scientists are trying to identify why thousands of fish have died in a river between poland and germany. and liverpool hit nine past bournemouth to equal a record in the premier league. good afternoon. the chancellor nadhim zahawi has said the country is in a national economic emergency which could last for two years, leaving even middle income earners in need of support. his comments come as another minister defended the deferral of an announcement on further government help with energy bills until a new prime minister is in place. yesterday, the regulator ofgem announced an 80% rise in the energy price cap from october, taking the average annual household bill to more than £3,500. here s marc ashdown. help is coming. that s the message from the chancellor on rocketing energy bills, but when, how and who will receive it remains difficult to tell. in an interview with the daily telegraph, nadhim zahawi warns high bills could be here to stay for the next two years, and sa
price cap freeze at the current price cap freeze at the current price cap level. this is to make sure people do not face these astronomical costs coming in october. making sure that 4 million 0ctober. making sure that 4 million homes will not end up paying a third of their energy bills. a third of their income on energy bills which is clearly totally unsustainable. but it s worth saying as well that people are already struggling under the current price cap compared to last october. if you compare then to now, bills will be going up byjust under £2300. they have already gone up under £2300. they have already gone up by about £700. people are already struggling and it needs to be a combination of universal support and the price cap. but also more targeted support in future as well to make sure. i targeted support in future as well to make sure. to make sure. i want to talk to ou in a to make sure. i want to talk to you in a second to make sure. i want to talk to you in a second abo
well in advance of this date. but unfortunately that s not happened. and people are getting worried and stressed about their own set of circumstances, aren t they? joshua emden is from the centre left think tank, the institute for public policy research. he gave me his thoughts on what support should be offered. i think the government understands that there is a crisis, but at the moment, its response is in no way proportional to the scale of the crisis, and what we ve been looking at is proposing, instead of the support that is being discussed in loose terms at the moment, we ve been proposing a price cap freeze at the current price cap level to make sure that people do not face these astronomic costs that are coming in october. it would make sure that 4 million homes, for example, don t end up paying a third of their income on energy bills, which clearly is totally unsustainable. but it s worth saying as well that people are already struggling under the current price cap. compared to
or saying those things in the media, would you have expected to have heard a plan before now, even though clearly the new prime minister were a few days still away from that new prime minister being appointed, would you have expected the government to have set out a plan already given the scale of the crisis? yeah, i think it should have been done months ago. i mean, this has been in the media for months and months on end, doesn t it? and we were expecting the price increase and then obviously the next price increase again injanuary. so plans needed to have been made well in advance of this date. but unfortunately, that s not happened. and people are getting worried and stressed about their own their own set of circumstances, aren t there? joshua emden is from the centre left think tank, the institute for public policy research. he gave me his thoughts on what support should be offered. i think the government understands that there is a crisis, but at the moment its response is in no w