Concerns over Labour's plan to freeze energy bills for six months

Labour’s plan to freeze energy bills has an £8billion ‘black hole’, analysts say

  • Labour is proposing a six-month freeze in energy bills to ease cost-of-living  
  • Keir Starmer said his plan ‘wouldn’t let people pay a penny more’ on fuel bills
  • But experts question the claim that the £29billion scheme was ‘fully funded’ 

Labour’s plans for an energy price freeze were in question last night after independent analysts identified an £8billion black hole in its calculations.

Keir Starmer is proposing a six-month freeze in energy bills to ease the cost of living, saying the plan ‘wouldn’t let people pay a penny more on their fuel bills this winter’.

Experts had already questioned Labour’s claim that the £29billion scheme was ‘fully funded’. And the charity Full Fact last night said the party appeared to have based its calculations on funding only half the cost of freezing bills for a year.

It estimated that Labour would have to find an extra £340 a household – equal to £5billion for direct debit customers alone. The group pointed to separate figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggesting the shortfall could be as much as £8billion.

Will Moy, chief executive of Full Fact, urged Labour to ‘own up’ to the mistake, adding: ‘Labour’s plan set out to tackle a serious problem, but the party’s “fully funded” proposals do not add up in a way that would cover bills this winter.’

Labour sources insisted their plan was based on consultation with regulator Ofgem. Sir Keir said the proposal was ‘a simple matter of common sense and fairness’.

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