Energy bills have been one of the main drivers of Britain’s cost-of-living crisis after the wholesale gas price, which heavily influences British electricity prices, surged after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Conservative government at the time spent billions of pounds to shield households through the energy price guarantee. But while prices eased from mid-2023, they remain up to 60 per cent higher than before the energy crisis.
The End Fuel Poverty Coalition welcomed the move as a sign of positive intent but added: “It does not address the scale of what households are facing.”
Ruth Curtice, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said the move could benefit higher-income families because the cuts were not targeted. “With bills still set to rise over £150 this October, this money would have been better spent on more targeted support,” she said in a statement.
REVOLVING DOOR OF LEADERS
Burnham has said he will unveil more early policies, telling reporters on Monday he wanted his new government “to do some things that people will feel and feel quite quickly”, especially those on the lowest incomes.
It is a strategy he hopes can win back voters to the governing Labour Party and fight a challenge from the populist Reform UK, led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.