BORIS Johnson could double the £200 energy loan to £400 later this year if the cost of living crisis continues to deepen.
The PM has asked officials to look at giving more help to hard-pressed families, whose already crippling bills rare expected to soar further because of the war in Ukraine.
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But Boris faces a fresh clash with the Treasury who are wary of giving the green light to more support at the moment — and think higher bills may be here to stay.
No 10 has asked officials at the Department for Business for a menu of options for what more they could do should prices stay high over the summer and the huge squeeze on incomes continues.
Options include doubling the £200 energy rebate loan to £400, delaying the repayment schedule or even exempting poorer households from paying back all the cash.
Last night the PM admitted Brits were going to have to take the pain while trying to defeat Putin, saying: “I think that is absolutely right there.”
But the PM’s spokesperson dropped a strong hint that at least some more help could be on the way.
He said: “We will continue to give people the support they need throughout this difficult period as we did during the pandemic.
“We continue to monitor the situation — we do acknowledge the impact of rising wholesale gas prices and petrol prices and the impact of that on families.”
But the Chancellor is pushing back on more help before August — and thinks the current inflation crisis is very different from the pandemic and may last longer.
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A Treasury source said: “We do not know where energy prices will be by the time the next decision on the cap comes on and it would be irresponsible to decide on a policy response before we have more certainty.”
The Chancellor is facing fierce pressure to announce more help at his upcoming spring statement at the end of the month as Brits struggle with soaring inflation and rising prices.
But Whitehall sources played down the prospect of any immediate help — stressing the bumper £9billion package of council tax and energy bill help from February is yet to kick in.
Yesterday Vladimir Putin warned that global food prices would rise further if the West keeps up its barrage of sanctions on Russia.
The evil Russian president said: “Russia and Belarus are some of the biggest suppliers of mineral fertilisers.
“If they continue to create problems for the financing and logistics of the delivery of our goods, then prices will rise and this will affect the final product, food products.”
It came as experts at the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said Britain may end up being permanently poorer in the long run thanks to the new “economic crisis” the world is facing.
A combination of sky-high inflation, freezing of tax brackets, the National Insurance hit and rising prices means everyone is going to end up with less in their pockets this year.
IFS chief Paul Johnson warned: “We can’t all be protected forever, when things like this happen, we do become poorer.”
We will continue to give people the support they need throughout this difficult period as we did during the pandemic. We continue to monitor the situation — we do acknowledge the impact of rising wholesale gas prices and petrol prices and the impact of that on families.
Boris Johnson’s spokesperson
He said another £12billion pounds would be needed to plough into support to match the February package — as costs have risen so much since then.
And it was likely that the pandemic would mean the Chancellor would leave office as an overall tax riser, with the latest crisis making it even harder for him to cut them ahead of the next election.
Inflation is due to wipe out any increases in spending, with pressure on to hike the defence budget to help fund the war effort.
The Chancellor faces a tough choice about whether to borrow more now to soften the blow or try and “distribute that misery across people and across time”, Mr Johnson said.
Yesterday money guru Martin Lewis said the Chancellor must make a “genuine intervention” now or “we will have people starving and freezing”.
He told the BBC: “We are going to see a real increase in genuine poverty in this country. Millions thrown into poverty… I would urge the Chancellor to nip this in the bud and let’s not have people starving or freezing.”
Meanwhile, for the first time last night No 10 did not deny the PM planned to pocket his £2,200 MPs’ pay rise.
His spokesman said: “MPs have no mechanism to refuse the salary increase and all MPs must be paid the full salary.” Pressed if Mr Johnson would be donating it, he added: “Charitable donations are obviously a private matter.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer declined to comment on whether he would be accepting his salary bump.
Rishi top Treasury tax hiker
RISHI Sunak has hiked taxes more in just two years than Gordon Brown did in ten years, claim analysts.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies revealed the two, during their time as Chancellor, are nearly on equal footing with their total tax rises at around two per cent of national income.
That is against about one per cent for George Osborne and Labour’s Alistair Darling when they were in the job.
Lord Hammond, Chancellor for three years, oversaw the smallest tax rises, followed by Tory Ken Clarke.
The IFS findings come ahead of the national insurance rise next month that will cost millions of workers hundreds of pounds a year.
Mr Sunak will also freeze allowances on incomes and pension pots in a bid to balance the books, alongside increases in council and corporation tax.
