Energy bills set to hit £4,000 a year after Liz Truss’s ‘broken promise’ on help

Struggling families will be ‘aghast’, say campaigners after U-turn on two-year support pledge

Britons face their annual household energy bills rocketing to £4,000 from April after Liz Truss U-turned on her promise of two years of government support, experts have warned.

New chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced on Monday that the government could only guarantee its cap on the unit price of energy – designed to keep average bills at no more than £2,500 – for another six months.

Opposition parties, fuel poverty campaigners and union leaders said Ms Truss’s promise to protect families for two years “lies in tatters” – warning of a frightening “cliff edge” ahead in spring.