London, United Kingdom —
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on
Tuesday promised to do more to tackle the rising cost of living, with the issue
center-stage at local elections this week.
اضافة اعلان
But he again rejected calls for a one-off windfall tax on
major energy companies, to offset soaring bills that have squeezed household
incomes.
Voters go to the polls to elect new councils in much of
England, as well as Scotland and Wales on Thursday, with the results seen as a
referendum on Johnson's premiership.
Opposition parties have been focusing on eye-watering price
hikes for food and heating, claiming many people were now facing a choice
between one or the other.
In an interview on ITV, Johnson was told about a 77-year-old
viewer who said she was now only eating one meal daily because her energy bill
had risen so much.
She reportedly now spends the day travelling on buses --
using a so-called "freedom pass" which give pensioners free travel in
London -- to stay out of her house and keep her bills down.
Johnson, a former London mayor, responded by saying:
"The 24-hour freedom bus pass was actually something that I
introduced."
Labor’s work and pension’s spokesman
Jonathan Ashworth
called the situation "shameful" and Johnson's response showed he was
"out of touch".
Johnson maintained there were "plenty more things"
the government was doing to help hard-pressed householders, as part of a
£9-billion ($11.3-billion, 10.7-billion-euro) package of support.
Elderly people were eligible for hardship payments, but
opposition parties maintain these do not go far enough.
But the prime minister conceded that, in the short term,
"those contributions from the taxpayer... isn't going to be enough
immediately to cover everybody's costs".
Inflation is at 30-year highs in the
UK, with rises blamed
on the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and the squeeze on global energy
supplies.
Johnson said increasing state spending risked driving up
inflation even further and blamed the war in
Ukraine for a lack of feed that
was increasing the cost of chicken.
He also hit out at previous administrations for failing to
invest in new power plants to ensure the country's energy security.
BP announced soaring underlying profits despite taking a
$20.4-billion hit in the first quarter after pulling its business out of
Russia.
Revenue jumped 40 percent to $51 billion, as the conflict in
Ukraine pushes up oil and gas prices.
But Johnson said a windfall tax on big energy firms would
deter investment and make it harder to meet the country's net-zero
environmental goals.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
