𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Kemi Badenoch has slammed Labour over rising unemployment and energy bills. The Tory leader said people are suffering because the Government is more interested in who replaces Sir Keir Starmer instead of running the country.

Her stark message comes amid warnings that energy bills will surge by £209 in July in a new cost-of-living onslaught. In a further blow, the unemployment rate has hit 5% while the number of jobs available has slumped to a five-year low. Labour has been engulfed in turmoil since its local elections drubbing, with both Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting vying to replace Sir Keir as leader.

Mrs Badenoch said the party’s “all-out civil war” means that the Government has “taken its eye off the ball”.

Writing exclusively in the Daily Express, she said: “The Prime Minister is now so obsessed with keeping his job, and the Labour Party so obsessed with who will take his job, that they don’t seem to care about the people in this country losing their jobs.

“We have also learned that the Energy Price Cap is predicted to rise by over £200 in July. I still remember Keir Starmer promising to cut our energy bills by £300.

“Another failed promise.”

Experts are predicting a massive hike in the household energy price cap in July amid the fallout of the Iran war and warned of a payment shock from the autumn as demand surges in the cooler months.

The price cap, which limits how much suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity, could rise to the equivalent of £1,850 a year for an average household, Cornwall Insight said.

This is 13% higher than the current cap, which works out at £1,641 a year from April to June.

Fears are mounting over the hit to households when the cap is reviewed in October and energy demand rises as temperatures drop, with calls growing for the Government to set out action to support the most vulnerable.

It said: “While households will be understandably frustrated by a rise during the summer, the impact will be reduced as household energy usage typically falls during the hotter months.

“The bigger concern is October, when demand picks up again, and current forecasts point to a similar cap level as July.

“While the October cap will depend on how the Middle East conflict unfolds, even if the conflict were to end tomorrow, the physical damage to infrastructure, and lingering effect of disrupted supply, means a fall back to April’s price cap levels in the autumn looks unlikely.”

Ofgem adjusts its price cap every three months and will announce the next level for July to September on May 27.

Wholesale markets have been highly volatile since the start of the Middle East conflict at the end of February.

Energy costs have been sent rocketing higher by Iran’s move to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping route, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas is carried.

Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said: “Over the past few months, we’ve watched our forecasts shift from showing virtually no quarter-on-quarter increase to a 13% rise in current bills – with this change due to the impacts of the Middle East conflict.”

He said if October’s cap remains similar to the level for July, “that is when the Government will need to think seriously about targeted support for the most vulnerable”.

Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, said: “An energy price storm is about to hit us and the Chancellor has given no assurances that pensioners will be protected.

“It is those millions just above the benefit level who will be hammered the most as they don’t qualify for existing heating support.

“Silver Voices urges Rachel Reeves yet again to raise the lower tax threshold to give immediate and meaningful support!”

Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “If bills remain high when the heating season begins, millions of households already in energy debt or struggling to keep their homes warm will face an extremely difficult winter.”

The Tony Blair Institute’s Energy Policy expert, Tone Langengen, said: “Millions of households already struggling with the cost of living are once again being forced to pay the price for an energy system that’s too exposed to global shocks and too inefficient at home.

“Britain needs wholesale energy-system reform – not sticking-plaster fixes.

“While higher bills will already be deeply worrying, a bigger concern is the prospect of another punishing end to the year when households rely more heavily on heating from the autumn.”

A government spokesperson said: “We know families will be concerned about the impact the conflict in the Middle East will have on their energy bills.

“Tackling the affordability crisis is our number one priority.

“The lesson of yet another fossil fuel crisis is the UK needs to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and on to clean homegrown power we control.”

Sir Keir came face to face with his Cabinet on Tuesday, a week after a failed attempt to oust him.

Downing Street said discussions were focused on delivery and progress but not on rising unemployment.

On Tuesday, official figures showed the jobless rate rose unexpectedly to 5% in the three months to March, up from 4.9% in the three months to February.

Vacancies dropped by 28,000 to 705,000 in the three months to April, which is the lowest level since the same period in 2021.