British PM Liz Truss takes questions, opposes energy profits tax

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A day after becoming Britain's new Prime Minister, Liz Truss faced the traditional and often raucous prime minister's questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Labor Party leader Keir Starmer challenged Truss on her pledge to help people lower energy bills while opposing a windfall profits tax on energy producers.

Starmer and Truss accused each other of pursuing predictable policies, with Starmer declaring there's nothing new about "the Tory fantasy of trickle-down economics" as Truss countered that there was nothing new about "a Labor leader calling for more taxes."

Truss has the most diverse cabinet in British history, with no White men in the four top positions -- prime minister, home secretary, foreign secretary and chancellor of the exchequer.

Truss told the House of Commons her government would introduce her plan to deal with rising energy bills Thursday.

"I am against a windfall tax. I believe it is the wrong thing to be putting companies off investing in the United Kingdom just when we need to be growing the economy," Truss said during the prime minister's questions.

Starmer accused her of making hard-working people pay for high energy profits and asked, "Is she really telling us that she's going to leave these vast excess profits on the table and make working people foot the bill for decades to come?"

Truss gave her first speech as Prime Minister Tuesday, focused on a pledge to rebuild the British economy and address the energy crisis and healthcare while cutting taxes.

According to the New York Times, Truss is expected to back a massive government intervention into British energy markets, capping energy prices using government subsidies of more than $100 billion.