Ed Davey was unimpressed with the package announced by Rishi Sunak aimed at helping people with the soaring cost of living.

He described it as the “Sunak Scam.”

The Chancellor is hammering families with a £800 tax hike this year, more than wiping out what he announced today.

It is the Sunak scam, promising you help but picking your pockets while you’re not looking.

Soaring inflation and devastating tax rises have left proud families who never dreamed they would find themselves in trouble struggling to pay the bills.

The British people need help right now, but instead have been left abandoned again for months on end.

The simplest way to help people right now would be for Rishi Sunak to scrap his unfair tax hikes, starting with VAT. That would put money now back into people’s pockets, boost the economy and support struggling businesses.

The package includes a £400 grant replacing the previous £200 loan to help with fuel bills, an extra £300 for pensioners at the end of the year, £650 to all those on Universal Credit and other benefits and £150 to all on non means tested disability benefits to be part funded by a windfall tax on energy companies.

Tory MPs must be spitting feathers after they were whipped to vote against the windfall tax just last week.

It was good to see that some news outlets correctly reported that it was the Lib Dems who first came up with the idea of a windfall tax. Labour and other opposition parties followed our lead.

Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine pointed out later that a levy introduced by the Lib Dems would have raised £6 billion more.

That compares to just £5 billion being raised under Rishi Sunak’s proposed levy. This is equivalent to each UK household losing out on over £200 because the Chancellor’s windfall tax is too little too late. Christine said:

This is more a levy lite than a windfall tax. The Chancellor could have raised double the cash from oil and gas companies if he had the bottle. Instead, Rishi Sunak’s tax hikes on families will wipe out anything announced today.

The Chancellor’s arrogant dismissal of a windfall tax left pensioners sitting in the cold last winter. He should do the decent thing and apologise to them, then get on with slashing taxes for families.

Earlier she said this in the Commons:

The Government should have acted far sooner and put its people first. pic.twitter.com/M514xuzVBE

— Christine Jardine 🔶 (@cajardineMP) May 26, 2022

Munira Wilson asked for more help for schools to provide free school meals:

Children’s free school meal portions are quite literally shrinking on their plates as schools struggle to keep up with the cost-of-living crisis.

When asked today, the Chancellor wouldn't commit to ensuring our children are well-fed and fuelled to learn and play. pic.twitter.com/EmscbliiRC

— Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 (@munirawilson) May 26, 2022

Tim Farron was a bit more cynical:

If Mr Johnson cared about the people, he’d have announced this package months ago. If he cared about his own MPs or councillors, he’d have announced it a few weeks ago in an attempt to save them ahead of the local elections. He’s announced it today to try to save his own skin.

— Tim Farron (@timfarron) May 26, 2022

Jim Pickard of the Financial Times noticed one of our social media posts:

the Lib Dems are quite punchy these days pic.twitter.com/ox0FcOywin

— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) May 26, 2022