Hunt plays down hopes of more help with energy bills in April

Lib Dems condemn comments as ‘heartless’

Jeremy Hunt has played down hopes ministers will reverse plans to raise energy bills from April after the UK narrowly avoided recession.

The chancellor warned the economy was not out of the woods yet after growth flatlined in the last three months of last year.

The preliminary estimate meant the UK did not meet the technical definition of a recession - two consecutive quarters of declining gross domestic product (GDP).