Gordon Brown slammed Boris Johnson and Nadhim Zahawi for refusing to cut their vacations short today, as he proposed restricting electricity costs to manage inflation.
The former Labour prime minister proposed summoning Parliament back from its extended summer vacation to cope with the ‘vacuum’ in Westminster caused by last week’s turmoil.
The Bank of England raised interest rates by 0.5% and warned of a five-quarter recession and inflation of 13%, two percentage points more than previously predicted.
Mr Johnson, on the other hand, will return from his honeymoon in Slovenia today, having whisked Carrie away to a £550-per-night eco-hotel. Mr Zahawi also brought his family overseas to their vacation house.
Mr Brown, who was chancellor for a decade before taking over as Prime Minister in 2007, has joined forces with the Big Issue to demand immediate action to avoid a “poverty time bomb” from detonating in October.
He said that 27.7 million Britons will face fuel poverty in October, and that waiting until the new leader takes office in September would be too late for people with ‘unpayable’ bills.
‘Someone has to be in charge.’ ‘It’s not just that they’re sleeping at the wheel; there’s no one at the wheel right now,’ he said on Good Morning Britain.
‘You have Boris and his chancellor on vacation, and then you have the two leadership contenders on the campaign road.
‘What is occurring at the center of government is that there is a vacuum that must be addressed promptly if we are to safeguard people by October.’
‘I know from my personal experience that you have to move swiftly to deal with the benefits and tax concerns if you want to get the modifications in by the deadline.’
It happened as Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss argued over the cost-of-living problem, with polls showing that the public wants the incoming Tory PM to tackle runaway inflation before implementing tax cuts.
The Foreign Secretary, who is expected to take over as Prime Minister in four weeks, was lambasted by her competitor after promising to lower National Insurance and green fees on bills within days of assuming office.
He accused her of’starry-eyed boosterism’ in the Sun, claiming that he would only lower taxes after inflation is under control. Her campaign, on the other hand, slammed him as the “founding father of a recession.” According to a recent YouGov survey for the Times, two-thirds (64%) of people say inflation should be the future Prime Minister’s top concern. Only 17% believe that tax reduction should be prioritized.
Meanwhile, former Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis supported Ms Truss for saying there will be no “handouts” for people as bills and prices on the high street continue to rise.
‘We know that tax cuts will not make a difference because they go to the individuals who have the most money, not the ones who have the least money,’ Mr Brown told Sky News.
‘So I’d be talking about modifications to the Universal Credit system to provide people the money they need, as well as maybe limiting energy prices.’
‘That would have the impact of lowering inflation while also assisting those in the greatest need.’ None of these issues seem to be being explored in the manner they should be at the present, which is just unacceptable.’