The UK’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss has drafted plans to fix annual electricity and gas bills for a typical UK household at or below the current level of £1,971 ($2,300). Liz Truss is also finalising plans for a £40 billion ($46 billion) support package to lower energy bills for businesses, as per a Bloomberg report.
In discussions with her team and government officials in recent days, Truss has settled on a mechanism that will avert the massive increase in energy bills that is due to kick in at the start of next month under the existing pricing system, according to officials and advisers to Truss who were briefed on the plan. The policy could cost as much as £130 billion (approximately $150 billion) over the next 18 months, according to police documents seen by Bloomberg.
reuters
Energy bills in the UK were due to jump 80% from October 2022 to £3,548 a year for the average household, forcing many poorer families to choose between heating their homes and other basics. But now, under the plans drawn up by the newly appointed UK PM Truss’s team the pricing regime will effectively be abolished and the energy regulator Ofgem will be sidelined. Instead, ministers will set a new unit price that households will pay for electricity and gas, the people said.
47-year-old Liz Truss took over as British prime minister yesterday, facing one of the most daunting sets of challenges for an incoming leader in post-War history, with soaring energy bills, a looming recession and industrial strife leading the list of issues to be taken care of.
Truss inherits an economy in crisis, with inflation at double digits, the cost of energy soaring and the Bank of England warning of a lengthy recession by the end of this year.
The newly elected UK PM had previously held a place in the cabinet of senior ministers for eight years and defeated rival Rishi Sunak in a vote of Conservative Party members by a tighter margin than expected. Now, it remains to be seen if and how she rescues the nation from numerous problems such as the cost of living crisis, recession etc.
Also Read: Britain’s Biggest Domestic Bank Gives 1000 Pounds To Each Employee
Meeting With Queen Elizabeth
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Liz Truss, the fourth Conservative Prime Minister in six years, also flew to the royal family’s Scottish home to be asked by Queen Elizabeth to form a government. She has replaced Boris Johnson who was forced out after three tumultuous years in power as UK Prime Minister.
“Ms Truss accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon her appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury,” Buckingham Palace said, as per the report.
Also Read: Loan Sharks Trapping the Poorest In UK Amid Cost Of Living Crisis
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