Putin’s given us a wake-up call

Putin’s given us all a wake-up call, says Grant Shapps (Image: Getty) And they show bills and inflation falling as we win the war against Putin’s attempts to control our energy supply. A welcome £577 will have been slashed off households’ average bills from October, since at their peak. I know this is a huge relief to families up and down the country, with the Energy Price Cap confirmed as £1,923 for October to December this year. But, at the same time, it’s a sad truth that instead of getting excited about autumnal walks and Halloween, some Brits will still be worrying about how they can afford to keep warm this winter. That is why I want to say to our older people and disabled people struggling to keep warm in their own homes – help is there for those who need it. The Prime Minister set up my new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in February (Image: Getty) The most vulnerable are eligible for the Warm Home Discount, which takes a further £150 off their electricity bill. That’s on top of up to £300 for the Winter Fuel Payment and £25 for every day of very cold weather, ensuring nobody has to choose between heating and eating. The reality is that when Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in 2022, he didn’t just attack the brave Ukrainian people. He hit the pockets of every family and business in Britain – by weaponising energy and driving up prices. Last year, the government stepped in with an unprecedented £40bn support package. In the largest bills subsidy in UK history, we paid around half the average household’s energy bill. Our price guarantee put the brakes on inflation and Putin’s plot. But we said at the time that these were only temporary measures. The most vulnerable are eligible for the Warm Home Discount (Image: Getty) That is why we promised to fix the bigger picture by reducing our reliance on global fossil fuel markets, while still delivering the affordable, reliable energy Britain needs. That’s why the Prime Minister set up my new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in February. That’s also why, after just 50 days, we unveiled our plan to power more of Britain from Britain, ensuring we can never be held to ransom by barbaric foreign leaders like Putin again. Since then, we’ve been incredibly busy putting that plan into practice. We’ve banished Russian oil and gas from our shores. We’ve secured alternative sources of energy. And we’ve accelerated our world-leading progress on renewables – offering cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy sources for our country. In the coming months we’ll be leading the global fight to isolate Putin (Image: Getty) And the results so far show the economy is growing, inflation is coming down and, crucially, energy prices are falling too. But we’re not done yet. The most successful economies in the world are all built upon cheaper energy prices. Which is why we’re determined to keep driving them down, as part of plans to halve inflation and turbocharge growth. So, in the coming months, we’ll be leading the global fight to isolate Putin. We’ll be investing in clean, reliable sources of home-grown energy, from innovative floating offshore wind to the next generation of nuclear power plants.