The UK’s extortionate energy bills have plummeted many household’s bank accounts to worrying levels amid the cost of living crisis. Yet, finally, we might be seeing some good news.
Energy bills will fall to £2,074 a year on average per household from July 2023. On the face of it, this sounds like a good thing, but they are still as high as Michael Gove at a Christmas party.
Things you could spend £2,074 on: 8,296 Freddos, 1,000 small pet goldfish or 288 Colin the Caterpillar cakes.
Either way, by now, the Tories should have done more to help families that haven’t been able to easily afford their yearly energy bills.
Rising energy prices aren’t anything new. Inflation contributes to these costs as everything becomes more expensive, companies have to charge more.
The steep energy costs mean that many people have had to turn off heating and gas in order to save money over the winter months. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 49% of adults are using less fuel in their homes because of the increased cost of living.
Whilst our current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was Chancellor in early 2022, he hailed his so called ‘support plan’ for families struggling to pay their energy bills. However, this proved to be fairly ineffective as according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the £9 Billion in cost to the government, the average earner was still £400 worse off than 2021.
Clearly Rishi’s support plan was about as supportive as Gordon Ramsey when someone undercooks a piece of meat.
So what should the government do?
The government has to prioritise the people that are struggling to pay their bills the most. Granted, the fall in energy costs is a positive step, but the Tories are clearly still doing something wrong. Government statistics reveal that between 2010 and 2021, the amount of money that consumers are spending on energy costs in the UK increased by over £151 billion.
£151 billion increase in 11 years of Tory rule? No wonder that so many households are struggling to keep their heating on.
It feels like repeating the status quo of every political call out in the past few years, but when put into perspective, its a disgrace that the government hasn’t been able to support more people with the price rises.
Let’s hope for all our sakes that this fall in costs continues because Rishi’s little support plan didn’t work last time and it won’t work again.
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