A FIFTH of Brits have started rationing their electricity and gas use after getting clobbered by the cost-of-living crunch.
About 5.8million are already making the tough choice to go cold to keep spiralling bills under control.
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Two-thirds of adults say their cost of living has soared in the past month.
Of those, more than half (53 per cent) are cutting back on treats like eating out as they spend less on “non-essentials”.
The stark numbers, from the Office for National Statistics, pile yet more pressure on Boris Johnson to cough up cash to ease the crisis. He and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are expected to come up with a plan within days.
But a minister yesterday warned the Prime Minister that any bailout package must help the “squeezed middle” as well as those on benefits. They told The Sun: “I think a lot of it will be targeted at the poorest. But so many people are struggling.”
The rationing, reminiscent of World War Two, came as Labour dared Tories to back its plan for a windfall tax on energy firms to raise cash to subsidise bills.
Households are braced for a triple blow in April as they are hit by higher energy bills, the National Insurance tax hike and expected council tax rises.
Ex-Tory Cabinet minister John Redwood begged ministers to “think again” on National Insurance. Tory Peter Aldous — who has called for the PM to quit — warned the nation faces an “enormous challenge”.
And former Labour leader Ed Miliband likened oil and gas companies to “cash machines” sucking ordinary people dry.
£180 food price rise
FAMILIES will pay an extra £180 a year for food as grocery inflation soars.
Supermarket prices have leapt by 3.8 per cent on last year, says research firm Kantar.
Crisps and beef are both big risers.
Price inflation almost doubled to 1.5 per cent from December to January, the British Retail Consortium will say today
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