Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke said he found it “very strange” that high earners should benefit from the payments, which were announced in May by Rishi Sunak, the then chancellor, as part of a £15bn energy support package . Clarke was speaking in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph in his capacity as a campaigner for the Truss campaign, which last week revised its stance on energy bills and is seeking to quash suggestions that Truss is opposed to targeting those they need more. support. Clarke was Sunak’s deputy in May when the Treasury announced that from October every household would receive the £400 payments, mostly in installments as rebates on energy bills. This was the universal element in a package which diverted most of the extra £15 billion available in payments to those most in need. In his interview, Clarke said: “I find it very strange that the highest earners are getting £400 out of their bills. As Conservatives, we absolutely must believe in targeting taxpayers’ money as best we can so that we actually achieve the best value and keep the burden on the coffers as low as possible. “It’s not an ideal outcome, to put it mildly, that people who don’t need it are getting quite significant amounts of money from the state. This is not, frankly, a targeted package, is it?’ Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. At the start of the Tory leadership campaign, Truss suggested the main measures she would introduce as prime minister that could help people with rising energy bills would be to reverse the rise in national insurance and temporarily scrap green levies on energy bills . Truss rejected complaints that the measures would do little to help those most in need – and that cutting national insurance would help the highest earners most – and in an interview with the Financial Times this month appeared to rule out lump sum payments to most of them who are in need. “I would do things in a conservative way to reduce the tax burden, without handing out handouts,” he said when asked what he would do about energy bills. But that remark was seen as wrong, and within days Truss emphasized that it was offering people targeted support with energy bills. Clarke’s interview shows the Truss campaign is trying to present itself as even more in favor of targeted support than Sunak, who is championing universal payments of £400. Two of Truss’ key backers – the former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith and Thérèse Coffey, the current work and pensions secretary – are urging her to use Universal Credit as a means of getting extra help with energy bills to those with higher need. The Truss campaign did not say it would definitely stop the wealthy receiving the £400 payments or how this could be achieved. Universal payments are easy to manage. means the test is much more complex and best managed through the benefits system. In his interview, Clarke attacked another of Sunak’s policies as chancellor – his decision to give UK support to a G7-backed plan for a 15% minimum corporate tax. “There’s no doubt that we didn’t leave the European Union to limit our discretion on matters like this,” Clarke said. Truss agreed, he claimed. “I know she would not allow her government to find itself artificially limited,” he said.
