Politics

PM declines to say if he’ll give energy bill rebate to charity like Sunak

Boris Johnson declined to say what he would do with an energy bill rebate after Rishi Sunak confirmed he would be donating his £400 to charity.

Mr Sunak unveiled a further £21 billion of support for households on Thursday after a surge in energy bills and increasing shop prices led to demands for the UK Government to step in and help people.

As part of the emergency cost-of-living package, the Chancellor announced each household will get the £400 energy discount that will be partly funded by a £5 billion windfall tax on oil and gas giants.

Mr Sunak, who last week appeared on The Sunday Times Rich List with his wife Akshata Murty for the first time with their joint £730 million fortune, was questioned about what would happen to his £400 grant.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I’m sure you will join me in giving that money to charity.”

But when questioned if he would be following suit and donating his grant money, the Prime Minister said it works differently for him.

He told reporters during a visit to Stockton-on-Tees: “I think my arrangements are different because I live in a Government flat.

“But I think it’s important that people should recognise these payments will not necessarily cover the increased costs fully.

“We can’t cover every single cost that people are going to pay, we’ve got to be realistic about that.

“However, they will go a long way towards helping people.”

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Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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