Liz Truss was not ruling out future cost of living support when she said she would reject “handouts”, her supporters have said, with prominent backer Penny Mordaunt claiming the comments were “misconstrued”.
Leadership rival Rishi Sunak hit out at the comments, saying the foreign secretary needs to “get real”, while claiming her plan to cut taxes immediately will do little to help the most vulnerable.
But Penny Mordaunt, who is backing Ms Truss to become the next prime minister after her own leadership bid failed, told Sky News her comments had been “misconstrued”.
Ms Truss told the Financial Times that, as Prime Minister, she would “look at what more can be done” to help families facing spiraling fuel bills.
But he added: “The way I would do things is in a conservative way to reduce the tax burden, not handing out handouts.”
Ms Mordaunt insisted Ms Truss was making a “general point about the merits of allowing people to keep more than they earn”.
“He has not ruled out all future aid. In fact, part of the reason he brought in an emergency budget is to actually deal with some of these issues,” Ms Mordaunt said.
“I think what he has rightly challenged is the wisdom of taking large sums of money out of people’s pockets in taxes and then giving some of it back in increasingly complicated ways.”
It comes days after Ms Truss claimed the media had “misrepresented” her proposal to link public sector wages to local living costs as she reversed course on the controversial policy.
Sunak’s supporters have seized on Ms Mordaunt’s comments, with Tory MP Mark Harper tweeting: “Stop blaming journalists (again), reporting what you actually say is not ‘misunderstood’.
“This sort of thing happened under the current Prime Minister and did massive damage to trust in all of us. So what does ‘don’t hand out leaflets’ mean? It seems pretty clear . . .”
Simon Hoare, the Tory MP for North Dorset, said: “Well, 2 ‘misinterpretations’ in a few days!! The country needs a serious PM who doesn’t make it up as he goes along.”
However, a Truss campaign source told Sky News: “We didn’t rule out more support, if you look at what Liz actually said. The point she’s making is a broad principle, not literally ruling out more support .”
Ms Truss has pledged to cut taxes “immediately” if she wins the race for No 10, adding she would call for an emergency budget and tackle the cost of living crisis “by reversing the rise in insurance national”.
She is going ahead with the plans despite claims that they would fuel inflation, which is already expected to exceed 13%.
Mrs Truss argues her £30bn plan for tax cuts will make the economy more competitive and could avert an impending financial crisis.
In an attack on Sunak’s plans, he told reporters on Saturday during a campaign visit to the West Midlands: “Having the highest taxes for 70 years is not going to generate this economic growth and is driving our country into recession.”
But Sunak hit back, contrasting his “clear-eyed realism” with Ms Truss’s “starry-eyed drive”.
The ex-chancellor calls for inflation to be controlled before taxes are cut, and accuses the foreign minister of having opted for savings and pensions.
Billions more have been pledged to help families weather the cost of living crisis when bills are expected to rise again this October, according to the Sunday Times.
He said: “We have to be real about this situation.
“It is simply wrong to rule out more direct support at this time, as Liz Truss has done, and what’s more, her tax proposals will do little to help people like pensioners or those on low incomes, who are exactly the kind of families who will need help “.
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The row comes after a report found that some families are shortchanged by up to £1,600 a year due to the cost of living crisis, even after government help is taken into account.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown, who commissioned the report, is urging Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to agree an emergency budget this week, saying time is running out to upgrade the UK payments system. universal credit before the next energy price hike.