How the labour movement reacted to the energy price cap announcement

Ofgem announced this morning that the energy price cap will rise by 80% to £3,549 in October, bringing the cap to almost triple what it was at the same time last year. The regulator said today that it would not make predictions for the next price cap change, due to take place in January 2023, because the market is “too volatile” – the body warned, however, that prices “could get significantly worse through 2023”.

Reacting to the announcement this morning, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves warned that the Conservatives “now face an urgent choice” to “carry on letting oil and gas companies make huge profits” or to “act now and stop the energy price cap rising”. Here is what the rest of the labour movement had to say…

Trade unions

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady declared: “Nobody should have to worry about heating their homes this winter. But millions are facing bankrupting bills in the months ahead. Today’s energy price rise will be hammer blow to family budgets and tip many households into fuel poverty.

“Ministers must immediately cancel this catastrophic increase. This is the worst possible time for the government to go missing in action. And to make sure energy remains affordable to everyone, they should bring the energy retail companies into public ownership.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham argued: “We know now that rampant corporate profiteering is at the very heart of our soaring energy bills and Ofgem’s soaring price cap. Until this corporate looting of our energy networks is confronted, the fuel crisis will become more and more perilous for workers and their families.”

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said the price cap rise was “beyond a disaster for struggling households”. The union leader added: “After months of inertia, ministers must wake up to the seriousness of the situation. The government must start by freezing energy bills right now to stop more families from being driven needlessly into poverty.”

GMB national secretary Andy Prendergast declared: “Successive governments have been asleep at the wheel for years over the UK’s energy strategy. This latest price hike demonstrates the precarious position we’re in. GMB members, many of whom risked their own lives throughout the pandemic, deserve better than being plunged into destitution as they are forced to choose between eating and heating.”

Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis argued: “Too many low-paid essential workers, who kept the country going during the pandemic, are now struggling to pay their energy bills. Today’s announcement means that in October energy prices will have trebled this year, taking average direct debit bills from £1,277 to £3,549. This is simply unaffordable for most households and is forecast to get much worse.”

Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy wrote in a blog post: “In the coming months, Prospect will be fighting alongside our fellow unions to put help for working people at the top of the new government’s agenda. Let members be reassured, and ministers be warned: we stand willing and able to use every industrial and legal route to protect and defend our members.”

Community research and policy officer Anna Mowbray declared that “infighting” between Tory leadership hopefuls Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss will do “nothing” to help self-employed people. She added: “These people will now be looking at their bill in dread, not knowing how they will make it through this autumn and winter.”

Labour Party

Labour leader Keir Starmer said in a video message: “In the end, politics is about choices, and this government is choosing to protect the profits of oil and gas companies, unexpected profits of oil and gas companies, rather than sticking up for and helping hard-working families and struggling business.

“I hope that, just as we did earlier this year, we can force them into a U-turn. Because, under my leadership, Labour is on the side of working people. And, under my leadership, we can have a fresh start for Britain.”

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner tweeted: “The energy bills crisis threatens a catastrophe. But the Tories are hiding from the cameras, not taking action. No ifs or buts. We need an energy price freeze now. Labour would do it right away. Time for an emergency budget.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “This eye-watering price hike risks plunging millions of people into fuel poverty. This is a national emergency and our governments have a moral duty to act.”

Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband tweeted: “Energy bills of £3,500+ will devastate households across the country. Labour would stop people paying a penny more this winter with a windfall tax on record oil [and] gas company profits. But the Tories offer only a callous silence. It’s time for change.”

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said in a tweet the increase in energy prices would be “catastrophic”, adding: “For months we’ve been raising the alarm over what these coming energy prices mean for families. We need ministers to take action now to freeze energy bills as [Keir Starmer] has outlined.”

Shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead tweeted: “The suggestion that £400 is enough to help households deal with the spectacular energy price rises we are seeing is a total insult. Why should oil and gas companies be making record profits while ordinary people suffer? We need far bigger ideas from [government], and we need them fast.”

John McDonnell said: “The scale of cost-of-living crisis has been confirmed by Ofgem this am, yet we have a Prime Minister effectively gone missing, a parliament not sitting [and] the leading contender for PM away with the fairies. This isn’t just an economic crisis, it’s an unprecedented political crisis.”

Labour MP Ian Byrne tweeted: “It’s not a price cap. It’s unfettered greed from a regulatory body bankrupt of social responsibility but acting wholly in the interests of a broken energy model. Our communities will be driven into poverty keeping warm in the winter. We need public ownership now.”

Fellow backbencher Dan Carden said in a tweet: “The people I represent are terrified that they will not be able to heat their homes this winter. This is a national emergency. The government must cancel the hike and freeze bills now.”

Welsh Labour MP Beth Winter tweeted: “The new energy price cap is simply unaffordable and cannot be allowed to go ahead. The new PM must urgently stop the price rise, as Labour would. And it is clear the private energy ownership, pricing and profits model is broken and must end.”

Zarah Sultana said: “Energy bills rocketing to £3,549 in October is a catastrophe. Millions more will be pushed into poverty. Vulnerable people will freeze to death. Enough is enough: Cancel the price hike, slash bills and bring energy into public ownership. Let’s put our need before their greed.”

Charities, think tanks, campaign groups

Institute for Public Policy Research associate director for energy and climate Luke Murphy said: “The government must act urgently to provide emergency support this winter, by freezing energy prices or providing significant support to households through direct payments, with additional targeted support for those on the lowest incomes.

“Meanwhile, we need urgent reform of the energy market and a drive to reduce our addiction to expensive climate-destroying gas to heat our homes. That means a big expansion in clean energy and a national home upgrade and insulation programme to make all our homes warmer and our energy bills cheaper.”

Principal policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Katie Schmuecker argued that it is “simply unthinkable” that the price rise can go ahead “without further government intervention on a significant scale”.

She added: “It is the job of government to decide how the burden is fairly shared between families, businesses and the public finances. Whoever occupies number 10 next will be remembered for who they protect – they must make sure energy doesn’t become a luxury only the wealthy can afford.”

Director of Common Wealth Matthew Lawrence told LabourList that the announcement today is “dire news” and “proof that our energy system is divorced from the interests of the public”. He added: “30 years of regulation of our privatised energy sector have been a clear failure.

“Labour are right to call for a freeze in energy bills, which can protect households this winter. But we need to go further. Instead of subsidising companies run by private shareholders we need public ownership, so that we can reshape our energy system around public needs.”

Resolution Foundation chief executive Torsten Bell tweeted: “We’ve crunched the numbers on what the new energy price cap in October… and new projections for it to rise to £5,386 in January mean for households overall this winter. It’s a total catastrophe.

He added: “Unless something much more radical than currently proposed is done, typical energy users will need to find £500 a month this winter – triple what they had to last year. This will be much higher for many.”

Co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition Simon Francis declared that the announcement was like a  “dagger to the hearts of millions of people up and down the country”.

He added: “Parents will be unable to feed their children, the sick and elderly will be condemned to worsening health, disabled people will go without vital medical equipment and households will be forced into poverty for the first time in generations.”

The Enough is Enough campaign tweeted: “It’s just been confirmed: energy bills will rise to £3,549 in October. This will be the biggest attack on living standards in decades. We’re declaring a National Day of Action on October 1st with protests across Britain.”

Citizens Advice head of policy Morgan Wild told Times Radio: “This is an absolutely unthinkable rise. Bills are currently £2000 a year, and at that rate, we are already helping one person access crisis support every two minutes at Citizens Advice. That’s things like referrals to food banks, fuel vouchers, other forms of charitable help.”

“Thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of households are going to be thrown into the red by this sum, and that’s why it’s incredibly important that the government acts and acts decisively to make sure that people who are on the lowest incomes get the support they need this winter,” Wild added.