Energy price cap: Boris Johnson says more help is coming as Zahawi urges people to cut back on use – business live

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has called for the government to immediately implement an energy price freeze and an emergency budget.

Writing in the Daily Express, Rayner described the effect of the cost of living crisis on people in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester: “People have come to me with the most harrowing stories – skipping meals to feed their kids, making unimaginable sacrifices and going without just to make ends meet.

“I’ve helped out my own friends financially, been a guarantor for rents, and even lent out my car. But too many people now face breaking point.”

She called for the taxation of oil and gas companies’ profits, writing: “But it doesn’t have to be this way. We have a choice. Carry on letting oil and gas companies make huge profits whilst people suffer with bills rising this winter. Or do something about it.”

Owners of electric vehicles owners will be badly hit by the energy price cap rise, new analysis shows, but remain “good value” compared to petrol and diesel cars.

EVs have grown in popularity in recent months, ahead of the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans in the UK from 2030.

The RAC said the cost of a full charge at home for an EV with a 64-kilowatt hour battery and a seven-kilowatt charger will be £33.80 under the new cap which comes into force. That is compared with £18.37 under the current cap, and £13.69 for last winter’s price limit.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “The impact of the energy price cap increase will certainly be felt by drivers who charge their electric cars at home, with a full charge of a typical family-sized electric SUV costing 84% more from 1 October than it does under the current cap.”

However, he said that the cost of charging at home remains “good value” despite recent falls in the price of petrol and diesel.

Ben Nelmes, co-founder and head of policy at green consultancy New AutoMotive, said: “Even with rising electricity prices, EVs will continue to be much cheaper to run than petrol or diesel cars.

“There are still great offers for EV electricity tariffs to further reduce the cost of charging. EVs can and should be part of the solution to the cost-of-living crisis.”

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Stratospheric energy bills will “completely wipe out incomes for low income households”

Nearly three quarters of households which include a person with a disability have been pushed into debt this year because of increases to energy and food prices, according to Richard Kramer, chief executive of the charity Sense.

Sense fears the rise in the energy price cap could lead to catastrophe, unless there is more support.

Many disabled people will go into winter facing impossible decisions such as whether to eat or heat their homes.

The Government must recognise the enormity of the issue, the severe impact it is having on disabled households, and come up with a plan that will ensure support is available for those who need it.”

European wholesale electricity prices are hitting record levels again today, as the scramble to buy power intensifies:

Johnson: More cash coming to support consumers

Larry Elliott: Price cap hike could turn recession fears into reality

Larry Elliott

Here’s an explainer of how the price cap works, and how the 80% increase in October will affect consumers:

Business groups fear that companies will go under, without a fresh package of support from ministers soon.

Richard Burge, chief executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry

“We are alarmed by today’s announcement of an energy price cap rise by Ofgem. High energy prices are pushing our firms to breaking point, particularly small and medium sized enterprises in London that cannot shoulder the meteoric rises with the ease of larger businesses.

If an intervention is not made by the government, we will see a significant number of businesses go under due to unsustainable trading conditions.

We reported yesterday that small firms feared for their future, with some seeing their bills quadruple, including:

• A hotel in Aberdeen which says it will be cheaper to close for the winter than heat rooms for guests.

• A fish and chip shop in Oswestry, Shropshire, where annual energy bills are rising from £9,000 to £35,000.

• A chicken takeaway franchisee in Peterborough who fears customers will desert him if he pushes up prices to pay his bills.

• An indoor mushroom farm in Bangor, Gwynedd, whose strong trading has been undermined by a “ridiculous” hike in its energy costs.

UK bus users face “significant” price rises in 2023 since operators expect to lock in fuel purchases for next year at high rates, a senior executive at one of the largest companies has told the Financial Times.

That would add to the cost of living squeeze for millions who rely on buses for transport, on top of surging energy bills.

Go Ahead’s Phil Southall, a senior bus director, told the FT that the company may be forced to increase fares if it locks in higher rates for diesel in the months ahead.

Here’s the details:

Go Ahead, which operates 6,000 buses in the UK, usually secures half of its supply a year in advance, a quarter three years out and the final quarter four years early.

The strategy means that it will be locking in prices for 2023 fuel later this year.

“That’s when it will hit us, when you come to negotiate the price, then the only option is to pass that on to customers,” he said.

“It will be at least a 10 per cent increase in fares, because you have no other option.”