London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

Liz Truss’s plans to help lowest earners pay energy bills ‘insulting’, says Labour

Liz Truss’s plans to help lowest earners pay energy bills ‘insulting’, says Labour

Analysis of tax proposals shows a full-time employee on national minimum wage would gain £1 a week
Liz Truss’s “insulting” plans to help people with their energy bills would give the lowest paid just £1 a week when their costs will rise by an estimated £57, Labour has said.

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said Truss’s plans were not only uncosted but woefully inadequate, adding that reversing the national insurance rise would give those on the national minimum wage an estimated £1 a week – enough to cover just 3% of the increase in energy bills.

In recent days, Truss has softened on the subject of giving people direct help to cover rising bills but has sounded firmly opposed to so-called “handouts” at other times, saying cutting taxes are the answer. The foreign secretary has also said she would remove “green levies” from bills, which cost on average £3 a week.

Boris Johnson said on Friday the current package giving people £400 as an energy grant, and up to £650 for 8 million of the most vulnerable, was not enough in the face of further rises due in October and again next year.

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 was enough, Johnson said: “No, because what I’m saying 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.”

Rishi Sunak, Truss’s rival in the Conservative leadership content, has set out plans for a £10bn support package to help people with their energy bills, saying he would be prepared to borrow to do so.

But new analysis by the Tony Blair Institute said Sunak’s plan to cut VAT on fuel would only amount to a saving of about £14 a month for the typical household.

Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has faced criticism in recent days for failing to present Labour’s policy on energy, with the former prime minister Gordon Brown suggesting temporary nationalisation to get through the crisis. Starmer is expected to set out a fully costed Labour plan for energy on Monday.

Labour’s analysis of Truss’s tax proposals shows that an employee working full-time on the national minimum wage will gain only £1 a week as a result of changes to national insurance. On Friday Reeves said: “Liz Truss’ uncosted tax plan will only give workers on the national minimum wage an insulting £1 of additional support while their weekly energy costs are increasing by £57 a week.

“The minimum wage is already not enough to live on and this further lack of support for working people from the Conservatives risks plunging the lowest paid workers into real financial hardship.

“A Labour government would act now to cut bills by taxing the huge profits made by the oil and gas producers, bringing down energy bills for good with a green energy sprint for homegrown power, and bringing forward a 10-year warm homes plan to cut bills for 19 million families living in cold, draughty homes.”

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.”

A spokesperson for Sunak’s campaign said on Friday that Truss had “blown a further £5bn black hole in her plans” by not backing the windfall tax. However, the Truss campaign later clarified that she was not scrapping the current windfall tax, despite being against them in principle as a “Labour idea”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
×