CANCEL ENERGY INCREASE

I agree with Conservative Cllr Iris Andersen that the Conservative Government should cancel plans to hike the average household energy bill by £500 in April. I would further suggest that we need to tax the oil and gas companies more and bring in a tax on the "bonanza bonuses" of their bosses. We need to cut people's bills, combined with a new energy support package for businesses, churches, leisure centres, schools and hospitals across Hampshire.

In April the Conservatives are planning to hike the energy price guarantee by £500. The Chancellor may well change his mind, but any increase now will be a hammer blow to families and businesses already struggling. Action is needed now to save people from another cost of living cliff-edge.

There are other things that the Conservative government could do. It could double the Warm Homes Discount to £300 and do a U-turn on plans to slash energy bill support for businesses, churches, leisure centres, schools and hospitals by 85%, and instead extend current levels of support for another six months.

With no plan to deal with this cost of living crisis for people or businesses, this chaotic, out-of-touch Conservative Government is instead making it much worse because they just do not get it.

People need real support and that is what the Liberal Democrats are calling for. Sadly, to add insult to injury, Rishi Sunak is happy for energy bosses to rake in millions of pounds in bonanza war bonuses, while families struggle to put food on the table or heat their homes.

The message is simple. Rishi Sunak must act now to save families from a cost-of-living cliff-edge by cutting energy bills instead of increasing them. People deserve a fair deal, with a large cut to their energy bills, paid for by a proper windfall tax and a one-off levy on the bonuses of oil and gas bosses.