David Cameron: ‘It’s wrong for energy bills to go up...’

David Cameron has said it is wrong for the big energy companies to raise power bills to levels which do not reflect the changes in wholesale prices.

Asked if it was morally unacceptable, the Prime Minister said “it is wrong for bills to go up when wholesale prices are not going up substantially”.

But, speaking after an EU summit in Brussels, he criticised Labour leader Ed Miliband’s pledge to freeze energy prices. “We have to look at the cause of why bills are going up and act on those causes rather than just have some sort of blanket policy which does not work,” he said.

Following his announcement earlier this week to reduce “green taxes” on energy bills, Mr Cameron reiterated that “we should be trying to roll the cost of those back in the best way we can”. The levies are added to bills to cover investment in environmentally friendly initiatives, and grants to help people who cannot afford to pay their heating bills.

Anger is growing after the unveiling of large price hikes from several firms just as winter blows in. Former PM Sir John Major has warned that the increases may lead to families having to choose between heating and food.