Liz Truss blames Rishi Sunak for UK heading into recession as PM race turns nasty

LIZ Truss blamed Rishi Sunak for putting Britain on the road to recession yesterday as the gloves came off in the Tory leadership race.

The Foreign Secretary said the policies that have led to current troubles were put in place when her rival was Chancellor.

Yet Mr Sunak’s allies said Ms Truss’s tax-cutting plans would only make matters worse.

Tory voters appear to side with the race favourite, with a poll revealing 48 per cent support her, against 22 per cent for her opponent.

Ms Truss fired yesterday’s first shots by tearing into Mr Sunak’s legacy as a high-tax Chancellor.

She attacked the “abacus economics” of the Treasury under his stewardship — and vowed to reverse the National Insurance rates increase her rival introduced.

She also promised to lift green levies on energy bills, worth £150-a-year for all households.

On a campaign visit to the West Midlands, she said Britain was heading for recession under current plans.

It was not “inevitable”, she said, if taxes are kept low to help firms and boost the economy.

She said: “Having the highest taxes for 70 years is not going to deliver that economic growth.”

But she ruled out “handouts” to help families survive the biggest income squeeze in half a century.

Mr Sunak hit back to say only he was willing to help struggling families and pensioners.

He said Ms Truss’s tax plans would not help the needy through the winter.

He added: “We need to get real about this situation. It’s simply wrong to rule out further direct support at this time as Liz Truss has done.”

Treasury Select Committee chairman Mel Stride, a Sunak supporter, accused Ms Truss of “sniping” at Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey.

He said: “We must let the Bank of England get on with its job.”