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Protesters heckle Liz Truss on cost of living and climate — Analysis

The foreign secretary responded by saying she’d ban such protests if made prime minister

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (one of the two remaining candidates for Boris Johnson’s position as Prime Minister) was briefly interrupted by climate activists. They claimed that she had been unable to meet her obligations. “no credible plan”To address rising fuel costs. 

On Thursday at an Eastbourne Conservative Party event, Truss gave her opening remarks. Several activists rose up shouting from their chairs. “you should be ashamed of yourself.”

“The reason ordinary people are struggling is because energy companies like BP and Shell are making record profits, while ordinary people are told to tighten their belts,” one protester declared.

Security led the first activist away, but another person rose to accuse Truss. “no credible plan to tackle the biggest issues of our time.”

“What you’ve announced won’t come close to helping people with energy bills over 3,000 pounds a year.”

The UK’s fuel costs have reached record levels, with inflation expected to rise to 11% before the year ends. While costs had been trending upwards since the end of the coronavirus pandemic, fuel prices in particular spiked in the months after the UK voluntarily cut itself off from imports of Russian oil and gas in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

Annual household bills are expected to surpass £3,300 ($3,971) this winter, according to energy consultant Cornwall Insight. Truss promised to stop this growth with tax cuts as well as rollbacks of environmental levies. But, Truss warned on Friday that the UK faces serious challenges. “a tough winter.”


75,000 Brits vow to stop paying their energy bills

The activists, however, are calling for a ‘Green New Deal,’ a bill that would see the UK commit to “making fossil fuel extraction a thing of the past” “decarbonize”The country’s economy, agriculture and industry. These measures are criticized by critics who claim that they would lead to higher energy prices at the best, and widespread poverty or starvation at the worst.

Truss began her speech again with the promise of a future. “legislate immediately to make sure that we are standing up to militant trade unions, who stop ordinary commuters getting into work”You must be certain “that militant activists such as Extinction Rebellion are not able to disrupt ordinary people who work hard,”This refers to climate protesters who disrupted traffic and stuck themselves to trains. 

“I will never ever, ever allow our democracy to be disrupted by unfair protests,” Truss declared.

Truss will be running against Rishi Sunak, former Chancellor at the Exchequer to replace Boris Johnson as the leader of Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the UK. A supporter of Thatcher’s spending cuts in the home and harsh opposition against Russia overseas, Truss currently leads Sunak by 26 points, according to polls from Politico.

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