By Michiel Willems
DCMS minister Matt Warman, who is supporting Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership battle, spoke this morning in favour of targeted support during the rising cost of living, acknowledging “that is going to affect people somewhat higher up the income scale as well”.
He told Sky News this a.m.: “I think for me the most important thing is that we target those who need it most, we target the most vulnerable, that’s what you saw in that package that differentiates between some people who have greater needs than others, but acknowledge that everybody needs help.
“I think pensioners in particular, those on fixed incomes, obviously we need to think about that, we need to think about people who are particularly reliant on benefits, but the fact is, as we heard from the Chancellor not long ago, this is something that is going to affect people somewhat higher up the income scale as well and that’s why the principles of the package that was announced before I think are the right ones, which are to focus the help on those who need it most, but also to acknowledge that a degree of universality is the right one.”
He added: “I think this needs to be something that tackles both the energy supply and energy security challenges that we’ve got and tackles the problems that people have as individuals paying their own bills.
“There are a number of different policy ways you might try and get to that conclusion and as I say it is right the next prime minister makes those decisions.”
Levelling up agenda
Warman also said this a.m. that “there are lots of things under that levelling-up agenda that Boris Johnson I think will look back on and be hugely proud of”.
Asked about energy nationalisation, Mr Warman told Sky News: “I think the way that the market has been regulated hasn’t worked as well as it could have done in the interests of consumers.
“I think that what we’ve got to see is some improvement in a host of issues – for me I’m not sure whether nationalisation does anything other than borrow a huge amount of money today in order to buy companies that will then have to pay back that borrowing through taxation.
“So for me it doesn’t work, but I understand the frustration that is at the back of that suggestion and I think we need to address the concerns that people have rather than necessarily using that device.”
He added: “It’s partly about UK energy security, it’s partly about investing in nuclear.
“For instance, you’ve got the Chancellor over in the US today talking about how we can make sure that nuclear is a greater part of our energy mix.
“We’ve got to try and tackle what is a long-standing problem in a lot of different ways.”
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