Inside Politics: Astronomical

Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

Why does all the bad news seem to land just before the weekend? Ofgem has confirmed the energy price cap has risen to £3,549 – higher than previously forecast. Try to enjoy the bank holiday – just don’t turn on any lights and don’t even think about firing up the barbeque.

Parliament is not sitting.

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis on ITV Good Morning Britain at 8.10am.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.40am.

Ofgem has within the past hour confirmed that the energy price cap for the average household will rise to £3,549 per year from 1 October – a record rise of 80 per cent on the current limit of £1,971, which has been in place since April.

The huge hike, caused by surging wholesale gas prices amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, is another major blow to millions of families across the country who are already struggling to cover their gas and electricity costs. The bad news is that the cap is set to go up again in January – when another sharp increase is expected, with some analysts predicting a rise to more than £5,000.

Jonathan Brearley, the chief executive of Ofgem, said he knew the increase in the energy price cap would come as “devastating” news for struggling households as he called on the government and the next prime minister to take urgent action. “We have done and looked at everything we can do as a regulator to address this figure. There are a number of things we do to make sure that companies treat their vulnerable customers well. There are a number of vulnerability schemes that we run.

“But the truth is this is beyond the capacity of the regulator and the industry to address. So what we are saying today is, look we have 10 days now until we have a new administration, have a new prime minister and a new ministerial team. What I am clear about is the prime minister with his or her ministerial team will need to act urgently and decisively to address this.”

The cost of living crisis – and the potential responses to it – dominate most of this morning’s papers and news websites with Liz Truss, the favourite to win the Tory leadership and therefore replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, featuring heavily on the front pages.

The foreign secretary has explicitly stated she will offer “immediate help” to those who are worst off. In interventions in the Daily Mail and The Times, Truss says she is working on plans to provide billions of pounds in targeted support to pensioners and the poorest households. She adds that she may adopt rival Rishi Sunak’s plans to suspend VAT on energy bills. What happened to no “handouts”?

Truss and her presumed chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, have already held meetings to devise the plan, according to The Times. The current chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, meanwhile has this morning put out a statement saying that he has been working “flat out” to ensure that there are options available for whoever enters No 10 to “hit the ground running”.

The fallout from the energy price cap, which is significantly more than previously forecast, will dominate the agenda throughout the day and into the weekend. Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, is already out on the broadcast round giving both barrels to the government, warning that lives will be lost without further intervention.

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During last night’s penultimate Tory leadership hustings, Truss managed to find time to p*ss off the French. She reserved judgement when asked by host Julia Hartley-Brewer whether Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is a “friend or foe”.

“The jury’s out,” was the foreign secretary’s reply. It’s a good job she’s not in charge of diplomatic relations with the UK’s allies on the continent and elsewhere. Not to mention the old military alliance with our neighbours across the Channel. The Tory faithful loved the jibe though, so who cares?

Truss looks set to p*ss off just about everybody else in Europe too, as she considers plans to trigger “Article 16” proceedings against the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol within days of entering Downing Street if she succeeds Boris Johnson as prime minister next month, according to the Financial Times.

See all of The Independent’s daily cartoons here.

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Truss when asked if French president Emmanuel Macron is a friend or foe.

“The jury’s out. But if I become prime minister, I would judge him on deeds, not words.”

i chief politics commentator Paul Waugh on how the French might respond.

“I imagine the French response will be something like: ‘Yes we know she was playing to the Tory gallery on issues like Channel migrants and the Northern Ireland protocol, and she didn’t mean to help Putin in his desired fracturing of Western resolve on Ukraine. But…’”

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