Zahawi says even £45k earners ‘could struggle’ to pay bills
THE Chancellor has suggested those earning around £45,000 annually could struggle to cope with soaring living costs as households prepare for another painful price hike over the winter.
Nadhim Zahawi said things will be “really hard” for middleearners, as well as society’s most vulnerable, as the energy price cap is set to rise by 80 per cent by October, pushing the average household’s yearly bill up from £1,971 to £3,549.
Industry regulator Ofgem warned the Government it must act urgently to “match the scale of the crisis we have before us” as Britain faced the bleak news on Friday.
The i newspaper later reported Tory leadership contender Liz Truss is set to give extra winter fuel payments to pensioners to ease the burden, despite in the past insisting she was focused on tax cuts rather than “handouts”.
Her rival Rishi Sunak has already said he will provide additional support targeted at the most vulnerable.
Mr Zahawi has declared he is working “flat out” to draw up options for a plan of action for the next PM so they can “hit the ground running” when they take office in September.
In an interview with The Telegraph, he said he is exploring ways to ensure “we help those who really need the help”.
“My concern is there are those who aren’t on benefits,” he said.
“If you are a senior nurse or a senior teacher on £45,000 a year, you’re having your energy bills go up by 80% and will probably rise even higher in the new year – it’s really hard.
“If you’re a pensioner, it’s really hard. So Universal Credit is a really effective way of targeting, but I’m looking at what else we can do to make sure we help those who really need the help. We’re looking at all the options.”
The newspaper said he refused to rule out freezing the energy cap as suggested by Labour, insisting “nothing is off the table”.
But he said: “My concern about it is that it is universal. You’re helping wealthier households, households like mine, where we can withstand the additional pressure of high energy costs, and that takes away from your ability to be resilient over the long term. It would be about £100 billion in about 18, 24 months. If I targeted that help, I’d be able to deliver more help to the most vulnerable.”
He also reportedly said he is weighing up potential action to help small firms including Covidstyle cuts to VAT and business rates to support the hospitality and leisure sectors. “If we don’t help those small and medium enterprises, my concern is the scarring effect, the longer-term scarring effect on the economy,” he said.