Hours after Conservative heavyweight Michael Gove said Liz Truss was on a "holiday from reality", the Tory leadership front-runner said there was "too much talk that there's going to be a recession" and insisted an economic slump is not inevitable.
The UK Foreign Secretary suggested a "level of ambition" was needed to "change the orthodoxy" and avoid the outcome forecast by the Bank of England.
With the invasion of Ukraine forcing gas prices up, the bank this month said the UK could suffer its longest recession since the 2008 financial crisis.
The economy shrank by 0.6 per cent in June and forecasters predicted it would contract again in the final quarter of this year and throughout 2023.
But Ms Truss repeated her belief that such a scenario could be averted and pinned her hopes on immediate tax cuts spurring economic growth, as inflation continued to drive a cost-of-living crisis.
In an interview with The Sun on Sunday, she promised a "small business and self-employed revolution" to help turn the situation around.
"Those are the future big companies we need to develop — and why shouldn't Britain have the next Google or the next Facebook?" she said. "Why shouldn't it be a British company?
"It's about that level of ambition. There is too much talk that there's going to be a recession. I don't believe that's inevitable. We can unleash opportunity here in Britain."
Among Ms Truss's economic plans is a review of IR35 rules, which, she argues, "treat the self-employed the same as big business" and can force self-employed workers to overpay tax.
The regulations were introduced in 2000 to prevent tax avoidance by "disguised employees" who do the same job as an employee but evade income tax and national insurance by providing services through an intermediary, such as a personal services company.
Some high-profile TV personalities have been targeted under the rules.
UK doctors to prescribe cheaper bills?
Meanwhile, The Sun reported plans being drawn up by the Treasury for doctors to be able to write prescriptions to give people money off their energy bills.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting accused the Conservatives of having "lost the plot" with the proposal, as he reiterated Labour's plan to stop energy bills rising in winter.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, a close ally of Ms Truss who is tipped to be her chancellor should she win the leadership race, said fresh support would be made available this winter as energy bills soar.
"I understand the deep anxiety this is causing," he wrote in The Mail on Sunday. "As winter approaches, millions of families will be concerned about how they are going make ends meet.
"But I want to reassure the British people that help is coming."
He said Ms Truss would "look at what more can be done to help families" but insisted it was "entirely reasonable not to detail the exact shape of that support until she has all the information to hand".
The pledge of assistance for families worried about the cost-of-living crisis represents a U-turn by the Truss team. The foreign secretary was in the early days of her campaign lambasted for rejecting "handouts" as a way to help people.
Tory MP and former minister Chris Philp, who is backing Ms Truss to succeed Boris Johnson, dismissed Labour’s proposal to freeze the energy price cap for six months in favour of slashing taxes and green levies.
The cap — the maximum amount suppliers can charge customers in England, Scotland and Wales for each unit of energy used — is set by the energy regulator Ofgem. It increased by more than 50 per cent in April and is set to rise further in October and again in January. Cornwall Insight, a market research company, forecasts that the average household will fork out £3,582 a year from October and £4,266 a year from January on energy bills.
“To be honest, taxing people to then fund an energy price cap freeze is putting a sticking plaster on it,” Mr Philp told Sky News. “It’s not dealing with the actual problem. What we need to do is help people get through this coming winter.”
Mr Philp said it would be better to address the “underlying problems” behind the cost-of-living crisis, and highlighted the large amount of gas imported by the UK, which he said “puts us at the mercy of these international gas price increases”.
“Ultimately, that is what will fix this,” he said. “Getting more gas out of the North Sea, getting fracking set up where local communities support it, getting our nuclear programme rolled out and making sure the tax burden is lower so people keep more of their own money. There’s no point taking more money off people in tax and then giving it back to them in the form of some kind of energy subsidy. Better to not take it off them in the first place.”
Conservative MP Alex Chalk, a backer of Rishi Sunak in the party's leadership contest, said the former chancellor was clear that soaring inflation must be a top priority in the battle to reduce the harm done to families by the cost-of-living crisis.
“The critical thing for the next prime minister is going to be how you address this challenge, the judgments you make,” Mr Chalk told Sky News. “And what Rishi has said from the outset is that unless we get on top of inflation, that force that Margaret Thatcher called the greatest destroyer of all, then everything else is far more difficult to deal with because, of course, it erodes your ability to pay for the National Health Service, it erodes your ability to pay for defence and so on.”
Concerns linger within Conservative ranks that the protracted leadership contest is damaging the party's electoral prospects, with the last two candidates rubbishing each other's ideas.
A new poll by Opinium gave Labour an eight-point lead over the Conservatives, the largest since the pollsters introduced new methodology in February.
The survey of 2,001 adults this week put Labour on a 39 per cent vote share to the Tories' 31 per cent, while it also found respondents preferred opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer to both Ms Truss and Mr Sunak.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
RIVER%20SPIRIT
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The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include:
- Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
- Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
- Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
- Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
From exhibitions to the battlefield
In 2016, the Shaded Dome was awarded with the 'De Vernufteling' people's choice award, an annual prize by the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers and the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers for the most innovative project by a Dutch engineering firm.
It was assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence to modify the Shaded Dome to make it suitable for ballistic protection. Royal HaskoningDHV, one of the companies which designed the dome, is an independent international engineering and project management consultancy, leading the way in sustainable development and innovation.
It is driving positive change through innovation and technology, helping use resources more efficiently.
It aims to minimise the impact on the environment by leading by example in its projects in sustainable development and innovation, to become part of the solution to a more sustainable society now and into the future.
Company profile
Name: One Good Thing
Founders: Bridgett Lau and Micheal Cooke
Based in: Dubai
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 5 employees
Stage: Looking for seed funding
Investors: Self-funded and seeking external investors
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
'C'mon C'mon'
Director:Mike Mills
Stars:Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman
Rating: 4/5
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Tips for entertaining with ease
· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.
· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.
· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.
· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.
· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.
· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya Shetty, Kai Smith
Vaccine Progress in the Middle East
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RESULT
RS Leipzig 3
Marcel Sabitzer 10', 21'
Emil Forsberg 87'
Tottenham 0
