Susanna Reid confronted Boris Johnson about the cost-of-living crisis today – and he boasted of giving free bus passes to pensioners.
The Prime Minister faced an uncomfortable grilling as he appeared on Good Morning Britain for the first time in five years, following the departure of Piers Morgan.
But if he thought he would get an easier ride from Ms Reid, he was mistaken as he was questioned about the cost-of-living crisis facing Britons, including soaring bills, as well as the Partygate crisis.
It came as a new poll suggested the Tories are set to lose nearly 550 seats in Thursday’s local elections.
Presenter Reid raised the plight of Elsie, whose energy costs in her council flat have risen from £17 to £85 a month.
In an opulent room in 10 Downing Street, Ms Reid told the PM how Elsie leaves home early ‘to use her freedom bus pass to stay on buses all day to avoid using energy at home?’
Asked what else Elsie should cut back on, he said: ‘I don’t want Elsie to cut back on anything, let’s talk about Elsie and what we are doing and – just to remind you that the 24-hour freedom bus pass was something that I actually introduced.’
‘So Elsie should be grateful to you for her bus pass? What else should she cut back on?’ Ms Reid replied.
Mr Johnson went on: ‘There are plenty of things more that we are doing. What we want to do is make sure we have people who are in particular hardship looked after by their councils, we are putting much more money into local councils. We have the particular payments to help elderly people in particular with the cost of heating.’
In a difficult morning for the leaders of the two main political parties, Keir Starmer was forced yet again to defend his behaviour amid questions over ‘Beergate’.
In interviews this morning, Sir Keir denied there was any ‘equivalence’ between the ‘work event’ during a visit to Durham last year and the lockdown breaches in Downing Street.
He accused the Tories of ‘mudslinging’ ahead of local elections, before raising eyebrows by repeatedly dodging over whether police had been in touch about the incident. Labour later clarified police have not contacted the party.
Responding to Mr Johnson’s interview, shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: ‘It is utterly shameful that pensioners have no choice but to sit on the bus all day to avoid racking up heating bills at home, or are left shivering in blankets and only eating one meal a day.
‘For Boris Johnson to respond by boasting about the London bus pass reveals just how out of touch this narcissistic Prime Minister is.
‘The simple truth is Boris Johnson has just imposed the biggest real terms cut to the pension in 50 years and charities like Age UK are warning this will be a year of hell for Britain’s retirees.’
The PM insisted the Government is doing ‘everything we can’ to help with the cost-of-living crisis, but warned that increasing state support beyond its current levels could drive inflation even higher.
There is a ‘global context’ caused by a surge in energy prices which is hitting all aspects of the economy including food, he said, adding: ‘The cost of chickens is crazy.’
On energy, Mr Johnson said: ‘This country is in the insane position of having to take in, pipe in, electricity from France and elsewhere because we haven’t done enough to invest in our own security of energy and electricity.’
The PM also distanced himself from remarks by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week in which he suggested the Government could ‘look again’ at a windfall tax on energy firms.
Both Labour and the Lib Dems are pushing for a one-off levy on massive profits made by firms at the same time families struggle with their costs.
Mr Johnson warned that a windfall tax on energy companies would deter investment, and set out why taxpayer support for households has to be managed to avoid fuelling inflation.
‘If you put a windfall tax on the energy companies, what that means is that you discourage them from making the investments that we want to see that will, in the end, keep energy price prices lower for everybody,’ he said.
Challenged about benefits failing to keep pace with rising inflation, he said: ‘We have a short-term hit caused by the spike in energy prices across the world.
‘If we respond by driving up prices and costs across the board in this country, responding by the Government stepping in and driving up inflation, that will hit everybody.
‘And that will mean that people’s interest rates on their mortgages go up, the cost of borrowing goes up, and we face an even worse problem.’
The Government has set out a £9 billion package of loans to cut energy bills and council tax rebates, but Mr Johnson faces calls to go further.
On ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the Prime Minister said: ‘I accept that those contributions from the taxpayer – because that’s what it is, taxpayers’ money – isn’t going to be enough immediately to cover everybody’s costs.’
Put to him that that means the Government is not doing everything it can, Mr Johnson admitted: ‘There is more that we can do.
‘But the crucial thing is to make sure we deal with the prices over the medium and long term.’
BP today notched up its highest quarterly underlying profits for more than a decade thanks to rocketing oil and gas prices as calls mount for a windfall tax on the sector.
The oil giant saw underlying replacement cost profits – its preferred measure – more than double to 6.2 billion US dollars (£5 billion) for the first three months of the year from 2.6 billion US dollars (£2.1 billion) a year ago.
But on a statutory basis, BP swung to a 23 billion US dollar (£18.4 billion) loss after taking a mammoth 25.5 billion US dollar (£20.4 billion) hit from its move to ditch its near-20 per cent stake in Russian oil producer Rosneft in response to the Ukraine war.
The underlying result was far better than the 4.5 billion US dollars (£3.6 billion) expected by analysts and is likely to further fuel demands for a windfall tax.
In response, BP unveiled plans alongside its quarterly figures to invest up to £18 billion into the UK energy system by 2030.
It pledged to invest in North Sea oil and gas, while driving down operational emissions, and said it is also working on a range of lower carbon energy projects in the UK, which are set to create jobs and develop new skills.
In a further sign that it is seeking to head off criticism, BP also stressed it expects to pay up to £1 billion in taxes for its 2022 North Sea profits, on top of around £250 million paid annually in other UK taxes.
Chief executive Bernard Looney insisted the group is ‘backing Britain’.
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said BP’s profits demonstrate that a windfall tax is the ‘right approach’.
He told BBC Breakfast: ‘I think those figures reinforce the case that we’ve been making, which is that, with so many people struggling to pay their energy bills, we should have a windfall tax on oil and gas companies in the North Sea who have made more profit than they were expecting.
‘Have a windfall tax on that and use that to help people with their energy bills, up to £600 for those who need it most.’
He said his party would tailor help ‘to those who would need it most’.