Energy regulator Ofgem has announced a 13% rise to the energy price cap. Since then, politicians like Richard Burgon have spoken out, with the latest dissenting voice coming from Green Party MP Hannah Spencer:
On July 1st, energy bills are set to rise by an average of £221 per household.
With millions already struggling while corporations profit from rip-off Britain, Hannah Spencer MP has written to the Chancellor calling for urgent action. pic.twitter.com/NA5Pg8728m
— The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) May 28, 2026
Energy price cap not fit for purpose
Hannah Spencer is the Manchester MP who won the Gorton & Denton by-election. In her victory speech, Spencer said:
I am no different to every single person here in this constituency. I work hard. That is what we do. Except things have changed a lot over the last few decades.
Because working hard used to get you something. It got you a house, a nice life, holidays. It got you somewhere. But now, working hard, what does that get you? Because talk to anyone here and they will tell you – the people who work hard but can’t put food on the table, can’t get their kids school uniforms, can’t put their heating on, can’t live off the pension they worked hard to save for, can’t even begin to dream about ever having a holiday.
Ever.
Because life has changed.
“Rip-off Britain”
In her letter to the chancellor Rachel Reeves, Spencer wrote:
I am writing to you to raise concerns at yesterday’s announcement that the Ofgem energy price cap – the mechanism by which the average household’s fuel bill is calculated – is increasing by around £221 to an average of £1,862 from the 1st July. In the three months I’ve been an MP, so many constituents have reached out to me to express their worry about unaffordable and rapidly increasing energy bills.
Our energy market is a hugely unfair and obvious example of rip-off Britain at its worst. Fossil fuel giants line their pockets while working people have to swallow the impact of wars of aggression overseas. Analysis from Greenpeace UK showed that just five companies drilling oil and gas in the North Sea received a staggering £73 billion boost to the value of their shares in the first month following Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s initial strikes on Iran. £73 billion pounds.
Shell actually experienced a profit surge of 115% in the first quarter this year. It seems that every crisis now results in pain for consumers but profit for shareholders, with another key example being the British supermarkets.
Spencer continued:
I urge you to intervene to stop the bills of millions of households across the country from increasing in just over a months time. The constituents I represent in Gorton and Denton are already struggling to make ends meet, with one in three households living in fuel poverty. Taking an even bigger chunk of their already insufficient hard-earned wages risks pushing many in my constituency and across the country into dire circumstances.
There is a clear and fast way to fund this intervention, and there are also long-term solutions. Your government must be bold in the face of this urgency, and tax every penny of the profits fossil fuel giants have extracted from the crisis in the Gulf. This is the morally right thing to do, and to so many people will seem common sense – why should these companies be profiteering while they struggle to make ends meet?
Why indeed?
Renewable revolution
Spencer went on to say:
To protect people from future price rises, which are likely to happen more often as climate change and global instability get worse, we need to invest much more in renewable energy. Renewables are clean, cheap, sustainable, and, crucially, not reliable on unstable international markets. And if we want to cut energy bills for good, we really need a properly funded and properly regulated national home insulation scheme.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski also spoke out about insulation this week:
We could have seen a nationwide programme of home insulation, going door to door, making sure every home can keep in the heat, so no-one would risk getting sick or dying because they can’t afford heating in the winter.
Why is this Government running from crisis to crisis? https://t.co/YqJSz4Kiqj
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) May 27, 2026
Insulation keeps homes cooler too!
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) May 27, 2026
Spencer finished:
Will you consider this with urgency, and if you are unwilling to stop bills rising in July, would you please answer this question for my constituents: why do you refuse to take the side of people who are struggling, and continue to defend the interests of corporate shareholders?
Destabilisation
We live in a moment in which companies are increasingly taking the piss despite growing public awareness. Clearly, this cannot go on forever. The question is whether Labour ministers understand that not fixing the problem will doom them to the rubbish bin of history.
Featured image via Ryan Jenkinson (Getty Images) / Jack Taylor (Getty Images)
By Willem Moore
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