The UK's chancellor, Rachel Reeves has suggested she will exclude the middle classes from any future support on energy bills as the economy reels from the Iran war.
Reeves told the Commons on Tuesday that contingency planning was under way to keep costs down as the conflict in the Middle East continued.
However, she said that she would not roll out an “unfunded, untargeted package of support” similar to the one introduced by the Tories after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Household energy bills were capped at £2,500 despite soaring oil and gas prices provoked by Moscow’s war with Kyiv.
Reeves said, "As we respond to this crisis, we must learn from the mistakes of the past.
“The previous government pushed up borrowing, interest rates, inflation, and mortgage costs with an unfunded, untargeted package of support under Liz Truss that gave support to the most wealthiest of households.”
She added that energy bill support would be “for those who need it most," adding that she would “update on fuel pricing within the next month. ”.
The chancellor also told the Commons: “Between 2022 and 2024 under the last government, households in the top income decile received an average of £1,350 of direct energy bill support.
“That left us with high levels of national debt. A cheque written then for a bill that is still being paid today.”
Furthermore, in her statement to MPs, Reeves listed a series of measures already taken by the government to help people with the cost of living, including raising the national living wage and the state pension and freezing prescription charges, train fares, and fuel duty.
Reeves also said the government’s decision to renegotiate a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the EU on agriproducts regulations could also lower food costs.
