Unlike Truss, the Chancellor has said that only the poorest households will get government support if the conflict pushes up gas and electricity charges.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves today took a swipe at former Prime Minister Liz Truss for previously only helping the richest households with energy bills, as she set out plans to help the poorest families if they’re hit by soaring energy bills as a result of conflict in the Middle East.
Household energy bills in Great Britain could increase by more than £330 a year to almost £2,000 from this summer after the Iran war pushed the UK’s gas market past three-year highs.
Speaking in the Commons earlier today, Reeves said the government has begun contingency planning for ‘every eventuality’.
The government has today also announced a new ‘anti-profiteering framework’ for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) – saying she “will not tolerate any company exploiting the crisis”.
Unlike Truss, the Chancellor has said that only the poorest households will get government support if the conflict pushes up gas and electricity charges.
Truss’ premiership ended in disaster after she launched unfunded tax cuts for the rich as part of a disastrous mini-budget that sent the markets into turmoil.
She also capped everyone in the country’s energy bills at £2,500 a year after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine caused a spike in gas prices and funded the move via general taxation and extra government borrowing.
Reeves said the government would help the poorest households should energy prices continue to rise.
She said: “The previous government pushed up borrowing, interest rates, inflation and mortgage costs with an unfunded, untargeted package of support under Liz Truss. That gave the support to the most wealthiest of households.
“That left us with high levels of national debt, a cheque written then for a bill that is still being paid today.
“I can confirm to the House that contingency planning is taking place for every eventuality so that we can keep costs down for everyone and provide support for those who need it most, acting within our iron-clad fiscal rules to keep inflation and interest rates as low as possible.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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