A Treasury source added last night: “Putin is raising gas prices to inflict as much pain as he can on the British people in revenge for our unwavering support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom. We cannot let him use energy as a weapon to divide us.” Options for the next Prime Minister to ease the crisis include reducing green levies on energy bills, scrapping VAT on energy bills, increasing the £400 rebate already given to households from October or freezing the cap prices at or near the current level. Ms Truss said on Thursday that her plans for tax cuts and a reduction in the green energy levy would ease pressure on household budgets, but added that her new chancellor would look at “what else needs to be done”. She said: “I am very clear that what we should not be doing is taking money from people in taxes and then giving it back to them in benefits.” On Thursday night, Ms Truss reiterated her claim that she would tackle the energy crisis through tax cuts and increased supply, not extra payments. Addressing the penultimate Conservative leadership shake-up in Norwich, she admitted the country faces “a huge issue with people not being able to afford energy”. He added: “What we really need to do is fix the energy supply. The fact is we’re not getting enough gas from the North Sea, we haven’t moved fast enough on nuclear, we haven’t done enough on renewables either.” “Instead of just saying the answer to everything is to give more cash, we need to look at the root causes of this problem.” The Foreign Secretary warned that high energy prices are here for the “long run”. “If people think this problem is going to end in six months, they’re wrong,” he said. Energy companies favor freezing the price cap close to the current level, with the government covering the extra cost of higher wholesale prices. That plan could cost taxpayers up to £100 billion, which companies say will have to be repaid through higher bills in the future.
