Labour accused of 'broken promises' as Britons hit with rise in energy bills: 'Outrageous!'

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Ofgem has confirmed the energy price cap will rise four per cent for a typical household from October

The Labour Government has been accused of more "broken promises" as millions of households brace for higher energy bills this winter.

Speaking to GB News, Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins hit out at the Government and declared the increase "outrageous".

This morning, Ofgem confirmed the energy price cap will rise four per cent for a typical household from October.

The new cap takes effect on October 1 and runs until December 31, increasing to £1,723 annually or £60 a year for the average household on the current level of £1,663.

Reacting to the increase, Ms Atkins told GB News that it is a "deeply serious" situation for millions of households across Britain.

She said: "We've talked about Labour's poor choices when it comes to funding welfare, refusing to fund defence, and at the same time, your viewers will be having to open their metaphorical bills, as it were, that land on their door doormats and see that their bills are going up even more.

"What a broken promise this is. Ed Miliband promised us all in the election that he was going to lower our bills by £300. We find out now that they're going up on average by £400. It is outrageous."

Ms Atkins highlighted the struggles facing many Britons in rural areas, who rely on heating oil to keep warm in the winter.

She stressed: "It's also deeply serious for people who do not know how they're going to be able to pay their bills.

"And let's not forget, of course, people such as my own constituents, many of them rely on heating oil, because this Labour Government never talks about heating oil, that is a huge upfront cost.

"It's why the winter fuel allowance was so important to so many of my constituents, because many of them used that payment in order to be able to fill their heating oil tanks.

"But instead now we have rising bills under this Government, and my worry is not only will households suffer, people at home suffer with this."

The Tory MP also warned of the financial impact on businesses, who have already been hit with surging business rates and taxes under Labour.

She told GB News: "Of course, the impact on business is very, very serious as well, and I've been speaking to businesses in my constituency over the last few months who are telling me that they are struggling to pay the energy costs and the taxes hiked by this Government, which means many of them are thinking they're going to have to shut up shop.

"That is terrible for our local economy. It's also really terrible for our national economy, and it just lends itself to this doom loop of misery that this Government seems to have put us in as a country."

Ms Atkins detailed plans by the Tories to implement "cheap energy" and ditch Net Zero targets.

She concluded: "We say there is a different way. We Conservatives have a clear and costed plan to bring about cheap energy, and Claire Coutinho has been working on this for years.

"We say axe the VAT on electricity acts, the carbon tax, which is putting even greater pressures on our bills and ensure that we're getting rid of the net zero obsession with levies on our bills, which again, we know is having a huge impact for people at home."

Responding to the increase, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said: "Families will be understandably concerned about the cost of energy bills this winter, which is being driven up by the Iran War.

"Energy is an everyday essential and it needs to be affordable for everyone, which is why we have cut VAT on electricity bills from October, to give families some breathing space.

"This has limited the rise in the price cap and follows the £150 in costs we removed from bills earlier this year, and we will keep looking at what more we can do to protect families from unaffordable bills."