Boris Johnson has admitted that the financial support offered by his government is not enough to “help cover everybody” through the cost of living crisis in the months ahead.
The prime minister again rejected the idea of a windfall tax on the oil and gas giants despite BP recorded record £5bn profits – insisting that fossil firms “have to invest”.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Mr Johnson pointed to the £200 “rebate” loan set out by the chancellor Rishi Sunak ealier this year to help with soaring gas and electricity bills.
“I accept that those contributions from the taxpayer – because that’s what it is, taxpayers’ money – isn’t going to be enough immediately to help cover everybody,” the PM told host Susanna Reid.
Mr Johnson added: “So of course that isn’t going to work enough in the short term.”
Grilled by the host about the lack of help for hard-pressed families hit by inflation, Mr Johnson largely blamed the Ukraine war for the impact on food and fuel costs – citing the “crazy” price of chickens.
“We’re doing everything we can to help with pressure on family budgets. I totally understand and get that what people are going through,” he said.
He added: “It is important to set the global context, this is a spike in energy prices. The cost of chickens is crazy …. That has been greatly exacerbated by what’s going on in Ukraine.”
Mr Johnson took credit for introducing free bus passes for pensioners after being told some desperate elderly people are using them simply to keep warm.
In response to the case of 77-year-old viewer called Elsie – who has cut down to a meal a day and travels on buses all day to reduce her bills – the PM told GMB: “I don’t want Elsie to cut back on anything.”
He added: “The 24-hour freedom bus pass was actually something that I actually introduced.”
The PM did concede that “there is more that we can do”, and suggested that the government was looking at providing support to families who need to use high levels of energy due to their medical needs.
Asked why welfare benefits would not rise in line with inflation, Mr Johnson said the government had to be “prudent” and wary of driving up inflation even further – having hit a 30-year-high of 7 per cent in March.
“Although you’re quite right to point out that there is an inflationary risk and it’s very severe, it could get worse and that knocks on to interest rates, and that knocks on to the cost of borrowing for everybody,” he said. “I’m sorry to say this, but we have to be prudent in our approach.”
BP announced on Tuesday that its underlying replacement cost profits more than doubled from £5bn from £2.1bn a year ago thanks to the rocketing cost of crude.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said BP’s profits demonstrate that a windfall tax is the “right approach”, telling BBC Breakfast: “Have a windfall tax on that and use that to help people with their energy bills, up to £600 for those who need it most.”
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “The Conservative government’s refusal to introduce a windfall tax on the super profits of oil companies is becoming impossible to justify.”
