Gideon slams £35 heating oil payout

Taunton and Wellington’s MP, Gideon Amos, called for further support for households reliant on heating oil in Parliament on Monday.

The Prime Minister has announced a £53 million support package amid rising prices because of the conflict in Iran.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Gideon said: “Residents of Curland and Hatch Beauchamp are among the 9,000 off-grid households in my constituency, and they have contacted me about the heating oil question.

“Given that prices have gone up so greatly, they will welcome the Government’s move, however small, against the soaring prices caused by Trump’s illegal and unprincipled war.

“However, given that the help works out at only £35 per house, would it not be better to have a VAT holiday and a permanent price cap so that these customers are not second-class energy consumers?”

Martin McCluskey, the Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, replied: “Not every household will decide to fill up now, at the point when the prices are so high.

“In addition, we have made it clear that this money is going through the crisis and resilience fund, which means that it is focused on low-income people, so we need to be careful not to imply that the funding is at the level that the honourable gentleman describes.

"We are making sure that support is getting to people quickly, and that is the absolutely priority.”

Gideon said afterwards: “Lives are being lost, British citizens put at risk and oil and petrol prices in Taunton and Wellington are going up, some by a 100 per cent, all because of Trump’s latest and illegal, attacks; this time in the Middle East.

"I can’t understand why some parties propose expanding the war with more UK involvement.

"Internationally, Britain should propose a UN Security Council resolution to safeguard the Strait of Hormuz.

"At home, those reliant on heating oil should be granted the same kind of energy price cap that protects the rest of us, and an immediate three-month VAT holiday. People can’t afford their household costs to be made worse.

"With the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, we need energy bills cut in half – that is the plan I, and the Liberal Democrats, are calling for.”