Here is a number that matters to every household in the country. From 1 July, the Ofgem energy price cap rises to £1,862 for a typical household, up from £1,641. That is the bill landing on doormats this summer, and it lands while Westminster congratulates itself on its climate ambitions.
Another Season, Another Hike
The cap had been £1,641 until the end of June. From July it jumps by more than £200, and the official explanation is higher global gas prices driven by conflict in the Middle East. In other words, when the world gets volatile, British families pay for it directly through the meter. We are a price-taker, exposed to every shock in a global market we do not control.
Exposed to Every Global Shock
Why are we so exposed? Because successive governments — and this one most enthusiastically of all — have decided that using our own resources is something to be ashamed of. We sit on top of oil and gas in the North Sea and choose to import instead, shipping in fuel from abroad while telling ourselves it is virtuous to leave ours in the ground. That is not an energy policy. It is unilateral economic disarmament.
Every barrel and every therm we import rather than produce is a job exported, tax revenue forgone, and a household left more vulnerable to the next foreign crisis.
An 87% Target and a Mountain of Energy Debt
And rather than reconsider, ministers are pressing harder. The Government has accepted advice to cut emissions by 87% of 1990 levels by 2042, locking in a target that will require vast spending — spending that ends up on your bill and in your taxes one way or another. Meanwhile household energy debt has climbed to record levels as families simply cannot keep up. The people setting these targets will not feel the cost. The pensioner choosing between heating and eating will.
What Reform UK Would Do
Reform UK would scrap the net zero targets that are loading hidden costs onto your bills and back British energy instead — North Sea oil and gas, and a serious look at every reliable source that lowers prices and shores up our security. We would strip the policy levies off energy bills so that what you pay reflects the cost of the energy, not the cost of someone's ideology.
Cheap, secure, home-produced energy is the foundation of a serious economy. Until we have a Government that understands that, expect the only thing going up reliably each summer to be your bill.