Cost of living crisis: Keir Starmer says he can save families £200 as gas bills soar

28 January 2022, 13:02 | Updated: 29 January 2022, 01:36

Sir Keir said he wanted to save some households up to £600
Sir Keir said he wanted to save some households up to £600. Picture: Alamy

By Will Taylor

Sir Keir Starmer believes he has a plan to save families £200 a year as Brits stare down the barrel of a cost of living crisis.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The Labour leader looked to heap pressure on the embattled Prime Minister, who is desperately fighting for his job in the partygate scandal, by hammering home his call for scrapping VAT on energy bills.

Soaring gas prices mean the Ofgem price cap will go up again, as British households already contend with inflation and the incoming National Insurance hike.

Sir Keir, who was visiting Glasgow on Friday, said he wanted to see VAT on energy bills to go and and "targeted action to save most households around £200 a year, or up to £600 for those who need it most".

Read more: National Insurance hike will go ahead as planned minister tells LBC despite Tory revolt

Read more: Introducing Nick Ferrari's Check Out Check-Up

He called on both the UK and Scottish Governments to intervene and said Conservatives in Westminster are too preoccupied with the Metropolitan Police's partygate investigation.

He added: "Boris Johnson and the Tories are scrambling to save their own skins, hopelessly distracted by a pending criminal investigation into their behaviour at Downing Street.

Keir Starmer on Sue Gray report and Met Police

"Meanwhile, people across Scotland are worried about their bills, rising prices and how much it will cost to fill up the car next week."

Labour has criticised the National Insurance rise, which it has characterised as the wrong policy at the wrong time, while the Tories have defended it as necessary to pay for the NHS and social care.

Read more: Met's partygate farce as cops demand 'delayed' Sue Gray report is stripped down

Labour also called on the Scottish Government to use Barnett formula funding to give out £70 to low-income pensioners and struggling families to top up the winter fuel payments.

Reports say Mr Johnson, amid his attempt to cling on to the keys to No10, is considering a VAT cut on energy bills despite signalling his opposition to such a move earlier in January.

"The argument is that it's a blunt instrument," he told a Downing Street press conference.

"And the difficulty is that you end up cutting bills for a lot of people who perhaps don't need the support in quite the direct way that we need to give it. We need to help people who are in fuel poverty the most."

On Thursday, he blamed a shortage of workers for helping compound cost of living woes.

Announcing a bid to get people on welfare into work, he said: "We're coming out of Covid now and it's a fantastic thing, but everybody can see the pressures on our economy, the shortage of skilled workers, particularly in hospitality, in retail, in road haulage.

"That's helping to push up prices, that's affecting the cost of living. It's affecting inflation."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Matthew Perry attends 'The Circle' screening during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival at BMCC Tribeca PAC on April 26, 2017 in New York City.

Doctor to plead guilty to supplying Friends star Matthew Perry with ketamine

The son of a woman who died while skydiving said she was "just trying something new" when her family lost her.

‘Caring’ mother-of-four who died while skydiving was ‘just trying something new’, son says

NHS 999 staff are quitting and suffering burnout caused by the "relentless pressure" of calls, according to new research.

NHS 999 staff quitting and suffering burnout due to ‘relentless pressure’ of calls, research finds

Using a mobile phone to use TikTok video sharing site

Patients who record NHS care for TikTok or Instagram causing workers unnecessary anxiety

Russ Cook

Gen-Z adults with a fitness regime ‘more likely to have a financial plan’

Daytime view of a busy Oxford Street

Sir Sadiq Khan to pedestrianise Oxford Street ‘as quickly as possible’

Low water levels at Baitings dam near Ripponden following a very dry spring

England faces ‘huge’ water shortages of 5bn litres a day by 2055, officials warn

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court in Wales.

Driver handed 10-year sentence after ramming pedestrians, including teenager, with SUV in Airbnb row

Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid celebrates a goal.

Four people given suspended prison sentences for hate crimes after hanging effigy of Real Madrid star

Electricity prices in the UK are high because of the "insane" wholesale market, Parliament has been told.

UK electricity prices ‘way too high’ because of ‘insane’ wholesale market, Parliament told

Detectives have released CCTV footage of a man they wish to speak to following an attempted rape

Bid to trace man as police investigate attempted rape of woman in cinema

Exclusive
Jess Phillips on LBC

Victims deserve credit for grooming gangs national inquiry - not Elon Musk, says Labour minister

Israel attacked Iran's state broadcaster IRIB during a live broadcast.

Israel accused of 'war crime' after bombing Iran's state TV studio live on air and warning it would 'disappear'

The Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, England, where Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner will visit on Wednesday Aug. 7, 2024 following riots

Pregnant teenager facing jail term following role in Rotherham riots targeting migrant hotel

Hamilton started the race in fifth and looked to be on course for a positive 70 laps - before his Grand Prix was impacted in the initial stages.

Lewis Hamilton is left 'devastated' after hitting a furry animal at 100mph in F1's Canadian Grand Prix

Gareth Bale is reportedly being lined up to front a takeover of League One side Plymouth

Gareth Bale in talks to front shock US takeover of League One club