He said he would double the number of hours someone on welfare has to work a week in order to avoid having to look for a full time job from nine to 18 and explore other measures to get people off welfare and into work. But on Tuesday night, Therese Coffey, the Work and Pensions Secretary and a supporter of Ms Truss, accused Mr Sunak of another U-turn, saying he had blocked her plans to help people on benefits get better jobs by increasing the number of hours they have to work. “Helping people progress in work by getting better jobs and more hours is a key role of job centres,” she said. “The Department of Work and Pensions will shortly change the rules to ensure people keep looking for extra work until they have at least 12 hours a week with an ambition to increase that in the future. “DWP had hoped to get this under way earlier this year, but unfortunately was blocked by the former chancellor.” Mr Sunak said he would work with the UK’s biggest importers to build up trade with Dutch and Danish ports, ending the disruption causing shortages that lead to price increases. During Tuesday night’s debate, Ms Truss said it was “morally wrong” to raise taxes during a cost of living crisis in an attack Mr Sunak’s policies, but the former chancellor hit back by saying it was “morally wrong” to heap more debt on future generations. One member of Ms Truss’s inner circle said it was “as expected” that the second head-to-head had taken a more moderate tone, adding there had been efforts to take the sting out of the campaign. “There’s a fundamental disagreement between them over tax, but they’re broadly on the same page on everything else,” they said of the two leadership candidates. An insider in Mr Sunak’s camp said this time he was more relaxed about letting the Foreign Secretary “speak at length” about her plans for tax cuts, which he says are unfunded.
