Labour: Ban energy price rises

LABOUR will call for a ban on crippling energy price rises this autumn, it was reported last night.

Sir Keir Starmer will tomorrow unveil proposals to freeze the energy price cap at the current £1,971 level and block regulator Ofgem from approving a feared rise to about £3,600 in October, The Observer said.

It is not clear how Labour planned to fund the policy, including whether it intends to ask energy firms to absorb some or most of the increase in energy costs. Last night, a Treasury source said: ‘Once again, Sir Keir has barely managed to grasp a problem, let alone what a solution might be to solve it.

‘You can’t credibly be a Governmentin-waiting if your policy solutions could be picked apart by a mildly competent A-level economics student. If Labour thinks this is all the thinking that’s required to tackle the problems caused by Putin’s war, they are in more trouble than we thought.’