U- turn on green taxes to reduce power bills

Finger- wagging from Ed Miliband and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls yesterday GREEN taxes are to be cut to ease the burden of soaring energy bills, the Prime Minister promised yesterday to the fury of his Liberal Democrat Coalition partners.

Mr Cameron admitted in the Commons that environmental levies add an average £ 112 a year to annual household gas and electricity costs.

Now Chancellor George Osborne could use his Autumn Statement in December to scrap some of the green taxes introduced by the Coalition in its drive to be the “greenest Government ever”.

Angry Lib Dem ministers claimed they were not consulted properly.

A senior Lib Dem source said: “The Tories are getting cold feet on the environment. But we will not allow a panicky U- turn to dictate Government policy.”

Mr Cameron said the Government will also launch annual reviews to ensure energy firms are not ripping off households. His announcement came a day after Tory former Prime Minister Sir John Major called rising energy prices “unacceptable”.

Labour leader Ed Miliband told Mr Cameron: “The former Prime Minister says that, given the scale of profits, we should recoup that money.

“He wants to do it through a windfall tax, I say we need a price freeze. What do you want to recoup that money for the consumer?”

Government sources insisted that the cull of green taxes had been planned over the last few months.

They pointed out that green levies could account for 14 per cent of energy bills by 2020, costing an average household £ 194 a year.