DOWNING Street has rejected a call by Gordon Brown for Boris Johnson to act now on the cost of living crisis. 

The former prime minister had urged Boris Johnson to hold a meeting of the Cobra civil contingencies committee ahead of October’s hike in energy bills.

READ MORE: Government drift means it will be 'too late' to help poor with energy bills, warns Gordon Brown

With another month left in the Tory leadership contest, Mr Brown also said an emergency budget was needed now to be able to get assistance to people before the energy price cap rise. 

He said it was important for Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, and Mr Johnson to “get together, agree that they are in charge of delivering an emergency budget.”

“Parliament should be recalled if necessary. We can let this crisis develop so that we have an emergency we cannot deal with properly in October,” he added.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson – who is back in No 10 following his honeymoon in Slovenia – would not be announcing any new measures. 

They claimed it would be against the convention that an outgoing Prime Minister binds the hands of their successor with a "major fiscal intervention."

He said there would be a conversation with Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi to ensure that support measures due to come into effect later in the year remained "on track".

The spokesman said: “Clearly these global pressures mean challenging times for the public. The Government recognised that the end of the year will present wider challenges with things like changes to the price cap.

“That is why, at the start of the summer, we introduced a number of measures to help the public. Clearly, some of the global pressures have increased since that was announced.

“By convention, it is not for this Prime Minister to make major fiscal interventions during this period. It will be for a future prime minister.”

The spokesman denied that Mr Johnson has been “missing in action” despite promising to serve as a caretaker until his successor was appointed. 

He said people understood that it was not unusual for the PM, and other ministers, to take time off during the summer recess.

Responding, Rachel Reeves, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, “People are worried sick about how they’ll pay their bills and do their weekly food shop, and all this Tory prime minister does is shrug his shoulders." 

 

“An economic crisis like this requires strong leadership and urgent action - but instead we have a Tory party that's lost control and are stuck with two continuity candidates who can only offer more of the same.“