UK energy support scheme to go ahead as planned – PM’s spokesman

Britain will go ahead with plans to introduce an energy price guarantee from Oct. 1, Prime Minister Liz Truss’s spokesman said on Friday, despite the period of national mourning triggered by the death of Queen Elizabeth.

Truss on Thursday capped soaring consumer energy bills for two years to cushion the economic shock of war in Ukraine with measures likely to cost the country upwards of 100 billion pounds ($115 billion), giving little detail on how it would be paid for.

Hours later, Queen Elizabeth II died. Parliament’s usual sitting patterns and government business will be disrupted by the period of mourning that follows until her state funeral.

“The public should be reassured that the energy price guarantee will be in place for households from the first of October as planned,” the spokesman told reporters.

He said that the initial implementation of the guarantee was through private contracts with suppliers, rather than through legislation.

“This mourning period doesn’t impact that introduction,” he said.

“We’re working urgently now on the wider aspects of the policy to ensure it can be delivered. As it stands, we do not believe that the mourning period would impact on the delivery of the policy, nor do we think it requires any sort of legislative moment during the mourning period.”

The government will work with the speaker of the House of Commons to introduce any legislation needed once the mourning period has finished, the spokesman added.