The problem with freezing energy prices is the same as with Liz Truss’s tax cuts

Freezes, floated by Labour and Scottish Power’s CEO, would target the most support at wealthy high energy households, just like Truss’s unfunded tax cut proposals, argues James Moore

Energy bills are set to increase significantly (Getty/iStock)

Want to know the main problem with all the energy crisis proposals currently doing the rounds? They’re back to front.

The surge in bills is hitting the poorest hardest but with the talk of a £3,500 cap coming later this week, and something like £5,000-plus on the way, the crisis is going to hit middle-income households hard too.

The probelm is that most of the proposals to address this deliver the most benefits to the rich, who are least in need of help. Liz Truss’s plan to reverse the recent rise in national insurance contributions has taken the most heat for this, and for obvious reasons. The Resolution Foundation says it would benefit the richest fifth of households twice as much in cash terms as the entire poorest half of households. It rather defines what’s becoming known as “Trussonomics”: help for the well-off at the expense of the poor, the public services and Britain’s public finances.