Liz Truss vetoed a £15mn public information campaign urging British households to save energy this winter ahead of potential import shortages from Europe, government insiders have confirmed.
Business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg had prepared the “light-touch” campaign aimed at encouraging people to restrict energy usage ahead of a warning on Thursday by National Grid of rolling blackouts in the coming months in a worst-case scenario.
The initiative was signed off by Rees-Mogg but ultimately blocked by the prime minister. One senior government insider said: “Liz’s innate libertarianism stopped it; she doesn’t like telling people what to do.”