More than eight in 10 Tory voters fear soaring energy bills in the New Year after a promise of a two-year freeze was ditched, in a worrying poll for the government.
The survey, for End Fuel Poverty Coalition, also found that 41 per cent of Conservative voters fear they will struggle to pay their bills this winter – despite the significant help on offer.
More than 60 charities have joined forces to write to Rishi Sunak demanding more support for the 7 million households already living in fuel poverty.
Their letter calls for benefits to be uprated in line with inflation – after the prime minister raised alarm by again refusing to give that commitment when quizzed in the Commons.
Liz Truss announced a freeze on energy bills through to the likely date of a general election in 2024, but the promise was abandoned after her disaster mini-budget crashed the economy.
Jeremy Hunt, the new chancellor, said help would be targeted to those in greatest need, with across-the-board support, to hold down bills to an average of £2,500, until April next year only.
It leaves many households facing a hike to more than £4,000 in just six months’ time, despite the recent fall in worldwide wholesale gas prices.
Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, one of the signatories to the letter, said too many renters are already “unable to afford to heat their homes”.
“We urgently need the government to commit to uprating benefits with inflation and guaranteeing energy bills support beyond April,” he said.
This should be accompanied by “a national insulation programme, to reduce unaffordable bills in both the short and long term,” he said.
Tessa Khan, director of the campaign group Uplift, said: “While our politicians have spent months fighting among themselves, the public has been watching this crisis bearing down on us. It now demands urgent government action.”
And Richard Quallington, executive director of Action with Communities in Rural England, said: “It’s not just deprived urban areas where people will be struggling to heat their homes this winter.
“Many rural parts of the country are also seeing large numbers of people running into difficulties.”
The research, by Omnisis, shows Conservative voters are just as fearful as other members of the public about their bills next April – with 83 per cent very or quite worried.
Some 76 per cent of the population says the government is not doing enough to support vulnerable households this winter, including 60 per cent of Tory voters.
People in the South West (68 per cent), Wales (64 per cent), the East Midlands and the North East (both 63 per cent) are the areas where the most people are fighting to make ends meet, the poll found.
