Labour says Truss’s comments on British workers needing more graft are a ‘total disgrace’ – UK politics live

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London’s mayor has warned of a rise in shootings and stabbings amid concerns that the increasing cost of living could lead to more violence and make it easier for gangs to lure vulnerable young people.

Sadiq Khan said millions of pounds more were being put into schemes to turn people away from violence. The Labour mayor has been criticised by some for his record on crime.

Khan said more than half of shootings in London and nearly a quarter of homicides were believed to be linked to gangs. Gang exit schemes are being boosted by ?2m.

The mayor said:

I am concerned about a potential increase in violence this summer as the cost of living crisis deepens and threatens to reverse the progress we have made in tackling violent crime. Violence, like poverty, is not inevitable and the government must now do much more to show it shares my commitment to building a fairer, safer London for all.

The mayor said he had put a total of more than ?8m into a gang exit programme that had helped hundreds of young people to move away from crime.

The scheme, led by the charity Safer London, has helped 430 young people, with 83% significantly reducing or leaving gang activity.

Sherry Peck, who leads Safer London, said she believed poverty, alienation and trauma left young people vulnerable to being groomed and recruited into violence.

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Politicians from across the divide have expressed support for senior Conservative MP William Wragg after he said he would be taking a break to deal with depression and anxiety.

PA News reports:

He said both conditions are currently “severe” but he looks forward to “returning refreshed, better able to represent my constituents, loving life and myself a little bit more”.

The MP for Hazel Grove, in Greater Manchester, said his constituents could continue to contact his office for assistance as he shared his experience in a Twitter post titled “banishing the black dog”.

The chairman of the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee wrote:

I have lived with depression and anxiety for most of my adult life. At the moment, both are severe.

I am resisting the temptation to give up entirely. As such, I require a short break. I know that how I feel is far from unique. I would say to anyone who feels similarly, that they should speak to someone they trust, seek and accept support.

Do not assume those who are outwardly confident and successful are without doubts and despair. I am only making this statement as an explanation, instead of giving recurrent excuses.

My constituents can continue to contact my office when they require assistance. My hard-working team will continue to do their utmost to help them. In the meantime, I look forward to returning refreshed, better able to represent my constituents, loving life and myself a little bit more.

MPs responded on Twitter to send him their best wishes and to thank him for being open about his mental health experience, in the hope that it helps others too.

Former chancellor Sajid Javid said: “So sorry to hear this and thank you for speaking up. Hope you feel better soon my friend.”

Labour MP for Warrington North Charlotte Nichols tweeted:

I hope your time out is restorative, look after yourself! Living alongside mental illness in roles like ours is tough (I speak from experience), but you’re far from alone and hopefully your openness will help others too.

Tory Huw Merriman said: “Sending my best wishes to Will; his openness will provide a signpost to the road to recovery for others in need of help and support.”

The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has commented on the soaring inflation rates.

She said the Conservatives were too busy fighting among themselves and were “ignoring the scale of this crisis”.

She said:

We must get a grip on rising inflation leaving families worried sick about making ends meet.

Labour’s fully-costed plan to freeze the energy price cap will bring inflation down this winter, easing the burden on households and businesses.

And it will mean that households won’t pay a penny more for their energy bills this winter.

People are worried sick and, while the Tories are busy fighting and ignoring the scale of this crisis, only Labour can give Britain the fresh start it needs.

On Keir Starmer’s plan to freeze the energy price cap, Conservative former cabinet minister Sajid Javid said: “I don’t think his numbers added up at all.”

He told Sky News:

When you’re in opposition you’re never going to be held accountable for what you say, so you say what sounds good. I listened to what Keir Starmer had to say yesterday, I don’t think his numbers added up at all.

He added:

She’s [Liz Truss] thinking very carefully about the commitments, rightly so and she’s made some solid commitments, but one of those clearly is to have this emergency budget, as I say, will happen within weeks and to take further action.

Nothing has been taken off the table because she recognises as I do and as I think most politicians do, is that this is a very, very serious crisis for families at home. They would have looked at that inflation number today and whilst it might not be a shock because of what the Bank of England said recently, that doesn’t make it any less palpable to anyone. People will be worried and Liz is going to be the right person to deal with this.

Asked if support would be blanket or targeted, he added:

I think you don’t have to choose between the two… What she has said with the tax cuts, of course that will benefit everyone, but having a look at if targeted action can be taken, I’m sure that will be considered when it comes to the emergency budget.

The cost of living crisis is a concern particularly for pensioners who “won’t be able to earn more money”, former Treasury minister John Glen has said.

He told the BBC:

It is obviously a very significant concern for those on fixed incomes. And my major concern is how we’re going to support the most vulnerable, particularly pensioners who won’t be able to earn more money.

Amid such concerns, he accused Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss of causing “confusion”.

He told the BBC:

We need to know what Liz Truss is going to do because what we’ve heard so far is a lot of confusion, frankly, not an inclination to do any more handouts, lots of tax cuts that won’t affect pensioners, but will have a significant effect if they’re unfunded on the economy and inflationary pressures.

Sajid Javid, a former chancellor and a supporter of Liz Truss, the frontrunner to become the next prime minister, said he wasn’t shocked by the figures because we had recently heard the Bank of England’s forecast. He said on BBC radio 4’s Today programme:

It underlines the need to go forward with a credible economic plan that tackles inflation of course and the cost of living challenges which are immense but also a long-term plan for growth and that is one of the key reasons why I’m backing Liz Truss.

He said it’s a global problem, but things can be done at home, like providing the “right type of support to people” for example with energy bills, such as tax cuts, as Truss has hinted.

There will be an emergency budget within weeks of taking office if she is the new prime minister and this will be an absolute priority.

Asked whether there would be more handouts to people to help them through the cost of living crisis, he said:

She has also made clear that nothing is off the table. It does require immediate action and she recognises that.

Javid stressed:

Our long-term, what’s called the trend growth rate, has not recovered since the global financial crisis and we do need to do a lot more.

We cannot tax our way into growth with tax levels almost at the highest in 70 years. We need to address that and cut taxes to make further supply side reforms to get the economy going again.

UK inflation has risen above 10% for the first time in 40 years, driven by soaring prices for food and fuel as households come under mounting pressure from the cost of living crisis.

The Office for National Statistics said the consumer prices index rose by 10.1% in the year to July, up from a reading of 9.4% in June and entering double figures at an earlier stage than anticipated. The figure was last higher in February 1982.

The reading exceeded the 9.8% forecast from City economists, as the cost of food and drink rose at the highest rates since 2008 amid a broad-based inflationary burst across the economy.

The biggest increases came for bread and cereals, dairy, meat and vegetables, with the rising cost of food leading to record increases for restaurant and hotel prices and pushing up the cost of takeaways. Price rises for other staple items such as pet food, toilet rolls, toothbrushes and deodorants also sent inflation soaring.

Prices for package holidays and air fares rose sharply, driven by a summer rush reflected in packed airports across the country.

The latest figures will pile renewed pressure on the government and Conservative leadership candidates amid accusations the frontrunner, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, are failing to grasp the scale of the cost of living emergency.

Read the full story here:

The business desk are running a liveblog on this topic today. You can follow here:

If you haven’t heard it yet, here’s the audio recording of Liz Truss speaking about British workers.

The comments were made when Truss was the chief secretary to the Treasury, a post she held until 2019.

In the recording she intimated that there seemed little desire to change the working culture so that the UK could become more prosperous and suggested British workers lacked the “skill and application” of foreign rivals.

You can read more on this story from my colleague Pippa Crerar here:

British workers “are amongst the hardest-working in the world”, Conservative former cabinet minister Sajid Javid said.

Asked about Tory leadership contender Liz Truss’s claim that British workers need to produce “more graft”, he told Sky News:

That comment, as I understand it, was made a number of years ago; I don’t know the exact context that was made in.

What I also heard her say, just in that snippet that you played there, was that the productivity in the UK versus other comparable countries is generally lower and that’s been a longstanding UK problem and that doesn’t happen because British workers don’t work hard; British workers are amongst the hardest-working in the world.

He added:

I think what she’s talking about is business and investment, because to increase productivity the government of course has a huge role to play – there’s capital investment, things like infrastructure investment, for example, those areas that get more of it generally of course can do better in terms of productivity.

It’s also about skills investment and making sure that we’re investing in skills across the country, not just in the capital or the south-east but right across the country, and that is what’s going to make the difference, and Liz has a plan for that.

The shadow home secretary has said comments from Tory leadership frontrunner Liz Truss, that British workers need “more graft”, are a “total disgrace”.

Yvette Cooper told Sky News:

I think it reveals what she really thinks. This comes after the proposal she put forward to cut public sector pay in the north and other parts of the country.

So teaching assistants or nurses here in Yorkshire would get paid less than people in London or the south-east.

Cooper also accused Liz Truss of being out of touch.

She said:

(She) has absolutely no idea that people are working incredibly hard – people who are getting up to go to their shifts right now, watching your programme just before they go to work, working incredibly hard to try and make ends meet, who are facing these nightmare inflation figures, the soaring energy bills and doing their best to keep everything together.

This insult just shows, I think, that [Truss] does not understand working people right across the country. It’s deeply wrong of her to say this.

Welcome to today’s politics liveblog. I’ll be covering for Andrew Sparrow today. Do drop me a line if you have any questions or think I’ve missed anything. My email is nicola.slawson@theguardian.com and I’m @Nicola_Slawson on Twitter.

On the agenda today is the eighth Conservative party leadership hustings. This time Truss and Rishi Sunak will be answering questions in Belfast at 1pm.