Tory leadership candidates must offer ‘serious proposals’ as price cap rises

Labour has called on both Tory leadership candidates to expand the windfall tax on oil and gas companies if they become prime minister, as the energy price cap is set to rise again.

Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband said it was “intolerable” that Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss had not offered “serious proposals” to address the crisis.

His call for action comes as energy regulator Ofgem is set to announce the autumn price cap for energy bills on Friday.

Analysts have predicted the cap could increase from £1,971 to approximately £3,500, with a further rise to more than £4,000 predicted in the new year.

Mr Miliband said: “We are now less than 24 hours away from the energy price cap rising yet again, but we have heard no serious proposals from the Conservative leadership candidates on how to stop this national emergency.

“We simply cannot allow the British people to suffer a further increase in energy bills. It is intolerable that the Conservatives continue to offer no solutions to this crisis, and oppose Labour’s plans to freeze energy bills, paid for by expanding the windfall tax on oil and gas producers making record profits.

“Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak obviously care more about the balance sheets of big oil and gas businesses than they do about keeping money in working people’s pockets.

“This is a Government that is not on working people’s side. Only Labour can give Britain the fresh start it needs – with a plan to tackle the cost of living crisis now and build a more secure country.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer announced proposals to expand the windfall tax on oil and gas profits earlier this month in order to fund a six-month freeze on energy bills at the current £1,971 price cap, saving the average household £1,000.

The opposition claims it could raise an extra £8 billion by expanding the levy, including by eliminating a “loophole” which gives fossil fuel companies tax breaks for promising green investment.

Labour has also called for a UK-wide mass housing insulation programme to help households save on energy bills in the long-term.

Tory leadership frontrunner Ms Truss has described Labour’s plans as a “sticking plaster”.

She has suggested she would draw up an emergency budget if elected prime minister, describing it as a “fiscal event” at a leadership hustings in Birmingham on Tuesday.

But tax cuts would remain Ms Truss’s “first port of call” as the next premier, and she has suggested her proposals were a shift in how to manage the UK economy to create prosperity.

Her opponent Mr Sunak has questioned her economic credibility, with his campaign raising the alarm about reports that Ms Truss does not plan to include a forecast by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility in her emergency budget.

The former chancellor said Ms Truss’s plans to borrow to fund tax cuts could “pour fuel on the fire” of inflation, and warned that millions could be left in “destitution” this winter on her watch.

While Mr Sunak has said it would be “immoral” to not provide more direct support to struggling households, he ruled out Labour’s price freeze, claiming it was not “the right approach”.

As chancellor, Ms Sunak introduced the temporary energy profits levy in July, after Labour repeatedly called for a windfall tax.