Rishi Sunak has insisted that he did not time handing out £21bn-worth of cost-of-living support to deflect from Partygate. The Chancellor announced the new package of support yesterday (Thursday), just one day after Sue Gray’s highly anticipated report on Downing Street’s lockdown parties was published.
Under the plans, every household will receive a £400 energy bill discount in a bid to help tackle ballooning price rises. Mr Sunak also announced that around eight million households with the lowest incomes will receive a one-off cost of living payment of £650 after bowing to demands for the UK government to step in. Extra support will also be given to the elderly and disabled.
READ MORE: Three key measures announced by Rishi Sunak to help ease cost of living crisis
The Chancellor has faced criticism that the measures were announced as part of a plan to move the focus on from rule-breaking in No 10. In an interview with Martin Lewis, founder of the Money Saving Expert website, he was asked whether the measures had been quickly unveiled to act as a ‘fig leaf’ after embarrassing details of the late-night raucous parties in Downing Street were laid bare.
He replied: “I can categorically assure you that that had no bearing on the timing for us announcing this support, and I can give you my absolute assurance on that and my word. The reason we acted today was because we had more certainty about what will happen to energy prices in the autumn.”
Industry regulator Ofgem said this week that the typical annual household energy bill is forecast to rise by more than £800 in October when the price cap goes up, having already risen by more than 50 per cent in April. Mr Sunak announced that £5 billion of the package would be paid for by a levy on the profits of oil and gas giants, and around £10 billion will be covered by extra borrowing.
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