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Pint of beer would cost £25 if prices had risen in line with gas

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If the price of beer had risen in line with gas, a pint would cost £25, an energy boss has said.

Greg Jackson, founder and chief executive of Octopus Energy, who is calling for Government intervention ahead of further price cap rises, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think the spate of failures within the 29 companies that went bust last year, that was driven by gas prices roughly doubling. They’re currently nine to 11 times higher than usual.

“Look, to put that in perspective, if this was beer, we’re talking about the wholesale price being £25 a pint.

“People don’t know what a therm is, but, underneath it, the price per therm has gone from 60p to around £5 at the moment and that’s what’s passing through to customers if we don’t do something.”

He added: “There are systemic issues. There are loads of questions of how we pay for this. One thing we can’t do is be expected to pass those costs on to consumers.”

A Conservative MP has suggested people will be “on the streets” without further help to pay energy bills this winter.

Rishi Sunak supporter Kevin Hollinrake told Sky News that promises by Liz Truss’ campaign to cut taxes would only provide an extra “pound a week” to the poorest households, whereas it would provide “to the tune of about £30 a week” to a household like his.

“It is simply not right,” he added.

“These people are going to be on the streets. Things are going to be that bad for some households.”

Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at Tory leadership frontrunner Liz Truss, amid reports that she is not planning to ask the independent Office for Budget Responsibility for a forecast ahead of the measures she is planning for next month.

Speaking in Walthamstow in north London, the Labour leader said: “We need an emergency budget. We should have had that months ago, to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. But the OBR is there to make sure that money is spent wisely and properly. So of course you need the OBR in place for that.

“That is why there has been such a reaction to Liz Truss’ proposal that she is going to just put that to one side.”

He said people wanted to know what the Government was going to do about the cost-of-living crisis, with Labour “leading” on the issue.

“Labour is leading on this, we have said freeze those bills this winter, make sure people don’t pay any more for their energy.”

Meanwhile Bill Bullen, chief executive of Utilita, has called for the Conservatives to end their leadership contest early so the next government can tackle the energy crisis.

Mr Bullen told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “All through the summer, we’ve been hearing about customers in distress, customers who are worried that they’re not able to heat their homes over this coming winter.

“That’s why we’re saying to the Government, you’ve got to take this decision to freeze prices at their current level right now.

“This cannot wait until the 5th or 6th of September. The Conservative Party needs to sort themselves out, decide who the leader is going to be this week, so that the Ofgem announcement on the 26th doesn’t have to happen. That is such an imperative.

“Frankly, for the sake of the nation, I think the Conservative Party need to sort their leadership contest out quicker than they’re currently planning to do it. Then at least we will take away the stress of this winter coming up for tens of millions of households.”

 

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