Rishi Sunak is heading for a lonely autumn

Has Rishi Sunak had to perform an embarrassing climbdown over an energy bailout? That’s the suggestion in the papers this morning as the Treasury considers formal proposals from the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to assist businesses struggling with the hike in fuel prices. It comes after a brutal briefing over the weekend in which a Treasury source suggested that Kwarteng was speaking out of turn when he suggested he was in conversation with the Chancellor over a financial package – adding that ‘this is not the first time the [business] secretary has made things up in interviews.’

Since then, Downing Street appear to have rowed in behind Kwarteng, with a No. 10 spokesperson suggesting the two departments were working very closely after all. While Treasury insiders are keen to play down talk of a rift – insisting that they were always happy to consider a financial response, but the request just needed to be conducted via official channels.