Liz Truss' plans to address the energy crisis through tax cuts could make people homeless — so says a supporter of Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak.
Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake told Sky News' Kay Burley on Monday that the foreign secretary's opposition to further relief payments as household bills soar could lead to mass poverty.
"Talking about tax cuts that would help a low income household to the tune of about £1 a week and still... help a household like mine to the tune of about £30 a week is simply not right," Hollinrake said.
Truss has wooed Conservatives by pledging to reverse former chancellor of the exchequer Sunak's hikes in National Insurance, the UK's social security tax, and cut income tax in response to the cost-of-living crisis fuelled by the embargo on Russian energy imports.
"These people are going to be on the streets," Hollinrake warned. "Things are going to be that bad for some households. You've got to provide that target package of support."
The US-based Citibank offered the grimmest inflation forecast yet for the UK on Monday, predicting the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate would hit 18 percent early next year, with the Retail Price Index (RPI) reaching 20 percent.
The last time CPI stood above 18 percent in the UK was in 1976, after the Middle East oil crisis of 1973 and the British coalminers' strikes of 1972 and 1974 prompted electricity rationing to businesses.
Hollinrake accused workers from multiple sectors now striking over pay offers that will fail to keep up with soaring inflation of "exacerbating" the price shock.
The ruling Conservative Party's membership — estimated at between 160,000 and 200,000 — are voting on whether Truss or Sunak will replace Boris Johnson as party leader and prime minister. The result is due to be announced on September 5.
Opinion polls have shown Truss leading Sunak by a ratio of greater than two to one among party members. She has also won the backing of 154 Tory MPs, compared to 139 for Sunak.
But Hollinrake insisted that the polls were "completely wrong" and the leadership race was "very close", claiming that Sunak had an eight-point lead among his constituents in his own survey.