Tories pledge to curb green levies while Starmer vows to 'bring down bills for good' ahead of new energy price cap
24 May 2024, 00:30 | Updated: 24 May 2024, 00:31
The Tories will pledge to slash green levies on energy bills on Friday as they step up their early election campaign.
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Rishi Sunak will receive a boost to the start of his election campaign on Friday, as experts have predicted Ofgem is set to announce a fall in the energy cap price for July.
The energy regulator will reduce the cap by 7%, knocking £114 off the average energy bill, according to reports.
Keeping the momentum off the back of the news, Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho is set to unveil a string of initiatives on the same day to keep bills down moving forward.
Ms Coutinho will reveal the Tories’ pledge to keep green levies on energy below their current level for the next five years and to keep the energy price cap for at least another five years in parliament.
She will also say that the green levies, which average £197 a year, “will be lower in every year of the next parliament than they were last year”.
Ms Coutinho told MailOnline that voters must choose between a “realistic approach” to Net Zero and a Labour Party that will “lump families with unnecessary bills they cannot afford”.
Read more: Rishi Sunak rules out coalition with Reform UK at General Election
Meanwhile, Labour is committing to decarbonising the electricity system by 2030 - five years ahead of the current goal.
Sir Keir Starmer will say in Scotland on Friday that this plan will “cut your bills for good” by increasing green energy sources.
But Ms Coutinho hit out at the plan, arguing the only way for the Labour leader to achieve this aim is to “raise your taxes, hike your bills or saddle your children with debt”.
It comes after Mr Sunak and Sir Keir launched their election campaigns on Thursday following the July 4 poll announcement.
Among the hot topics of the day was Mr Sunak’s flagship smoking bill, which plans to ban young people from ever being able to smoke tobacco legally.
The future of the bill was put into doubt after it was not mentioned in the final business in the House of Commons ahead of the General Election.
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt did not include the Tobacco and Vapes Bill as she laid out legislation which could be rushed through by MPs ahead of Parliament being prorogued on Friday, during a period known as "wash-up".
However, addressing MPs on Thursday, Ms Mordaunt said cross-party negotiations were ongoing over the future of Bills not included in the schedule.
The Bill would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1 2009, with the aim of creating a "smoke-free" generation.
