Tory leadership paying scant heed to imminent energy crisis

British consumers learned on Friday that their average energy bill is about to rise by 80 per cent, from £1,971 a year to £3,549, a sum that could drive half of the country’s households into energy poverty.

Money saving expert Martin Lewis described the price increase as a catastrophe, predicting that lives will be lost unless the government intervenes.

“The mental health damage to people across the country alone is catastrophic. This is not good government. It’s not good politics either. I’m just shocked that they haven’t thought we need to have something in place to give people peace of mind,” he told the BBC.

“If you were to see my social media inbox, the panic, the dismay, the depression – people simply say: how will I afford to eat and feed myself?”

Unregulated student digs: A home away from home or an isolating experience?

---

Rise in school absenteeism: ‘Some stay up too late on their phones until 3 or 4am’

---

Sarah Moss: As a bike-riding vegetarian feminist I can see why people might disagree with everything I think

---

How to make the most of the Leaving Cert run-in: Study tips, social media and taking breaks

---

If British citizens were looking to their government for reassurance on Friday morning, they would have been disappointed.

No minister was made available for media interviews, leaving Boris Johnson and his interim chancellor of the exchequer to make recorded statements promising that help would be on the way after a new prime minister is installed in Downing Street on September 6th.

This was more activity than we have seen from Johnson during most of his final weeks in office, which have seen him take back-to-back holidays abroad before retreating to Chequers.

His most likely successor, Liz Truss, has been campaigning all over the country and has had much to say on many subjects but remained vague on Friday about how she plans to address the energy price crisis.

“As prime minister, Liz would ensure people get the support needed to get through these tough times. She will immediately take action to put more money back in people’s pockets by cutting taxes and suspending green energy tariffs,” her campaign said.

Nobody believes that cutting taxes will touch the sides of the problem and Ms Truss will be under pressure to offer direct help to consumers if she becomes prime minister.

For now, however, she is focusing on the electorate in front of her, around 160,000 Conservative party members, whose interests and prejudices are not fully aligned with those of the country.

So, instead of talking about the cost of living, Truss has been winning cheers from the party faithful by saying the jury is out about whether Emmanuel Macron is a friend or a foe. And her aides have been floating the idea that she could trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol within days of taking office.

Her pandering has paid off, putting her far ahead of Rishi Sunak in polls of party members and if it stores up problems for the future, that is a price Truss appears content to pay.