RICHARD FOORD IS THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MP FOR TIVERTON AND HONITON

With the energy price cap rising to a staggering 3,549 this autumn, households are bracing for the impact. Many are already struggling to make ends meet and are faced with bills soaring by at least 80%.

Many of us swallowed hard back in April when the price cap rose to a sum just shy of 2,000 - now the situation is even more serious. People from across our part of Devon have been in touch with me to tell me how concerned they are about how they will cope with this huge rise in bills.

The Conservative Party has spent weeks talking to itself and playing brinkmanship with promises of ever larger tax cuts. The Liz Truss-led Government has now conceded that it will have to act, after months of pressure from opposition parties.

The Liberal Democrats were the first to call for energy prices to be frozen and have said all along that we would not fund this through borrowing, instead funding this vital relief with a windfall tax on the super-profits being raked in by energy companies.

We have relied for a long time on the generosity of all the wonderful people in our area who contribute to charities, but we cannot ask even more of them given that we are about to see the biggest hit to living standards in the UK for over one hundred years.

The Government must take drastic action to avoid people going under. Liberal Democrats have been saying for weeks that the Government must cancel the October energy price rise outright this would save households in our area more than 1,900 and provide people with some peace of mind.

This week Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey tabled a bill in Parliament to freeze bills. Now that Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have paused the civil war in the Conservative Party, we need Ms Truss to act and give people the reassurance they need.

But freezing bills alone is simply not enough. We need additional targeted support for vulnerable and low-income households. By doubling the Warm Homes Discount, extending it to all those who receive Pension Credit and investing in home insulation for customers who face fuel poverty, we can ensure that people in Devon and beyond can afford to stay warm this winter.

I have also been calling for additional support for those who live off-grid and are therefore more susceptible to rises in the price of heating oil. By capping the cost, we can protect the thousands of people who - by no fault of their own are more vulnerable to price fluctuations.

There is an additional benefit of investing heavily in insulation. By ensuring heat is not lost from our homes, we can cut back on how often we turn the heating on, help address the climate crisis and keep bills down.

This is an emergency. I hope that by the time you read this, the Government will have bowed to pressure from the Liberal Democrats and others to step in and help people across Devon by cancelling the planned rise in energy bills this October.

Read more:

Liberal Democrats were the first to call for energy prices to be frozen - Devon Live