PRIME Minister Liz Truss has been forced to apologise for bungling the specifics of her government’s energy price cap during a car crash round of local radio interviews last week.
When Truss was interviewed by a series of local BBC Radio stations on Thursday ahead of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, she repeatedly stated that consumers' power bills would be “no more than £2500”.
However, Truss was accused of mixing up the "basic facts" of her own policy in seven our of eight.
A fact-checking service wrote to the PM to demand that she clarify the government’s position, as the cap is on unit price and depends on each household's usage. After the PM's apology, Full Fact urged her to go further to clarify her position.
READ MORE: Hate crime report after 'racist' attacks on school visited by Nicola Sturgeon
Five days later, Truss was forced to admit she “should have been more specific”, and admitted that her phrasing could have been misleading to consumers who are worried about their upcoming bills.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC, the PM was initially asked if the UK Government will be giving any extra assistance to those with mortgages now that rates are set to rise following the introduction of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget.
Truss claimed that interest rates are going up globally due to the “international economic situation”.
She said: “We're doing what we can to help homeowners, for example, by reducing stamp duty, helping people get on the housing ladder, but I wouldn't dismiss what we've done on energy bills.
“It is a massive, it's a massive intervention, Nick, where people could have been facing bills of £6000. We've kept that down to £2500 for a typical household.
“Not just this winter, but also for the next winter as well. So that is providing security to a huge number of households across the country.”
Ferrari then pointed out that Truss had said in her local radio interview round last week that bills would be capped at £2500. He said: "How come you were wrong twice? Because the bills aren't capped at £2500 pounds, why did you get it wrong twice?”
Truss, rowing back on her previous claims, said: “I was talking about the typical bill. What we're actually doing is capping it per unit of energy, and that’s the number I gave...”
Ferarri interrupted to say: “Of course if I use more power...”
READ MORE: Liz Truss: Independence referendum shouldn't happen even if Supreme Court deems it legal
Truss replied: “Well, I’m sorry I wasn’t more specific.”
Asked if she got it wrong, the PM said: “I should have been more specific."
Asked a second time if she was admitting she had made a mistake, Truss replied, “I agree, I should have been more specific."
Truss made the claim during interviews with BBC Radio Leeds, Radio Kent, Radio Lancashire, Radio Nottingham, Radio Tees, Radio Bristol and Radio Stoke. Her interview with Radio Norfolk was dominated by questions on fracking and didn't include the energy cap claim.
In her final interview with Radio Stoke, Truss was asked simply: "Have you taken the keys to the country and crashed the economy?"
She said: "What we've done is we've taken decisive action on energy. So, from this weekend, we've made sure that families are paying no more than £2500 typical bill on energy this winter and next winter."
Will Moy, Chief Executive of Full Fact, said: "We welcome the fact that the Prime Minister has acknowledged her mistake in an interview, but this is the least we expect.
"Rising energy costs will affect us all, and politicians must be clear about the support available - especially when large numbers of people are confused about what the price cap means for them.
"The Government must do more to clarify this mess. More than 32,000 people have joined Full Fact's campaign for honesty in politics. Any politician serious about earning the public's trust should be prepared to correct their mistakes."
It comes after a screeching U-turn from Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng over scrapping the top rate of tax for the highest earners.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel