Boris Johnson boasted of giving free bus passes to pensioners today – after being told about a 77-year-old widow who travels London all day because she cannot heat her home.
The Prime Minister faces an uncomfortable grilling on Good Morning Britain today about the cost-of-living crisis facing Britons, including soaring bills.
Presenter Susannah Reid raised the plight of Elsie, whose energy costs in her council flat have risen from £17 to £85 a month.
In the No10 interview, Ms Reid told how Elsie leaves home early and rides buses using a freedom pass, which allows the over-60s on London unlimited travel, in order to not have to heat her flat.
Asked what else Elsie should cut back on, he said: ‘I don’t want Elsie to cut back on anything, let’s talk about Elsie and what we are doing and – just to remind you that the 24-hour freedom bus pass was something that I actually introduced.’
The Prime Minister faces an uncomfortable grilling on Good Morning Britain today about the cost-of-living crisis facing Britons, including soaring bills.
Presenter Susannah Reid raised the plight of Elsie, whose energy costs in her council flat have risen from £17 to £85 a month.
In the No10 interview, Ms Reid told how Elsie leaves home early and rides buses using a freedom pass, which allows the over-60s on London unlimited travel, in order to not have to heat her flat.
‘So Elsie should be grateful to you for her bus pass? What else should she cut back on?’ Ms Reid replied.
Mr Johnson went on: ‘There are plenty of things more that we are doing. What we want to do is make sure we have people who are in particular hardship looked after by their councils, we are putting much more money into local councils. We have the particular payments to help elderly people in particular with the cost of heating.’
Shadow employment rights minister Justin Madders said: ‘I really don’t think the response to a pensioner traveling all day on a bus to avoid using energy at home is to claim credit for a bus pass system- he really doesn’t have a clue or any answers.’
Mr Johnson also insisted the Government is doing ‘everything we can’ to help with the cost-of-living crisis, but warned that increasing state support beyond its current levels could drive inflation even higher.
There is a ‘global context’ caused by a surge in energy prices which is hitting all aspects of the economy including food, he said, adding: ‘The cost of chickens is crazy.’
On energy, Mr Johnson said: ‘This country is in the insane position of having to take in, pipe in, electricity from France and elsewhere because we haven’t done enough to invest in our own security of energy and electricity.’
The PM also distanced himself from remarks by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week in which he suggested the Government could ‘look again’ at a windfall tax on energy firms.
Both Labour and the Lib Dems are pushing for a one-off levy on massive profits made by firms at the same time families struggle with their costs.
Mr Johnson warned that a windfall tax on energy companies would deter investment, and set out why taxpayer support for households has to be managed to avoid fuelling inflation.
‘If you put a windfall tax on the energy companies, what that means is that you discourage them from making the investments that we want to see that will, in the end, keep energy price prices lower for everybody,’ he said.
Challenged about benefits failing to keep pace with rising inflation, he said: ‘We have a short-term hit caused by the spike in energy prices across the world.
Asked what else Elsie should cut back on, he said: ‘I don’t want Elsie to cut back on anything, let’s talk about Elsie and what we are doing and – just to remind you that the 24-hour freedom bus pass was something that I actually introduced.’
‘If we respond by driving up prices and costs across the board in this country, responding by the Government stepping in and driving up inflation, that will hit everybody.
‘And that will mean that people’s interest rates on their mortgages go up, the cost of borrowing goes up, and we face an even worse problem.’
The Government has set out a £9 billion package of loans to cut energy bills and council tax rebates, but Mr Johnson faces calls to go further.
On ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the Prime Minister said: ‘I accept that those contributions from the taxpayer – because that’s what it is, taxpayers’ money – isn’t going to be enough immediately to cover everybody’s costs.’
Put to him that that means the Government is not doing everything it can, Mr Johnson admitted: ‘There is more that we can do.
‘But the crucial thing is to make sure we deal with the prices over the medium and long term.’
Boris insists to Susanna Reid he IS honest and just got it ‘wrong’ on Partygate as he’s grilled on GMB – while poll finds Tories face losing 550 SEATS in local elections on Thursday in worst showing since Blair was Labour leader
Boris Johnson today insisted he is honest and just got it ‘wrong’ over Partygate as he faces a huge blow in local elections with a poll suggesting the Tories are set to lose nearly 550 seats.
The PM said he did his best to represent his beliefs ‘faithfully and accurately’ as he was interviewed by Susanna Reid on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
A clearly uncomfortable Mr Johnson stressed that he ‘inadvertently’ misled Parliament over whether lockdown rules were breached in Downing Street, and had apologised since being fined by police. He said he had not received any other penalty notices yet but had ‘no idea’ whether that would change.
He also wriggled as he was grilled on how he was going to help people with the cost-of-living crisis, batting away calls for a windfall tax on energy firms reaping the benefits of soaring oil and gas prices.
Mr Johnson conceded that inflation could hit 10 per cent in the coming months, and suggested there was ‘more’ the government could do – but declined to say what that might be.
The comments came as a shock survey found Labour is in line to gain more than 800 councillors in the contests on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives could see their numbers dive by 548 – in what would be a disastrous result for the PM as MPs mull a coup in the wake of the Partygate scandal.
It would be the worst Tory showing since Tony Blair was Labour leader, with flagship councils such as Wandsworth and Westminster on the line as well as Southampton and Thurrock.
The latest research for Electoral Calculus and Find Out Now interviewed 1,749 adults in the 201 councils holding ballots this week.
Asked on GMB if he is ‘honest’, Mr Johnson said: ‘Yes. I think the best way to judge that is to look at what this Government says it’s going to do and what it does.’
He added: ‘I do my best to represent faithfully and accurately what I believe, and sometimes it’s controversial and sometimes it offends people, but that’s what I do.’
In response to a suggestion that some people believe he is a liar, Mr Johnson said: ‘If you are talking about the statements I’ve made in the House of Commons, I was inadvertently… I was wrong and I’ve apologised for that.’
The latest research for Electoral Calculus and Find Out Now interviewed 1,749 adults in the 201 councils holding ballots this week
Boris Johnson was out campaining in Tynemouth yesterday ahead of the elections
The snapshot suggested Labour will end up holding 3,500 council seats compared to under 980 for the Conservatives.
The vote share of 24 per cent for the Tories and 39 per cent for Labour means the biggest advantage in local elections since the mid-1990s.
Martin Baxter, chief executive of Electoral Calculus, which conducted the survey with Find Out Now, told the Telegraph: ‘The renewed partygate focus has made a poor situation for the Conservatives even worse by persuading even more Conservative supporters not to turn out at the local elections.
‘The results could now be bad for Boris Johnson, especially if the Con servatives lose many hundreds of council seats and key flagship councils like Wandsworth or Westminster.’
However, Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan denied that the results would be a verdict on Mr Johnson’s premiership.
She told Sky News: ‘I think there are some places where there’s some close fights but I think also in many places, certainly on doors I’ve been knocking on, there’s been a continuing support at a local level.’
She added: ‘As ever with local councils’ elections, we’ll win some and we’ll lose some, that’s the nature of the beast anyway … but what I think we will see is a really strong showing by Conservative voters who want to come out and demonstrate that they know that locally-run councils run by Conservatives are better.’
Asked if the results would be seen as a referendum on the Prime Minister, she replied: ‘No.’
She added: ‘As I say, 12 years into government you do get … sometimes a protest vote and that’s the beauty of democracy, that’s one of the reasons we’re supporting Ukraine as they fight to maintain their democratic right to be a free nation.’
Local elections are taking place across the UK on May 5, with more than 4,000 council seats up for grabs in England.
They include parts of the Red Wall such as Bury, as well as Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and all 32 London boroughs.
There have been claims that the Tories are facing an even worse outcome, losing up to 800 seats.
But a narrower outcome could be tricky to interpret as many of the seats were last contested when the UK was still in the EU, Theresa May was in No10 and Labour was led by Jeremy Corbyn.
Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan denied that the results would be a verdict on Mr Johnson’s premiership
Experts have pointed out that Labour had a very strong performance in 2018, suggesting the party could struggle to make further big gains – despite polls showing a national lead and massive advantage in London.
Although many of the issues that decide local elections remain the same – such as bin collections and services – they will inevitably be interpreted through the prism of Partygate in the wake of Mr Johnson’s fine.
Restive Conservatives have been holding off a decision on whether to mount a coup until the results come in, meaning the aftermath is likely to be the moment of maximum danger for the PM.
In a number of boroughs such as Wandsworth, Conservative candidates have been adding ‘local’ to ballot papers in an effort to offset the impact of Partygate.
Labour and the Lib Dems have been accused of giving each other clear runs in seats where they are taking on Conservatives.
