A Conservative MP has suggested the government helping people with the upfront costs of heating their homes could cause them to “burn more energy”.
Under Rishi Sunak’s plan to help with the cost of living crisis, households will receive a £200 rebate on their energy bills which will need to be repaid at a later date.
But quizzing the chancellor at the Commons Treasury committee on Monday, South Cambridgeshire MP Anthony Browne asked why the government had not instead cut taxes.
“Do you think it’s better to increase disposable incomes or to reduce energy bills?” he said.
“The risk of reducing energy bills obviously is you encourage people to burn more energy.”
Browne was heckled by one Labour MP on the committee who told him another impact of helping people pay for energy would be to “prevent hypothermia”.
Sunak defended his policy, which has been sharply criticised by opposition parties for not going far enough, as the best way to help.
“I think its right we have a targeted response. There’s one specific factor which is causing the bulk in the increase in people’s costs. I think having a direct response to that is sensible,” he said.
It comes after the Office for Budget Responsibility warned living standards face their biggest fall in a single year since records began in the mid-1950s.
Sunak is under pressure to do more to help struggling people coping with a spike in prices following his spring statement mini-budget last week.
The Resolution Foundation think tank has warned 1.3 million people – including 500,000 children – will be pushed into absolute poverty as soaring inflation outstrips increases in pay and benefits.