Boris Johnson: Next PM will give families extra cash for energy bills

The next prime minister will give households “extra cash” to take the sting out of the cost of living crisis when energy bills go up in October and January, Boris Johnson has said.

The outgoing premier said there are two “pinch points” coming when the energy price cap is reviewed in October and then again in the New Year.

Mr Johnson said whoever is PM - whether it is Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss - the government will be “making sure there is extra cash to help people”.

Asked if the already announced cost of living support will be enough, Mr Johnson said: “No, because what I am saying is what we are doing, in addition, is trying to make sure that by October, by January there is further support and what the Government will be doing, whoever is the prime minister, is making sure there is extra cash to help people.”

Mr Johnson added: “In addition, what we are doing is making sure that we have the fiscal firepower, we have the cash, to help people more at those two key points in October and in January.

“So whoever it is, whether it is a man or a woman, you are going to find that the new leader, the new prime minister, is going to be making sure… cash is not only coming in right now but more is already due to come through.

“What we are talking about is extra cash for October and then for January.”

The comments, made during a visit to North Wales, came after the latest warning suggested that energy bills could top nearly £5,300 by the spring.

Forecasts have suggested the price cap on energy bills could reach £3,628 in October, up from £1,971 today. It could then hit £4,538 in January and peak at £5,277 in April.

Mr Sunak has promised to deliver more direct financial support to families if he becomes PM while Ms Truss has said her priority would be helping people through tax cuts.

On Friday, allies of Mr Sunak defended the former chancellor after he appeared to perform a U-turn on borrowing money to help pay for cost of living support.

Mr Sunak has warned against increasing government borrowing throughout the Tory leadership campaign, arguing it would put upward pressure on interest rates, make high inflation last for longer and saddle future generations with more debt.

But Mr Sunak has now said that as PM he would agree to “one-off borrowing as a last resort to get us through this winter” if it is deemed to be necessary.

Mel Stride, the Tory chairman of the Treasury Select Committee and a supporter of Mr Sunak, defended the change in approach.

He said Mr Sunak would focus on finding government savings to fund his cost of living plans but if more money was needed to combat rising bills he would sign off on “really small amounts” of “one-off” extra borrowing.

Mr Sunak has repeatedly criticised Ms Truss’s plans for the economy, accusing her of promising tens of billions of pounds worth of tax cuts which would have to be paid for through more borrowing.

He told a leadership debate at the start of the contest last month: “Borrowing your way out of inflation isn’t a plan, it’s a fairytale.”

Mr Stride told the BBC that Mr Sunak’s plan was “more about savings than it is about borrowing”.

“To the extent that it might be about borrowing it is really small amounts and it is one-off and I think that is the distinction between his position and the huge tens of billions that Liz Truss would be borrowing to fund tax cuts,” he said.

It came as Therese Coffey, the Work and Pensions Secretary and a supporter of Ms Truss, said more cost of living “handouts” for the most vulnerable people would “absolutely” be considered by the Foreign Secretary if she wins the Tory leadership race.

Ms Truss had previously suggested that she was opposed to “handouts” and has stressed her priority would be to cut taxes.