Cost of living: Harrogate MP welcomes Liz Truss's victory but calls for new support package

After the result of the Conservative Party leadership race was announced, Mr Jones congratulated new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, on her - despite supporting her rival Rishi Sunak.

Ms Truss received 81,326 votes from the party membership against 60,399 for rival Rishi Sunak.

Ms Truss will see Her Majesty the Queen at Balmoral tomorrow to formally take up office before returning to Number 10 to start work.

Welcoming her to her new role, Mr Jones said: “Being Prime Minister is a great responsibility and I offer Ms Truss my full support in her new role.

"I backed Rishi Sunak and he fought a very credible campaign.

“I am though, first and foremost, a democrat and when your choice doesn’t win you need to accept that and row in behind the winner.

"We are fortunate to have a breadth of talent in the Government which provided us with an excellent field of candidates from which to choose any of whom would have been up to the job. Congratulations to Ms Truss on her success.”

The new Prime Minister will find a packed in box with major issues such as the cost of living, the war in Ukraine and fuel prices among many others.

Mr Jones said he knows where he wants to see new measures: “I want to see more action quickly on gas and electricity prices.

"While we cannot shield everyone from the whole of the increases we should be seeking to help those most vulnerable to large increases in their monthly bills as much as we can.

“It’s a big agenda and I will play my part in taking it forward with our new Prime Minister’s Cabinet team.”

Harrogate’s MP has also said that support for businesses needs to be included in any new Government messures to deal with the cost of living crisis.

After talking to a number of Harrogate businesses, Mr Andrew Jones said not only was a mini budget required to offer further support to households this winter but worried traders had to be included, too.

"Some businesses I have visited are in the fortunate position of signing long-term energy contracts recently which will keep their bills stable,” said Mr Jones.

"But others are not and I know they will be concerned about the immediate future.

"It is clear to me that further support will be needed and I would like to see it continue to be targeted at those most in need.

"Businesses will need to be included this time round.

"I would expect to see any support outlined in a mini budget within weeks of the new Prime Minister taking office."

The Harrogate and Knaresborough MP’s comments follow a series of alarm bells sounded recently by the business world in reaction to soaring energy prices and inflation.

Last week saw the leaders of six of the country's largest breweries warn that pubs across the UK risked being forced to close due to business energy costs soaring by as much as 300%.

At the same time, the British Chambers of Commerce issued an urgent plea for more support from the Government and submitted a five-point action plan of how to help businesses survive.

Mr Jones said the principle of the Government supporting businesses had been established during the pandemic and should now be applied to the new crisis.

"During the pandemic the Government provided £21bn to small businesses via grants. This was crucial for business survival,” said Mr Jones.

"The principle of crisis support is established.

"So far the Government has announced £37billion of support for households which includes targeted payments to those on low incomes or who are otherwise vulnerable.

"Other measures, such as raising the National Insurance threshold and the National Living Wage, will mean hundreds of pounds more in pockets this year as well.

"Further support packages are being worked on in government right now, and as the situation develops fast it will be necessary to develop more support schemes.

"I know that ministers and officials in the Treasury are working on this so that the new Chancellor will have a range of options available to implement at pace.”

The spectre of a full-blown recession is now looming with the latest official statistics for the UK’s GDP showing the economy starting to shrink.

To add to economic fears, skills and labour shortages since lockdown ended are still causing major problems for employers, in particular, in the hospitality sector.

In the viewpoint of the British Chambers of Commerce, that news, combined with the energy price cap set to rise on October 1 to £3,549 a year, from the £1,971 set in April, to keep up with surging gas prices plus a slump in consumer confidence to a 50-year low as reported by leading market research company GfK, means there is no time left for half-measures by the new Prime Minister.

Responding to Liz Truss’s victory, Sarah Howard, chair of the BCC, said: “We would like to congratulate Liz Truss on running a successful campaign to become the new Prime Minister but she must take immediate steps to support the economy.

"Unless the new Prime Minister addresses the problems head-on then the outlook for both businesses and consumers will be bleak indeed.”