UK: The Cost of Living Crisis has taken center stage in the Downing Street race to double-digit inflation and an economy on the brink of recession.
But the two contenders to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister of the UK, have different strategies to address the issue.
The UK inflation rate currently stands at 10.1%, the highest level in 40 years, and forecasts suggest it could reach 13% in October. In fact, according to analysts at Citibank, it could even surpass 18% next year as a result of rising energy prices.
A new energy price range is expected to be announced on Friday, as some experts predict that some households may soon pay 6,000 pounds (US$7,100) a year for gas and electricity.
According to a study by the University of York, by January next year, more than half of UK households, or about 15 million people, will not be able to heat their homes properly.
Liz Truss, the front-runner for the leadership position, has promised to reverse tax cuts and increases in national insurance contributions, which support welfare and public health programs.
She also wants to eliminate fuel taxes, which help pay for the switch to clean energy. It has rejected "gluing plaster" fixes for distress caused by rising living costs, such as direct government aid.
If the current Foreign Secretary of the Interior wins the party vote, her supporters claim she will be planning an emergency budget in the coming weeks.
His rival, Rishi Sunak, argues that reducing taxes would have no effect on low-income households as they cannot pay them.
The former finance minister, who became privately wealthy through his business career and marriage, is in favor of providing immediate assistance to low-income families, which are more likely to be affected by a rise in prices.
He referred to the tax cuts promises made amid the recession and rising inflation as a "fairytale". Instead, he has suggested reducing taxes on commercial properties and cutting sales tax (VAT) on energy bills (commercial rates). Both are candidates to officially support the UK's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
The truss, which supports massive energy investments, including the controversial fracking technology backed by local people, called for a better strategy to achieve this without harming people and businesses.
She supports current UK government policy on investment in nuclear power and renewable energy sources and wants to see more energy produced in the North Sea.
Before the 2016 referendum on EU membership, Truss favored remaining in the organization; However, he changed his position after he decided to go public.
It has led legislation to override some provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which the UK has signed with the EU and regulates trade in the province after Brexit, and is now openly pro-Brexit.
To "turbocharge" the development, it has promised to remove all EU laws from the UK statute book. She, like Sunak, has offered no solution to the ongoing Brexit labor shortage in the UK, especially for seasonal workers.
Sunak has long been a strong supporter of Brexit and was a major proponent of the establishment of free ports to spur economic growth.
If Truss is elected prime minister, she wants to change the regulatory system in the City of London.
Specifically, it seeks to combine the Financial Conduct Authority, the Payment Systems Regulatory and the Prudential Regulation Authority, which regulates banks and is a division of the Bank of England.
Truss has questioned the law that gave the Bank of England operational independence on monetary policy in 1997 and criticized the institution's response to rising inflation.
In response, Governor Andrew Bailey pointed out that the bank's autonomy from the government was critical to the financial credibility of the UK.
UK TUC calls for large rise in minimum wage