Skyrocketing energy prices mean almost one in four adults in the UK will not switch on the heating at all this winter, according to a poll, with opposition MPs describing the findings as a “national scandal”.
The survey of more than 2,000 UK adults found 23% would do without heating over the winter months. That figure was even higher for parents with children under the age of 18, with 27% saying they would be forced to leave the radiators cold.
About 70% said they would turn their heating on less, while 11% said they were considering taking out a loan to cover extra costs. That figure rose to 17% for those with children.
The poll was conducted before the regulator Ofgem announced the energy price cap would increase by 80% from October. The decision will take the average gas and electricity bill from £1,971 to £3,549 a year.
The Liberal Democrats, who commissioned the survey, called for further commitments by the incoming Tory prime minister, widely expected to be Liz Truss, to help struggling households.
“Families and pensioners across the country are making heartbreaking decisions because the government has failed to save them,” said the Lib Dem spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, Christine Jardine.
“It is a national scandal that parents are having to choose between heating their homes and feeding their children,” she said. “It shouldn’t be like this. Britain is on the brink of the worst cost of living crisis in a century and yet still Liz Truss and [rival leadership candidate] Rishi Sunak will not scrap the energy price rise.”
The Lib Dems are calling for a further windfall tax on oil and gas companies to partly fund a price cap freeze.
Labour has also put pressure on the Tory leadership candidates, calling for the existing windfall tax introduced in May by Sunak, then chancellor, to be tightened by removing the option to claim tax relief on more than 90% of the levy if the money is reinvested.
However, both Sunak and Truss have so far refused to consider extending the 25% energy profits levy introduced after a surge in wholesale prices fuelled by the invasion of Ukraine and Russia’s decision to reduce gas exports.
A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said direct support targeted at low-income households, pensioners and those with disabilities would “continue to reach people’s pockets in the weeks and months ahead”.
“As part of our £37bn package of help for households, one in four of all UK households will see £1,200 extra support, provided in instalments across the year, and everyone will receive a £400 discount on their energy bills over winter,” they said.
“The civil service is also making the appropriate preparations in order to ensure that any additional support or commitments on cost of living can be delivered as quickly as possible when the new prime minister is in place.”
The survey was conducted by the market research firm Savanta ComRes.
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