Cooper unveils 14bn Lib Dem cost of living package and rules out Green pact

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper has set out a 14 billion pound cost of living package ahead of next week's Budget, calling it a 'breathing space budget' that would save households 350 pounds on average over the next year and a half. She said families face a 'brutal double whammy' of rising bills and disappearing support, with energy costs, petrol prices and eating out all going up. From January to March next year the energy price cap is expected to rise, fuel duty and rail fares are set to increase, and the government's electricity bill VAT cut could end without action, she said.

The plan has three main parts:

• For the next year and a half, an essential energy guarantee would cut average annual electricity and gas bills by a hundred pounds, with extra support for households with children and disabled people.
• Hospitality VAT would fall from 20% to 15% for the same period to help pubs, restaurants and cafes keep prices down.
• For an initial three months, fuel duty would be cut by 10p, rail fares by 10%, a one pound bus fare would be introduced, and VAT on curbside EV charging would be cut to 5%.

Cooper said the package is fully funded. The energy guarantee would be paid for by clawing back excess support handed to monopoly energy operators. The hospitality cut would be funded by a one-off, time limited windfall tax on what she called the unexpected and unearned profits of the big banks. The travel package would be funded through additional Treasury receipts generated by higher petrol pump prices triggered by 'Trumpflation', arguing that the Treasury should not get a windfall when motorists pay more.

She framed the Budget as a test for the Chancellor. Growth was the long-term answer, she said, but families needed a short-term lifeline now. The message was: 'Don't just promise breathing space deliver it.' She also set out a pro-growth argument, saying wealth creation and social justice were two sides of the same coin. She claimed the Lib Dems were more pro-growth and pro-business than Labour while also offering more targeted support for the most vulnerable, and pointed to a 30 page report on getting Britain growing again, including a growth and defence partnership with Europe and joining the single market and a customs union.

In questions after the speech, Cooper condemned an anti-Semitic motion passed by the Green Party. She said it conflated the actions of British Jews with far-right politicians in a foreign government and broke the cross-party consensus on a two-state solution. She said it was for Green MPs, councillors and members to fix the mess, and that the Lib Dems would not work with the Green Party at national level while that remained its position.

She also defended Ed Davey when asked about the party's polling and its difficulty cutting through with voters. Cooper called him the most successful leader in the party's history and said the last general election result proved that. The transcript of her answer ended there.