Liz Truss – live: Prime minister hands Rees-Mogg and Braverman key jobs in cabinet reshuffle – The Independent

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PM accused of planning to make workers ‘foot the bill’ for energy crisis
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Liz Truss cabinet reshuffle: Who’s in and who’s out?
Liz Truss has been accused of bringing in a “phony freeze” on energy bills after announcing a £2,500 yearly price cap for the average household until October 2024.
Setting out her plan to help deal with the energy crisis, the prime minister also promised support for businesses struggling with bills for six months, with targeted support for vulnerable firms beyond that.
She announced the ban on fracking in England will end, meaning production of domestic shale gas could begin in as little as six months.
Opposition parties have warned the plan to ease the cost-of-living crisis without taxing energy firms could saddle Britons with debt for decades.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed the move would force taxpayers to “foot the bill”, while the plans were dubbed a decades-long “Truss tax” by the SNP’s Ian Blackford.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed energy prices and security to the top of the agenda, prompting calls for the government to rethink the moratorium it had imposed on fracking in England in 2019 in the wake of tremors in Lancashire.
The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has called Liz Truss’s energy announcement an “expensive sticking plaster” without further investment in improving energy efficiency of homes worst affected by fuel poverty.
Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “While many households will breathe a sigh of relief, the Prime Minister offered no detail of additional support for the millions of households who will be left behind in fuel poverty this winter.
“Many of these people are struggling already and include those who are elderly, disabled or with pre-existing health conditions. Without more support to keep them warm this winter, the pressures on the NHS and social care system will increase.”
The Children’s Society has said it is “worried sick about the devastating conditions families and children will face over the coming months” without further targeted support for low-income households.
Liz Truss’s energy price freeze announcement “falls far short of what is needed for low-income families who are in desperate need of additional targeted support”, said the charity’s chief executive Mark Russell, adding: “Our teams across the country see families already struggling to pay bills and feed their children.
“Under these plans, the typical household will still face a further £500 increase in their annual energy bill, meaning they will pay twice what they were paying around this time last year.”
Urging the new prime minister’s government “to go further and faster and offer more help to the poorest families”, he said: “This should include more long-term support through the social security system – which in many cases simply does not cover basic living costs – including significant investment in Child Benefit.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said that he is “deeply worried” by the news that the Queen is under medical supervision at Balmoral, after doctors became concerned for her health.
Unions have criticised the government’s energy announcement as “scratching the surface” of what is needed, warning that “bills will still be almost double the amount they were last year”.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady accused Liz Truss of “making the wrong people pay” for the intervention, calling on the new prime minister to impose a “much larger” windfall tax on “profiteering” oil and gas giants, alongside requiring all firms getting help with energy bills to commit to no lay-offs during that period.
Ms Truss “needs to do more to help families get through the winter”, Ms O’Grady said, adding: “That means a real plan to get wages rising, a big boost to universal credit, child benefit and pensions, and a massive rollout of home improvements to cut bills. It’s time to bring energy retail into public ownership to make sure this crisis never happens again.”
The GMB said time was running out to fix the “Tory mess” it warned had left the UK so “underprepared and exposed”, adding: “The Tories have been in office for 12 years. Their failures to build new nuclear power stations, to protect and utilise our gas storage capacity and willingness to engage in political groupthink on domestic on and offshore resources, means we are playing catch-up in the race to defend ourselves against the global energy crisis.
“GMB calls on ministers to move at speed, because the brutal truth is the UK’s energy infrastructure will become even more vulnerable during the next decade, as existing nuclear plants are taken offline.”
Also calling for a windfall tax, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “At long last, the government has acted. A bill freeze should have happened months ago. Instead, millions have endured sleepless nights terrified of the winter ahead.”
“Putting bills on ice isn’t enough though,” Ms McAnea added. “Bills will still be almost double the amount they were last year. Long-term energy efficiency measures are also needed, especially for older homes. Then the poorest won’t keep going without just to keep the lights on.”
Liz Truss said she would not “give in” to calls for a larger windfall tax to fund her energy support package.
The PM told the Commons: “I can tell the House today that we will not be giving in to the Leader of the Opposition who calls for this to be funded through a windfall tax.
“That would undermine the national interest by discouraging the very investment we need to secure homegrown energy supplies.”
She later added her government’s plans were “pro-growth, pro-business, and pro the investment we need for our country’s energy security”.
Sir Keir Starmer said under Labour’s plan there would be “not a penny more on bills”, but under the prime minister’s plan there would be a “price rise”.
Sir Keir described the situation as a “national emergency” and said Labour spent the summer “fighting for a price freeze”.
Taking aim at Ms Truss, Sir Keir said many people “said we were wrong” and “they dismissed our call for support as handouts”.
He said the objections could not last and “the Prime Minister had no choice”, saying: “So I am pleased there is action today and that the principle of a price limit has been accepted.
“But under our plan not a penny more on bills, under this plan, a price rise… But this support does not come cheap. And the real question before the House today… the political question, is who is going to pay?”
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has wished the Queen well after Buckingham Palace announced doctors are concerned for the monarch’s health.
He told MPs: “I know I speak on behalf of the entire House when I say that we send our best wishes to Her Majesty the Queen and that she and the royal family are in our thoughts and prayers at this moment.”
Prime minister Liz Truss said “the whole country will be deeply concerned by the news from Buckingham Palace this lunchtime” adding “my thoughts – and the thoughts of people across our United Kingdom – are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time”.
The Queen is under medical supervision at Balmoral after doctors became concerned for her health, Buckingham Palace has said.
The monarch’s immediate family members have been informed, with the latest announcement escalating fears for her health.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle told MPs: “I know I speak on behalf of the entire House when I say that we send our best wishes to Her Majesty the Queen and that she and the royal family are in our thoughts and prayers at this moment.”
Liz Truss said she wants the UK to be a net energy exporter by 2040.
The prime minister, challenged about the reopening of the Rough gas storage facility, told the Commons: “We are in a very, very difficult situation and I am committed as Prime Minister to doing everything it takes to resolve this situation, to help people with their energy bills and to make sure we have security of supply for the long-term.”
She added: “As a result of these steps on shale and on nuclear, and the acceleration of renewables, I am today setting a new ambition for our country.
“Far from being dependent on the global energy markets and the actions of malign actors, we will make sure that the UK is a net energy exporter by 2040.”
Ms Truss said the Business Secretary will set out a plan “in the next two months to make sure we achieve this”.
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Liz Truss announces a typical household will pay no more than £2,500 a year on energy bills until October 2024
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