Responding to the hike in energy prices to the highest level for three years, under the regulator Ofgem’s latest price cap, Green MP Hannah Spencer said:
“It’s a repeat story for millions of households – energy bills up just in time for winter, and now to their highest level in three years. Meanwhile, oil and gas companies rake in billions in profits.
“Bill payers are being ripped off, and while Burnham keeps talking about giving struggling households breathing space, today’s rise in the price cap will see his measly £45 a year bill reduction more than wiped out.
“The government could immediately cut bills by removing policy costs and the costs of servicing energy debt off bills and onto wealth taxes. They are choosing not to.
“The Green Party knows that small tweaks won’t cut it. Only by scaling up renewable energy, ending rampant profiteering by energy giants, insulating millions of homes, and fully decoupling the price of gas from electricity can we bring down bills for good. Giving the green light to new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea won’t cut bills, it will only worsen the climate crisis.”
HOUSEHOLDS must not bear the brunt of US President Donald Trump’s illegal war, campaigners warned today, as energy bills are set to rise by 13 per cent.
Ofgem’s new price cap from July 1 will see the typical household face an annual energy cost of £1,862 — up £221 on current levels, or £18 a month.
The regulator said higher wholesale gas prices, “driven by ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” were behind the increase.
Energy costs have soared since the US and Israel began their war on Iran and the subsequent blocking of the Strait of Hormuz.
Calls have mounted for the government to set out action to support the most vulnerable with bills, but Chancellor Rachel Reeves has refused any immediate energy measures in her cost-of-living plan.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the government must “go further and faster to protect households from punishing energy price rises in the coming months.”
“Households must not bear the brunt of costs from Trump’s illegal war,” he said.
“Painful energy price rises are coming down the track — and working people are already feeling the pinch with fuel costs rising because of Trumpflation.
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Eva Watkinson of Debt Justice called it a “scandal” that the cap was rising while energy companies continued to post enormous profits, saying the government must “immediately act to write off debts that have built up during the cost-of-living crisis.”
Green MP Hannah Spencer demanded immediate government intervention, telling Ms Reeves to freeze the cap before bills go up.
“And if she’s wondering how to pay for it, there are some people doing very well out of this crisis,” she said.
“The government should start by taxing 100 per cent of the huge windfall profits oil and gas giants have made since the start of the illegal war on Iran.”
Go further, faster: Paul Nowak