I believe in hope and not fear, insists Truss

● Tory leadership favourite thrashes out plan to tackle cost-of-living crisis if she gets to No10 ● I don’t believe in ‘managed decline’ she insists as aides face down doom-mongers

LIZ TRUSS has urged the public not to surrender to fear over soaring energy bills as she thrashes out the details of a plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

The Tory leadership favourite vowed to strike an optimistic tone if, as expected, she forms the next Government in just over a week.

‘I have a clear plan to get Britain through this storm and out the other side, and the determination to deliver it,’ the Foreign Secretary told The Mail on Sunday. ‘A recession is not inevitable, but we need to make sure we do not talk ourselves into one. I don’t believe in managed decline and I won’t accept it. I believe in hope over fear.’

Ms Truss’s remarks follow apocalyptic forecasts that without significant Government intervention the combined effect of the bills with double-digit inflation and rising interest rates will wipe out the savings of millions of households.

On Friday, the energy regulator Ofgem announced that the price cap would rise from £1,971 to £3,549 a year on October 1, with analysts forecasting further rises to as much as £7,000 by April next year.

Wholesale gas and electricity prices have been driven to record highs as a result of Vladimir Putin curbing gas supplies to Europe after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Energy companies have called on the Government to freeze the cap at its current level for two years – something that would cost the taxpayer upwards of £100 billion.

The Foreign Secretary is working on plans to provide billions of pounds in targeted support to pensioners and the poorest households, in addition to her existing pledges to reverse rises in National Insurance contributions and to abolish green levies on energy bills.

Ms Truss, who is devising the package of support with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, widely expected to become her Chancellor, said: ‘Ultimately I am an optimist and I believe things can and will get better, but only if we take tough and decisive action.

‘I know that times are difficult and families are under huge financial strain. I get it, and if I become Prime Minister I will offer immediate support to make life easier. I will focus on growing the economy and fixing the root causes of the challenges we face now – I will take action to make sure Britain is not in this position again.’

She added: ‘To realise a better future we have to do things differently and be prepared to be bold. As Prime Minister, I will unleash Britain’s post-Brexit potential. I will unshackle our businesses in order to drive our growth. I will lower the tax burden from its 70year high, so that businesses aren’t penalised for creating jobs or providing the goods and services we use every day and so people can keep more of their money. I will reverse the National Insurance hike so businesses don’t pay more to hire people. Pessimism and a managerial approach to Government will not work.

‘My plan will unleash our great country’s full potential and get our economy growing again – it is the only way to get us through the tough times ahead.’

The leadership frontrunner’s upbeat remarks come despite predictions from economists that inflation could top 18 per cent, forcing interest rates well above the current level of 1.75 per cent.

A senior source on Ms Truss’s campaign said: ‘Liz gets that things will be difficult this autumn and winter, but fundamentally she is optimistic and hopeful about the future of the country. She’s got a clear plan to get us through tough times and out the other side, and a clear plan to get the country firing on all cylinders in the longer term.

‘She’ll stand up to people who talk down our country, stand up to trade union barons, to vested interests holding the economy back, and to dictators like Putin.

‘She’ll deliver the tough love the country needs.’

Yesterday the Foreign Secretary

‘She’ll deliver the tough love the country needs’

also vowed to keep Britain safe in the face of increasing threats from authoritarian regimes.

She said: ‘My number one priority as Prime Minister will be to keep our nation safe. We thought that peace and stability were inevitable – but they aren’t. The era of complacency is over. We are living in an increasingly dangerous world and our security is under more threat than it has been in decades.

‘We need to make sure that Britain has the deterrents it needs to lead the global efforts to tackle aggression from the likes of Russia and other authoritarian regimes.’