Liz Truss refuses to rule out help with energy bills in apparent U-turn

Rishi Sunak campaign attacks rival's approach to cost of living as laughable were it not so serious'

• UK politics live: latest updates as Truss accused of U-turn

Liz Truss has denied she is ruling out providing extra help with energy bills beyond tax cuts, as the frontrunner for the Conservative leadership embarked on what appeared to be the beginnings of a U-turn on the issue.

Truss's comments, made to reporters in Manchester, brought a scathing response from Rishi Sunak's campaign, with a source saying her approach would be laughable were it not so serious", another sign of the increasing bitterness between the two camps.