RE: “London’s Oil Party Week Is Back With Talk of a Coming Rally”27 Feb 2023 17:33
'National act of harm'
The EPG began in October last year, and is scheduled to continue to April 2024. Falling wholesale prices mean the potential cost to the government could be billions of pounds less than initially thought but still totalling just under £30bn.
Such figures were, and could still be, highly volatile. The government says the "savings" would be money not borrowed, rather than a pot of money available to spend elsewhere. However, the figures have prompted dozens of charities and campaigners to call on the government to reverse the plan for a typical annual bill to rise from £2,500 to £3,000 in April.
The consumer finance expert Martin Lewis described the rise as a "national act of harm". However, he said he was hopeful the government would cancel the increase.
"I do not know it will cancel that rise but I am more hopeful than I was after some rune reading," he told BBC Radio 5Live. "I think there is a better than 50% chance that it will cancel that rise."
Labour also wants to stop the increase. "Labour would use a proper windfall tax to stop prices going up in April," said Ed Miliband, shadow climate and net zero secretary.
The Liberal Democrats have gone further and want energy bills to be cut. The SNP has also called for bills to be cut, seeking a "minimum" £500 cut to the level of the energy price guarantee.
A proper windfall tax labour want, 75% obviously isn’t enough for these idiots who couldn’t run a bath never mind a business.