A majority of voters think Liz Truss’s plan to cap energy bills does not go far enough to help households, a new poll has found.
The prime minister has promised to control prices so that a typical household pays no more than £2,500 a year, with the government paying energy companies to keep tariffs down.
But a survey by YouGov published after the prime minister’s announcement on Thursday found that just 24 per cent of people believe the policy provides the right amount of help.
3 per cent of people believe the policy provides too much help – but majority, 56 per cent say it is too little.
Under the plans, bills would rise again in October from the current cap of £1,971 – having already risen from their £1,277 level at the start of the year.
The government’s policy means that households will be paying roughly double what they were in March.
The £2,500 rate would be guaranteed for two years until October 2024, and the plan is expected to cost tens of billions of pounds.
Following the announcement charities warned that the policy would not be enough to save as many as 2.2 million families from being forced into fuel poverty this winter.
This increase would deliver a “knockout blow” to many households, the anti-poverty charity Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said.
The view that the policy is insufficient is shared across all political outlooks, with more Tory voters, Labour voters and Liberal Democrats all saying the plan does not go far enough.
74 per cent of Labour voters said the plan was too little, 44 per cent of Tories, and 54 per cent of Liberal Democrats. Remainers said the plan was not enough by 65 per cent to 21 per cent and Leave voters by 49 per cent to 30 per cent.
Though they do not believe the plan is enough, 80 per cent of the public say they support the policy, with 10 per cent saying they oppose it and 10 per cent saying they don’t know.
Under alternative plans proposed by Labour and the Lib Dems, bills would be frozen at their current rate of £1,971 for a typical household.
The Greens have meanwhile said the cap should be cut back to previous levels as people are already unable to pay their bills, with energy companies taken into public ownership.
The government has also resisted opposition calls for a windfall tax to fund the policy.
Ms Truss said on Thursday in the Commons that her plan would “save a typical household £1,000 a year” and that it would come in addition to a £400 energy bills support scheme already announced.
But the new prime minister has a mountain to climb in terms of public opinion, with the latest voting intention poll by YouGov conducted before the announcement showing a 15-point lead for Labour.
The opposition is on 44 per cent, with the Conservatives on 29 per cent and Lib Dems on 10 per cent. The Greens are on 7 per cent and the SNP on 5 per cent. The poll was conducted on 6 and 7 September.
