The Independent looking at the 4th week of August 2022

August 22

Liz Truss will cause inflation spiral with ‘dangerous’ tax cuts, Rishi Sunak warns

Liz Truss will plunge the economy into an “inflation spiral” if she pushes ahead with her “dangerous” economic policy, Rishi Sunak’s campaign team has warned.   Ms Truss’s leadership rival said the frontrunner had to choose between cutting taxes and offering help to struggling families over the winter, or risk wrecking the economy.   To push ahead on both fronts would mean “increasing borrowing to historic and dangerous levels, putting the public finances in serious jeopardy and plunging the economy into an inflation spiral”, the former chancellor’s camp said.   The striking intervention comes after Ms Truss softened her stance on providing help for families over the winter, saying she would provide support “across the board”. The foreign secretary had previously insisted she was focused on tax cuts rather than what she termed “giving out handouts”.

Revealed: All wastewater companies miss targets for tackling pollution or sewage spills Exclusive: ‘The data lays bare the negligence of water companies,’ says shadow secretary of state for environment

August 23

I wouldn’t take job in Liz Truss cabinet, Rishi Sunak suggests

Rishi Sunak has suggested he would turn down a job in a Liz Truss cabinet if he were to lose the Conservative leadership contest, saying he would not want to disagree with another prime minister on “big things”.   The foreign secretary, who remains strong favourite to win the race and become the next PM, has reportedly earmarked Mr Sunak as a possible health secretary.   Asked on BBC Radio 2 if he would take the health secretary job, Mr Sunak laughed and replied: “I’m not focused on all of that. I’m trying to win this race at the moment – I’m not thinking about jobs.”   But in pointed remarks, the hopeful added: “You really need to agree with the big things, because it’s tough, as I found out, when you don’t. And I wouldn’t want to end up in a situation like that again.” Mr Sunak also said he “wouldn’t get out of bed” if he looked at successive Tory membership polls putting Ms Truss firmly on course to enter No 10 in early September.

August 24

‘No one’s safe anymore’: Parents’ fears after Olivia Pratt-Korbel, 9, shot dead in Liverpool In Liverpool, on the stretch of Kingsheath Avenue that was not behind a police cordon, children could be seen playing out in the street on Tuesday afternoon.   Toddlers pushed toy prams along pavements. Primary school-aged youngsters rode bikes and scooters. Teenagers kicked a ball about on a scrap of land just around the corner. Yet, overnight, the killing of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in the Knotty Ash area of the city’s Dovecot district has caused widespread revulsion, horror and fear.   Olivia was killed after a masked gunman – who police said was firing “with complete disregard” while chasing a second man – burst into the house that she lived in with her mother.   Parents living here say the fatal shooting of an innocent girl in her own home caused them to question their own children’s safety. Few gave their names to The Independent for fear of being targeted for reprisals by those responsible for the killing.

August 25

Exclusive: Skyrocketing energy bills will create a ‘huge mental health crisis’ this winter, NHS leaders warn

Soaring energy and food bills will create a “huge mental health crisis” this winter putting further strain on services and risking “people’s life chances”, NHS leaders have warned.   As household bills dramatically increase, Saffron Cordery, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers which represents NHS trusts across England, said there was a direct link between deprivation and a surge in demand for care.   The need for mental health services has already skyrocketed over the last year with referrals for adults hitting a monthly record of 425,000 in March and 1.2 million adults also waiting for community mental health care.

August 26

Ofgem confirms energy price cap will rise to £3,549 from October

The UK’s energy regulator has set the new price cap at £3,549 from October.   The energy price cap is the maximum amount that gas suppliers can charge customers per unit of energy. Ofgem decides the price cap by observing what wholesale energy prices do over several months. The chief executive of Ofgem has urged the incoming prime minister to do more to deal with the impact of energy price rises as the cap on energy bills soared 80 per cent. Jonathan Brearley said the government would need to add to the support it announced in May when bills were only expected to jump to £2,800.   “The government support package is delivering help right now, but it’s clear the new prime minister will need to act further to tackle the impact of the price rises that are coming in October and next year,” Mr Brearley said.   “The response will need to match the scale of the crisis we have before us. With the right support in place and with regulator, government, industry and consumers working together, we can find a way through this.”

Liz Truss says ‘jury’s out’ on whether Macron is ‘friend or foe’ The Foreign Secretary and her rival candidate Rishi Sunak were asked a series of quickfire questions at the Norwich hustings

August 27 – 28

If – as Westminster expects – Liz Truss takes over in Downing Street, the substantial rise in the energy price cap means she will face a baptism of fire, writes Andrew Grice. He is perplexed as to why the would-be prime minister isn’t getting out in front of the issue now.

 

Boris Johnson appears to see the invasion of Ukraine, which has now entered its seventh month, as a present-day Second World War, argues Mary Dejevsky. She believes this is the wrong position to take.

 

James Moore asks whether our cinema-going habits have permanently changed thanks to the choices taken by film studios and streaming services forced by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. What does the future hold for your local multiplex?