HELP FOR THE POOREST

Reeves pledges 'fair' energy support, not a repeat of Truss disaster

- DAVE BURKE, SOPHIE HUSKISSON and ALEXANDER BROWN

RACHEL Reeves is vowing to help those hardest hit by the chaos Donald Trump's Iran war has unleashed on the oil markets.

The Chancellor yesterday promised she would do what was right and fair to prevent struggling households being clobbered by soaring energy prices.

But she ruled out a universal bailout scheme, slamming disastrous former Tory PM Liz Truss's 2022 energy price guarantee.

Under that, the top 10 per cent of households by income received an average £1350 of support.

Reeves said taxpayers are still forking out for Truss's bad decisions.

She added: "We must learn the mistakes of the past. The previous government pushed up borrowing, interest rates, inflation and mortgage costs with an unfunded, untargeted package of support under Liz Truss that gave the support to the wealthiest of households between 2022 and 2024. That left us with high levels of national debt. A cheque written then for a bill that is still being paid today."