Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TRUSS LIZ TO TAKE A HANDOUT
Liz Truss is just a hypocrite... we had government partying and now this. It’s horrible
VIVIAN ALEXANDER WHO SAYS SHE WILL STAY IN BED TO SAVE ON HEATING
I need heating to stop my joints seizing up. So it’s heating or eating ...a horrible choice
SHE FACES AS POWER BILLS ROCKET
BY and JACK CLOVER PRIME Minister in waiting Liz Truss has claimed £4,817 in taxpayer expenses on gas and electric in the last five years.
Yet she says she won’t “bung more money into the system” to help hard-up Brits facing fuel bills of £3,500 a year – and rising.
Ms Truss’s claim was for her second home in Thetford, Norfolk – where almost 30% of children are living in poverty.
Furious locals accuse the Foreign Secretary of hypocrisy and greed.
Mother-of-four Donna Wenham, 39, who faces monthly power bills of more than £200, said: “It’s ridiculous that she can claim so much. It’s greedy and I’m not impressed.
“It’s not fair. We’re left to suffer while she lives the high life. I’m just trying to keep my head above water.
“My son has an iron deficiency and can’t hold his body temperature so I have the heating on through winter 24/7. If bills go up how will we cope? If I run out of money and my son goes blue we’ll have to spend the night in the hospital, putting more pressure on the NHS.
“That’ll happen again and again until I get more money to pay for the heating. It’s a vicious cycle.”
The typical household energy bill will hit £3,549 a year from October, regulator Ofgem has announced.
The £4,817 claimed by married Ms Truss is for a house in her South
West Norfolk constituency, according to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
She is hot favourite to be elected new Tory leader in next week’s poll between her and rival Rishi Sunak.
But Ms Truss has said she won’t offer “handouts” to households.
She has said: “Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts.”
That angers many Thetford families. Mum-of-one Lauren Swallow, 22, gets £600-a-month Universal
Credit. She and her partner pay £300 for gas and electric every four weeks and owe £1,800 in water bills. She said: “We have to prioritise food. I have no idea how we’ll cope. People are voting for Liz Truss but she’s not helping. She’s a hypocrite. I’m so annoyed. We had the government partying and now this.”
Vivian Alexander, 71, who helps at a charity shop, pays £20 every two weeks on her electricity meter. She said: “Liz Truss claiming for gas and electric while leaving us to suffer makes me so angry. It’s not fair. I’ll have to stay in bed in the winter.”
Factory worker Zoe Kidd, 43, said: “I have to choose between eating and heating. I need heating because I have hypermobility – my joints seize up. I will have to starve. It’s a horrible choice.”
MPs claimed £420,000 to heat second homes since 2019. Naomi Smith, chief executive of better democracy campaign group Best for Britain said: “Support for millions facing a financial abyss is not a ‘handout’, it is the Government doing its job, something they failed to do during this tortuous and selfindulgent leadership contest.”
Andrew Forsey, of Feeding Britain, said: “Without urgent support from our new PM, destitution will be a reality for many.”
A spokesman for Ms Truss said: “As PM, Liz would ensure people get support. She will put money in pockets by cutting taxes and suspending green energy tariffs, on top of a £400 discount to consumers from October and the £1,200 package for the most vulnerable.”
emer.scully@reachplc.com
Liz Truss claims for her gas and electric while we suffer. It makes me so angry...
ON THE CRUEL CHOICE
It’s ridiculous that she can claim while we are left to suffer... how will we cope? DONNA WENHAM MOTHER OF FOUR FACING BILLS NIGHTMARE