Rishi Sunak is not listening over help with bills – will energy company bosses change his mind?

Corporate chiefs have joined a growing chorus of voices demanding help for people struggling with bills – it must surely be a matter of time before the chancellor acts, argues Ben Chapman

Chancellor Rishi Sunak (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA)

For months now, Rishi Sunak has chosen not to answer increasingly desperate calls of charities, think tanks and campaigners warning of the turmoil that awaits as living costs soar.

Sunak must know that the End Fuel Poverty Coalition estimates 8.5 million households will be unable to heat and power their homes this winter. Yet he has offered to cover only a fraction of people’s bills. He will know too that the Resolution Foundation reckons 1.3 million people are to be thrown into absolute poverty thanks to his failure to protect them from rising prices.

He could have offered targeted financial support through the benefits system, but he decided not to. Compounding that mistake, he delivered a pay cut to the UK's poorest people by refusing to increase benefits in line with inflation. The hardship that will result will be like nothing seen in the UK for many decades.