Calling for cost-of-living support

Taunton and Wellington’s MP, Gideon Amos, has called for next week's budget to prioritise a cost-of-living support package.

Gideon says households risk being left unprotected against a sequence of rising bills as key pieces of temporary Government support are set to expire by the spring, alongside an increase to the energy price cap in January.

To protect household budgets, the Liberal Democrats are urging the Chancellor to bring forward an emergency package to provide breathing space for the next 18 months, at a total cost of £14bn over the next year and a half.

It would be fully funded through a windfall tax on the big banks, a clawback on energy network monopolies, and extra oil and gas revenues caused by ‘Trumpflation’.

The three-point plan includes:

• An Essential Energy Guarantee to cut average annual bills by £100. Every household would receive a basic energy allowance, equivalent to 50% of average energy consumption, at a discounted rate, with extra allowances for children and the discounted rate on all energy use for disabled people and those on the lowest incomes. The poorest 20% would save an average of £140.
• An emergency transport package cutting fuel duty by 10p (bringing down prices at the pump by 12p per litre), slashing bus fares to £1 from the current £3 cap, cutting rail fares by 10%, and making it cheaper to drive electric vehicles by cutting VAT on public charging and reviewing unfair network costs.
• A temporary cut knocking a third off VAT for hospitality, accommodation and attractions, to rescue struggling high streets far beyond the Government's limited £150 million fund for music venues and pubs. The party also calls for an overhaul of the broken business rates system and for the National Insurance Contribution (NIC) hike to be abandoned.

The party has warned that the OBR’s living standards forecast will set a definitive test that Chancellor John Healey will either pass or fail on October 28.

Gideon said: "Following Trump beginning an idiotic war in the Middle East, mortgage rates and costs are climbing again for every home in Taunton and Wellington.

“The stresses that's causing are bringing back memories of the impacts of the disastrous Truss budget when rates last shot up. 

“Instead, what we need is some real breathing space and something that actually cuts bill payments for the essentials for everyone.  

"That's why I'm enthused by this Lib Dem budget call for a cost-of-living support package, giving people and businesses lower VAT, cheaper travel and help with heating bills, as thousands of households already worry every day about keeping their homes warm.

"Choosing between heating and eating must not become a reality again this winter.

“The new Prime Minister has talked big about help with the cost of living; it's time his Chancellor took these concrete, costed steps to make life cheaper.”