As we all know energy costs have been rising in recent times and the governments energy price cap was increased by 12% in October. It was an even bigger increase for customers who were on a cheaper fixed deal before. My gas price has increased by 51% now that my one year fixed price deal has expired.

The bad news is that there are further price rises to come. MoneySavingExpert reckons that energy prices will rise by a further 40% in April meaning that the energy price cap will then be around £700 a year more than it was in September 2021. Labour has introduced a fully funded comprehensive plan to reduce the cost of energy in the short term.

Firstly Labour would scrap the 5% VAT on energy bills and stop energy bills covering the cost of the energy suppliers that failed this autumn. This will save most energy customers around £200 a year off their bills. I think this is a great idea as everyone is affected by the energy price rises and therefore some support for everyone is a good thing.

On top of this Labour plans to add extra support for the retired, low earners and the squeezed middle by increasing the warm homes payment from £140 to £400 a year and by widening the eligibility for that scheme.

Labour also plan to retrofit up to 19 million homes so that they can reduce their energy usage in the medium term which means that more people will be more protected from price rises in the future. This support for energy consumers will all be paid from rising amounts of VAT from other price rises and with a special windfall tax on north sea oil and gas.