Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Keir Starmer insists energy plan has ‘double benefit’ as he defends holiday during cost of living crisis

Accuses Tories of ‘walking past’ the problem

Kate Devlin
Whitehall Editor
Monday 15 August 2022 09:43 BST
Comments
Keir Starmer describes his proposals to freeze energy price cap

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has insisted his energy price freeze will have the “double benefit” of curbing inflation as he defended his decision to go on holiday during the cost of living crisis.

The Labour leader also accused the Conservatives of “walking past” the problem while they focus on electing a new leader.

Sir Keir has vowed his party "wouldn’t let people pay a penny more" on their gas and electricity bills this winter.

Under the plans Labour would halt price rises in October and January, saving the typical family £1,000 it says.

The "fully-funded" proposals would cost £29bn and be paid for partly by expanding the windfall tax imposed on oil and gas giants and backdating it to earlier this year.

The rest would come from the £14bn earmarked by the government for extra support to cover energy bill rises and £7bn saved in debt interest payments through reduced inflation.

The energy price cap, a ceiling on how much companies can charge, is currently set at £1,971 a year. However, it is expected to climb to almost £3,600 a year in October and over £4,200 in January.

The plan has been unveiled as the Tory leadership contenders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak face calls to more than double the level of support offered to low-income families in order to avert a "catastrophe".

Pressed on his proposals, Sir Keir told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The double benefit of this is that it also tackles the question of what are you going to do about inflation. “

In a swipe at claims that Boris Johnson is presiding over a ‘zombie’ government in No 10, he added: “We are not going to walk past this like the Tory party, we are actually going to do something”.

And he rejected criticism his plan was too late, saying he had asked his team to find a solution to the crisis almost two months ago.

Following photographs of him relaxing at the weekend, he said he was “not going to apologise” for going on holiday with his family. As well as his role as Labour leader he had another important job “as a dad,” he said.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in