Credit;PA
Dominic Raab shocked viewers today after he laughed after being asked what ‘bright ideas’ he has to ease the cost of living crisis.
The justice secretary could be heard chortling before stating the government was “assiduous and relentless in looking at what we can do”, confirming ministers were looking specifically at ways to reduce childcare and housing costs.
“There’s a whole range of things that we’re looking at. First of all, we’ve got a £22 billion package to deal with the cost of living.
“We’re providing rebates on council tax and energy bills. We’ve got this pot of money that local authorities can use to target the most vulnerable.
“We discussed childcare, and one of the things to note is there are lots of former housing ministers around the cabinet table, so we discussed housing costs. These are all areas where we’re never going to stop. We’re going to continue unflinchingly to look at what more we can do.”
Labour has said an emergency budget is required to deal with the rising costs faced by families and has proposed a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies. However, Rishi Sunak has reportedly ignored pleas for an Emergency Budget.
Dominic Raab was having none of it, saying a windfall tax “would damage investment in energy supplies we need and hike bills. It’s disastrous. It’s not serious. So what this shows is they’re coming up with, frankly, ill-thought through policies. But we have got a plan, a concerted plan, and I think that’s what voters want to see.”
A must watch:
Related: Cost-of-living crisis: Mother breaks down as she admits she is eating her children’s leftovers
