Commons snapshot: a rather stiff parliamentary to-and-fro on energy
The back-and-forth in the Commons yesterday between Liz Truss and Keir Starmer was like a ping-pong match – a rather boring one.
The leader of the opposition accused the PM of favouring the rich and making working people “pay the bill”. He said her party was “lost in denial”.
Truss, on her part, sounded stiff. She reminded us all that the energy package was “the major part of the mini-budget” – four times. Was that perhaps in anticipation of a u-turn on other financial measures announced in the mini-budget in the following weeks?
She also said twice that she was “genuinely unclear” – about Labour’s position on the energy package – but that still caused a burst of laughter as she seemed to be admitting the chaos rocking her government.
If Truss wants to get her backbenches safely behind her, she’ll need to deliver a lot more than rehearsed lines on helping people with energy.