When Rishi Sunak was Chancellor, he announced a “scheme” to offset the cost of the energy price cap rise in October. The scheme was designed to dicount energy bills by paying £400, on behalf of every “household”, to UK energy companies. Essentially a gift of £10 billion to UK energy companies. He declared it to be “universal assistance” because, even the Queen and Prince Charles would be eligible. In fact they would probably get more discount due to the fact that they own multiple properties. Being a bit short of cash myself, I thought it might have been better to target the poorest folk in UK. Maybe give them an £800 discount and rich people get nothing? Seemed fairer to me, and, it also appears to have concerned Liz Truss according to Simon Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, one of her most prominent backers. He finds it “odd” that the highest earners qualify for support and hinted that the £400 could be taken back, although he wasn’t specific on the details of this potential Government clawback.
It’s obvious that Sunak’s £400 “universal assistance” was yet another ill considered action
The Starmer Plan does nothing for small businesses struggling with energy price increases