-
says Labour wouldn’t let
people pay a penny more on their fuel bill this winter as party
unveils plan to save typical family £1,000
said today (Monday) that
Labour “wouldn’t let people pay a penny more” on their winter
fuel bills as he unveiled the party’s plan to address the Tory
cost of living crisis.
The Labour leader said that the party’s plan to stop bills rising
this winter would save the typical family £1,000 now, get energy
costs under control for the future and help tackle inflation.
Labour’s fully-funded £29bn plan would prevent the
energy price cap rising through the winter, paid for by extra tax
from oil and gas giants who are making eye-watering profits.
The emergency package announced by would reduce energy demand and
lower bills in the longer term by insulating 19 million homes
across the country over the next decade through Labour’s Warm
Homes Plan.
Labour originally urged the government to implement this plan a
year ago. If they’d acted, they could have insulated 2 million of
the coldest homes by this winter – saving the typical
household an additional £1,000 every year on their
energy bills.
Freezing the price cap will bring inflation down by
4%, making future interest rate rises less likely
and easing the burden on households and businesses.
Further plans include a plan to secure our energy supply to make
sure we’re protected against future shocks and build Britain’s
energy independence.
Labour would stop bills rising now, and create sustainable energy
for the future – helping people get through the winter while
providing the foundations for a stronger, more secure economy.
MP, Leader of the Labour
Party, said:
“Britain’s cost of living crisis is getting worse, leaving people
scared about how they’ll get through the winter. Labour’s plan to
save households £1,000 this winter and invest in sustainable
British energy to bring bills down in the long-term is a direct
response to the national economic emergency that is leaving
families fearing for the future.
“We’ve had 12 years of Tory government that has failed to prepare
and refused to invest, leaving bills higher and our country less
secure. This is a national emergency. It needs strong leadership
and urgent action.
“Labour’s fully-funded plan would fix the problems immediately
and for the future – helping people get through the winter while
providing the foundations for a stronger, more secure economy.
Only Labour can give Britain the fresh start it needs.”
Ends
Notes to editors
Cost
Stopping energy bills from rising is a fully-funded measure, with
a total cost of £29bn. That will cover:
- a freeze in energy bills for all domestic energy customers
- support for customers not protected by the price cap
- making sure the price people on prepayments meters pay for
energy is the same as people who pay their bills monthly.
Stopping energy bills from rising is a fully-funded measure. We’d
pay for that in three ways:
First, with increased tax revenues from oil and gas producers.
Labour would close the Government’s absurd loophole in their
Energy profits levy, backdate the start date to when Labour first
called for a windfall tax to January, and accounting for higher
gas and oil prices, would raise £8bn.
Second, we would use the already-pledged £14bn of non-targeted
funding to prevent bills from rising, giving people the security
to plan ahead, rather than giving that money back in hand-outs
later on.
Finally, by keeping energy bills down, we’ll reduce the rate of
inflation, leading to a reduction in government debt interest
payments of £7bn. That’s because higher inflation increases
government expenditure – or ‘coupon payments’ – on gilts, which
is how a significant proportion of government debt is held.
