Labour’s £29bn plan would not cover the cost of freezing bills

26 Aug 2022 | Full Fact's weekly news
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UPDATE
Labour’s £29 billion plan would not fully cover the cost of freezing energy bills

“Labour’s fully-funded plan would fix the [energy bill] problems immediately and for the future.” —Keir Starmer

Last week we pointed out issues with Labour’s "fully-funded" energy proposals.

Since then, we’ve found the £29 billion plan would not completely protect people from rising energy prices, because it does not take account of most customers’ higher gas and electricity consumption during the winter.

If the plan were implemented, consumers, energy companies, or the government would have to pay around £8 billion more than Labour’s proposals allow for.

That’s according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which analysed the figures after discussion with Full Fact.

Gap in Labour’s calculations ([link removed])
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.

When politicians fall short, we can demand better. Politicians must own up to their mistakes if they're serious about earning voters' trust.

Will Moy—Chief Executive
Full Fact
FACT CHECK
Snoring doesn’t mean you’re eligible for £156 benefits a week ([link removed])

Chances are you’ve come across this claim this week, as it has been widely reported and shared online. But it’s misleading.

You would only be entitled to benefits if snoring was a symptom of an underlying condition such as sleep apnoea, and even then only if it severely affected your ability to do daily tasks and your mobility.

The claim appears to have been first published by Kent Live on 11 August. Since then it has been republished by many of the paper’s sister publications owned by publisher Reach plc, including the Mirror and the Express.

Our fact check ([link removed])
FACT CHECK
The EU has not set lower gas price cap than the UK ([link removed])

A claim repeated by a number of Facebook and Twitter accounts states that the European Union has set a lower price cap on gas than the UK.

The post states: "The EU price cap on gas is 43.99 Euros per mega watt hour [MWh]. The UK is £263.79 per mega watt hour."

This is not true. The EU has not set a price cap for its members, and the UK’s price cap on gas for domestic consumers is well below £263.99.

It’s not entirely clear what the figures mentioned in this post are based on.

It is true that energy bills for UK households have risen faster than in many EU countries, however, this is not because the EU has established a lower price cap on energy than the UK.

Instead, experts say that a combination of factors are responsible for the difference in prices, some of which is explained by the way energy supply works in the UK compared to in Europe, but also due to the different approaches by governments when it comes to protecting consumers from price rises.

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