Boris Johnson hinted at a message about tackling the cost of living crisis in the coming days – but the finance ministry was quick to deny there would be an emergency budget.
The prime minister has come under pressure over price spikes facing British households during a municipal debate over the Queen’s speech, which sets the government’s legislative agenda.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said the government was “devoid of ideas” as the nation turned to a “stagflation crisis” – using the term to describe when weak economic growth is combined with high inflation.
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Mr Johnson acknowledged that the aftershocks of the pandemic had led to soaring energy and food prices around the world, but said the government had “fiscal firepower to help families up and down the country with all the pressure. which they are facing now. ‘
He added: “We will continue to use all our ingenuity and compassion for as long as necessary, and the Chancellor and I will say more about this in the coming days.”
A Finance Ministry spokesman said immediately after the prime minister’s comment that there would be no emergency budget.
Last month, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he would have to see how much fuel prices would rise before coming up with new measures.
“Depending on what happens to the bills then, of course, if we have to act and support people, we will,” he told Mumsnet at the time.
“But it would be foolish to do this now or last month or last month, when we don’t know exactly what the situation will be in the autumn.
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3:30 Starmer accuses government of stagflation
“We can’t make our way to this problem”
Later, in his address to the Municipalities, the Prime Minister said: “No matter how great our compassion and ingenuity, we cannot just waste our time on this problem.
“We need to get out of this problem by creating hundreds of thousands of new high-paying and highly qualified jobs across the country.
The prime minister also spoke of cutting government spending, as well as the “burden that the government places on taxpayers and citizens” and promised to correct delays in issuing passports and driver’s licenses.
Sir Keir told the House of Commons that “times are hard, but they are much harder than they should be.”
He called for measures, including an emergency budget, an unforeseen tax on energy companies and a better plan to avoid more energy crises in the future, such as countering opponents of onshore wind farms.
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Sir Kear said Britain had “a government right now with ideas that meet the aspirations of the British public”.
“This thin address, devoid of ideas or purpose, without a guideline or a roadmap for implementation, shows how far this government is from this – too irrelevant to meet the challenges of the moment, too tired to grasp the possibilities of the future. “Their time is up,” said the Labor leader.
He added: “This government’s failure to develop the economy for a decade, combined with its momentum in the face of spiraling bills, means we are staring at the barrel of something we have not seen in decades, a stagflation crisis.
Sir Kear said the queen’s speech was “the last chapter in a pathetic response to the cost of living crisis”.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davy later asked for clarity on what help could come after the prime minister’s hint, followed by the Treasury, “saying they had no idea what the prime minister was talking about.”
“It would be great if at least a minister from the front bench could enlighten the House, because our constituents need help, and there is nothing in the Queen’s speech,” he said.
Analysis by John Craig, Chief Political Correspondent
With the reverse turns, this was fast even by the standards of this government. And that has exposed even more tensions between Downing Street No. 10 and 11 over taxes and spending.
In response to Sir Keir Starmer’s calls for emergency assistance in the cost of living crisis, Boris Johnson made MEPs sit down when he said: “The Chancellor and I will say more in the coming days.”
Really? This seemed to be news to Rishi Sunak and the treasury. “There will be no emergency budget and we will set the budget schedule in the usual way,” a Finance Ministry official told Sky News.
Then this is quite definite. So what does PM do? Is he trying to get his chancellor to declare urgent action? Or is there another line between the couple behind the scenes?
At the start of these proceedings, President Sir Lindsay Hoyle announced that MEPs would discuss the cost of living next Tuesday and economic growth on Wednesday.
One day, the chancellor will speak on behalf of the government. Now he is under enormous pressure to act. And not from opposition lawmakers, but from his neighbor on Downing Street.
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