LONDON, March 12 (Prensa Latina) The British Union Congress (TUC) today warned that low-income workers will be hit the hardest by the new energy tariffs that will come into effect in the UK from April.
According to the trade union, the 54 per cent increase in electricity and gas prices authorized by the state regulator (Ofgem) will far exceed the amount of salary increase planned for the coming months.
The TUC said in a study reported by the BBC on Saturday that the rate of energy will rise at least 14 times faster than wages this year.
The new maximum rate that will be charged to providers from 1 April means around 22 million British households will have to pay £693 ($940) a year for the service.
In total, the annual fee will rise to $2,670 during the spring and summer, but may rise further in October, when Ofgem drops prices again.
Consumer expert Martin Lewis told the Guardian that many poor families who have struggled for months to survive would simply starve or feel cold.
The Sky News chain, in turn, noted that the increase in the rate of energy, which supplier companies and Ofgem blamed on the increase in global gas prices, could also affect rural communities in the country not connected to the national grid. .
According to the TV station, which cites charities as sources, in areas that depend on bottled gas, oil, coal and wood for cooking and heating, a “tsunami of poverty” can occur.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced in February that the government would provide up to 200 pounds (about $260) in loans to the British to help them deal with the new tariff, but economists are asking him to be more generous when making an adjustment. Next budget March 23.
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