate and Beergate. At the close of the six-day debate on the Queens Speech, Labour will force a vote on its plan for an emergency Budget to tackle the cost-of-living crisis – something many Tory MPs would like to see, even though they won’t vote for it.

Liz Truss will be quizzed by the international development select committee on her new foreign aid strategy and how helping Ukraine might affect other priorities. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international trade secretary, will make a speech about “green trade.”

Daily Briefing

Time to act

What exactly is going on with the Tories’ position on a windfall tax and cost of living policy more broadly? First, the party was strongly opposed to a windfall tax, with Boris Johnson, the prime minister and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, warning that it would deter North Sea firms’ investment in renewable energy (BP and Shell have since debunked the claim).

Since then, the government appears to have “warmed” slightly to the idea, with Sunak last week ordering Treasury officials to explore proposals for an extra levy “cash machine” oil and gas giants, who have been turning over gargantuan profits lately. Despite that, and the growing popularity of the policy among MPs, the public, and pretty much everywhere else, Tory MPs voted down a bid by Labour yesterday to introduce the tax, which the party says would put £600 in the pockets of families who are struggling to pay their fuel, food and energy bills.

Not a single Conservative voted for the measure. Labour is ramping up the pressure on Downing Street this week to further intervene on the cost of living crisis. And the party follows up yesterday’s amendment today with a separate vote calling for an emergency budget. Of course, there is a certain degree of politics involved in these votes, and it would be a strange world were Conservatives to start joining the opposition in the division lobby.

But is Downing Street dragging its heels on a windfall tax simply to save face, just because Labour called for it first? A report in The Daily Telegraph this morning says ministers are increasingly warming to the idea, after voter research conducted in Whitehall showed that as many as eight in 10 people are in favouring of the policy. Meanwhile,The Times says that the chancellor is drawing up plans to increase the warm home discount, with tax cuts later in the autumn.

Every day spent prevaricating in Downing Street is another night where the country’s poorest families are kept up at night worrying about how they are going to pay their bills. Figures published in the past hour by the Office for National Statistics showing that inflation has soared to 9 per cent will only serve to intensify the calls on Johnson and Sunak to act.

(PA)

Pestminster

An unnamed Tory MP was arrested yesterday on suspicion of rape and sexual assault. He has been released on bail this morning and is being asked by party whips not to attend parliament while a police investigation is ongoing.

It comes just weeks after Westminster was rocked by another round of “Pestminster” allegations against sitting MPs, and after it emerged that Neil Parish had watched porn in the Commons chamber in view of female colleagues.

The arrest once again puts parliament’s culture under the spotlight, as well as the power imbalance between MPs and their staff (the MP in question was also arrested on suspicion of abuse of public trust and misconduct in a public office).

Less importantly, it was also extremely bad timing for the PM, who had just hours earlier told his cabinet that he wanted them to focus on “crime, crime crime” as the Tories try to seize back the initiative on an issue where Labour has made significant ground.

Today’s cartoon (Dave Brown / The Independent)

On the record

“Let’s fix it. We don’t want to nix it, we want to fix it, and we will work our hardest to do it.”

PM on Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol.

From the Twitterati

“Tory MPs have voted against a policy so left wing that Margaret Thatcher’s government adopted it.”

New Statesman senior editor George Eaton on Tories’ voting against Labour plan for windfall tax on oil and gas giants.

Essential reading

• John Rentoul, The Independent: Can Rishi Sunak, with his ‘Ponzi scheme reputation’, make a comeback?
• Vince Cable, The Independent: Why have Remainers gone silent as the costs of Brexit pile up?
• Daniel Finkelstein, The Times: Playing politics is no business of the police
• Marina Hyde, The Guardian: At ease, Martin Lewis – a queue of Tory MPs is here to solve the cost of living crisis

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