Liz Truss to set out energy bills rescue plan as Labour says ruling out windfall tax a ‘terrible mistake’ – UK politics live

The UK’s new prime minister will set out her plans for soaring energy bills at 11.30am BST in the Commons

In charts: The economic challenges facing Liz Truss

And here are some more lines from what Simon Clarke, the new levelling up secretary, said on his morning broadcast round.

Clarke defended the government’s decision to act on the grounds that the economy would suffer “enormous damage” if it did nothing. Liz Truss is instinctively a small state Tory, and during the Tory leadership campaign she criticised what she described as Gordon Brown-style government interventions. But Clarke, one of her closest allies, said on this occasion a big intervention was essential. He said:

If we fail to act, if we don’t protect the economy against the shock of the size and scale we are talking about, then there is going to be enormous damage.

In these circumstances I think the country will say and I think markets will respect that this is the most sensible thing to do.

He said the plan announced today would provide certainty “in the medium term”, and would not just be a “sticking plaster” solution. He said:

We are not looking here at sticking plaster solutions. We want a lasting settlement that provides both comfort and clarity for both households and businesses.

This is a major attempt to draw a line and provide energy certainty for everybody in this country about energy usage in the medium term.

He rejected suggestions that the increase in borrowing being announced today would be excessive, or that it would alarm the financial markets. He said:

If you look at the UK’s most recent round of debt issuance, that was well-covered. There was much more demand for our debt than was needed to cover the latest auction.

We are paying around three per cent for our debt. That is a perfectly sustainable level. The UK is obviously a very stable, very strong economy, subject to a very clear regulatory system and the rule of law. We are a safe bet and a safe haven as we always are, frankly, in these kind of situations.

He came close to confirming that Truss will announce an end to the ban on fracking today – but he stressed that this was not a “miracle solution” to the energy supply crisis.

These firms are the people we are going to be absolutely relying on to deliver that next generation of oil and gas extraction on the route to energy self-sufficiency.

We need to go much, much further in getting new fields on line.

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