London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 27, 2025

Boris Johnson says UK energy-bill support package is not enough

Boris Johnson says UK energy-bill support package is not enough

PM fuels Tory leadership dispute by saying UK will need to find more cash to help with surging bills
Boris Johnson has acknowledged that the package of support to help people pay surging energy bills is not enough, as the split deepens between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss over how to deal with the crisis.

Amid forecasts that energy bills could hit £5,000 a year by next April, the prime minister made clear that he expected his successor to act.

Asked if the current package of £400 off bills, rising to £650 for vulnerable households, was enough, Johnson said: “No, because what I’m saying what we’re doing in addition is trying to make sure that by October, by January, there is further support, and what the government will be doing, whoever is the prime minister, is making sure there is extra cash to help people.”

Johnson said earlier this week that he was sure his successor would offer more help with the cost of living, but Truss has held off spelling out how she would act and repeatedly dismissed the idea of “Gordon Brown style” “handouts”. Her stance appears to have slightly softened, with her campaign suggesting help would be forthcoming.

However, Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary and one of Truss’s key allies, said on Friday that the cost of bills would be “nowhere near” the levels predicted by independent analysts.

Defending Truss, Coffey said: “She is absolutely an MP who knows what it is like for struggling households and that is why, quite rightly in a considered way, once Ofgem comes up with their price cap … all of government … and it will be a decision for the new prime minister to enact what changes could be made.”

Sunak announced a £10bn package on Friday designed to help with energy bills this autumn, saying he could be open to “some limited and temporary one-off borrowing as a last resort to get us through this winter”.

“People need reassurance now about what we will do and I make no apology for concentrating on what matters most,” Sunak wrote in the Times, which reported that he valued a cut to VAT on energy at £5bn.

He was also said to have promised to find the same amount again to go towards helping those most in need, as he said: “You can’t heat your home with hope.”

The former chancellor also highlighted Truss’s refusal to say whether she would maintain the windfall tax on oil and gas profits, which is expected to bring in more than £5bn from oil and gas giants making money out of high prices.

In an interview with Times Radio, Sunak defended the windfall tax he had implemented as chancellor, saying it would “automatically raise more money” in tax to support struggling households as energy profits increase.

The former chancellor added: “I think that is the right thing to do and I think Liz Truss last night said she opposed doing that, and actually didn’t believe in that policy, so I think that is a question for her to answer.”

He also said his opponent’s plans to cut taxes would do “virtually nothing” for pensioners or the least well off.

A Sunak campaign spokesperson added that Truss had “blown a further £5bn black hole in her plans” by not backing the windfall tax.

Sunak also rejected the idea that Truss was the frontrunner and likely to win, saying that “lots of people have not made up their mind”.

After Thursday’s hustings, Truss reiterated her belief that tax cuts should be the main response to soaring bills. Truss told an audience of Tory members in Cheltenham that this would always be her “first port of call”, followed by a focus on longer-term energy supply issues such as support for fracking and nuclear power.

Truss said she could provide other assistance, but gave no details, saying she “can’t write the chancellor’s budget” before even being elected as prime minister.

“If the answer to every question is raising tax, we will choke off economic growth, and we will send ourselves to penury, and I think that’s a massive problem,” she said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
×