Liz Truss' plans to freeze energy bills are not what they seem

The new Prime Minister's reported plans will ultimately leave the public, rather than oil and gas companies, to pick up the bill.

Liz Truss' plans to freeze energy bills are not what they seem.

At first glance, the plans, which were briefed to multiple newspapers last night, look fairly similar to those backed by Labour and the Lib Dems last month.

However, while Truss is planning to spend tens of billions of pounds on freezing energy bills next month, her plans come with a nasty sting in the tail.

Whereas under Labour’s plans, a large chunk of the cost of freezing bills would be paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, under Truss’ plans the cost will instead be paid entirely by us.

According to multiple reports the new Prime Minister is considering plans to force the public to pay back the cost of the freeze over the course of decades, through a new charge on our energy bills.

This will leave current consumers, and potentially even future generations, with higher bills indefinitely.

Meanwhile oil and gas companies, who are now making huge unexpected profits due to surging wholesale prices, will not have to pay a penny more in tax.

Adam Bienkov @AdamBienkov

So Liz Truss' plan is essentially to give the public a loan, which we will have to pay back on our bills for decades, while refusing to levy a single extra pound in tax on oil and gas companies. inews.co.uk/news/politics/…

As with so much else in her agenda for government, when it comes to the crunch, Truss’ instincts will always be to help the 0.01% at the expense of everyone else.

Here is what really lies behind Liz Truss’ plans: