Food campaigner Jack Monroe has blasted the Conservative Party’s approach to the cost of living crisis as “tone deaf”.
The popular budget chef accused Boris Johnson and the two candidates vying to replace him of a “complete lack of urgency”.
She suggested the prime minister should be put on gardening leave and questioned why the public was still paying his salary.
Downing Street has said it is up to Johnson’s successor to make policy and he would not make “major fiscal interventions”.
Monroe told LBC: “I’m seeing absolutely no solutions from either of the potential future prime ministers and I think that Boris Johnson saying that he’s not going to do anything because it’s his last few days in office or whatever is disgusting actually.
“If he’s not going to do his job, why are we still continuing to pay his salary? Just pop him on gardening leave and let somebody else stand in for a bit who is actually going to make a decision.”
She said people were “petrified” and staring down the barrel of a catastrophe, adding: “More and more people are finding themselves in situations that perhaps they may not have imagined that they would ever be in and they’re realising that there’s no help available.
“So for Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson to all be saying ‘oh well let’s wait and see’ is the most tone deaf privileged thing that they could possibly say.
“They can commit to action about the alleged woke civil service culture or they can make some noises about fracking a bit of time down the line.
“But these are just things that are playing out to their core voters because they want to get the votes that get them into the hot seat.
“They need to be taking action on this and not just words. They need to be taking decisive and planned action to alleviate this crisis for people because it is a catastrophe.”
The Tories have been accused of going “missing in action” with the government paralysed by the race to replace Johnson.
Ministers are said to be working on a new cost of living package that will be put to the next prime minister.
Truss, frontrunner in the race, has declined to sit down with her rival to discuss a plan.
Sunak said he would offer specific support to pensioners and those on benefits, while Truss has promised several tax cuts, including on national insurance contributions and green levies on energy bills.
Labour is set to make a major intervention in the energy crisis on Monday by calling for a price cap freeze.
Keir Starmer, who has also been accused of being too quiet over the cost of living crisis, will call for the cap to be frozen at its current level of £1,971.