Boris Johnson’s government WILL step in amid rising energy bills

Boris Johnson is set to announce new measures to help with rocketing energy bills within the next month, è stato segnalato.

Ministers have concluded that ‘something needs to be done’ before prices rise on April 1 as the price cap is increased, but have not yet decided what form this will take.

Secondo Sky News, the Prime Minister will personally take part in meetings on the energy crisis next week.

The measures will mean the spending of additional funds from the Treasury, which has already shelled out billions during the coronavirus pandemia.

An announcement of what measures are to come is expected on or before February 7, which is the date that energy watchdog Ofgem will announce the scale of the hike in the price cap.

This will then be in place from April until September.

però, it is expected that householders will be hit with an increase of around £600 a year, meaning annual bills could be in excess of £1,877.

A source told Sky News: ‘It would be ideal if we could announce something before 7 febbraio,’ ha detto una fonte governativa.

‘Ministers are acutely aware of the 1 April issue.’

Options being considered are likely to target the less well-off.

The news came as it emerged that customers face the threat of higher shopping bills because companies are passing on the costs of spiralling energy prices.

A British Chambers of Commerce survey of almost 5,500 companies found three out of five expect their prices to increase in the next three months.

Families have been warned domestic gas and electricity bills also could rise as much as 50 per cent in April as the energy price cap is hiked.

Boris Johnson last night rejected demands to suspend green levies on household bills to alleviate pressure on consumers.

At a meeting with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng yesterday, energy company chief executives called for the levies to be removed from bills along with VAT.

The bosses also asked the government to provide loans so they can in turn help customers and for an increase to the £140-a-year warm homes discount available to the poorest households.

Asked yesterday if any of the ideas would be implemented imminently, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘I’m not aware of any further changes at the moment, but obviously we keep it under review and are listening to those that are most affected.’

On the specific question of whether green levies will be kept on bills, lui ha risposto: ‘There’s no plans to change that approach.’

Il portavoce ha aggiunto: ‘I think we’ve seen through the fluctuations in things like gas crisis that it is important to have secure domestic renewable sources of energy. That’s what we’re investing in.’

This week the Prime Minister also appeared to rule out cutting VAT on fuel, saying it wouldn’t benefit those most in need.

Prima, Tory MP Robert Halfon had argued removing the levies could provide struggling consumers with a saving of almost £200 on their annual bills.

‘The Government must do what they can to reduce energy bills – of course reducing VAT would help and it is an important gesture,’ the chairman of the Commons education committee told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme.

‘But there is an elephant in the room, and that is the so-called energy tax green levies which amount to 25 per cent of the electricity bill that we all pay.’

Mr Halfon, the MP for Harlow in Essex, said ministers should ‘at least suspend green levies’ while global gas prices are high, or put in place a ‘downward escalator’ to ensure green taxes on bills decrease when wholesale energy prices increase.

The industry body that represents energy companies yesterday warned the expected rise in April of the energy price cap, which limits the amount a household can be charged, could lead to a further two per cent rise in the overall cost of living.

Figures published last month showed inflation was already running at 5.1 per cento nel 12 months to November, its highest rate in 10 anni.

Emma Pinchbeck, the chief executive of Energy UK, ha detto al programma Today di BBC Radio 4: ‘This is a wholesale price risk, which is a whole-economy risk, it doesn’t just apply to the energy retailers or the sector.

‘It’s quite likely that the Treasury themselves will have to take a view on what to do because this impacts not just the energy retailers, but the whole economy. Energy costs going up like this could be a one per cent to two per cent inflationary increase.’

Nel frattempo, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said firms are suffering a ‘huge headache’ because of continuing supply chain disruption, soaring inflation and rising energy costs.

It said its survey showed that the recovery had ‘stalled’ negli ultimi mesi, with firms facing ‘unprecedented’ inflationary pressures.

Manufacturers surveyed said they faced pressures to raise prices because of the cost of raw materials, other overheads, pay settlements or finance costs.

At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday Mr Johnson faced a barrage of questions on the rising cost of living from MPs on all sides, including his own.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner raised concerns over inflation nearing 6 per cento.

Mr Johnson denied saying fears about inflation were unfounded, although a Sky News clip from October showed him saying: ‘People have been worrying about inflation for a very long time… and those fears have been unfounded.’

Mrs Rayner, who was standing in for Sir Keir Starmer after he tested positive for coronavirus, disse: ‘In October the Prime Minister said that fears about inflation were unfounded, but working people across the country are starting the new year facing rising bills and ballooning prices, so how did he get it so wrong?’

Il deputato laburista Fabian Hamilton ha sollevato la foto alla Camera dei Comuni al PMQ all'ora di pranzo mentre evidenziava il caso di una persona del suo collegio elettorale che ha ricevuto cure ospedaliere durante il blocco ma non ha potuto essere visitata dalla propria famiglia perché si è attenuta alle regole: ‘Of course I said no such thing because inflation is always something that we have to be careful about, but what we are doing is making sure that we protect the people of this country throughout what is unquestionably going to be a difficult period.’

Tory MP John Penrose argued there was a need for ‘structural reforms to the energy price cap… as well as energy self-sufficiency to uncouple us from Russian gas’.

In risposta, Ha detto il signor Johnson: ‘This Government are taking the tough decision to invest in the long-term future of our energy supply, investing in massively increasing our supply of renewables but nuclear as well.’