Cost of living crisis: Boris Johnson once again rules out immediate help after meeting with energy bosses

Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson has once again refused to take immediate action of the spiraling cost of living after meeting with energy company bosses.

Instead, Mr Johnson has said that the government will work closely with firms to monitor the situation.

Mr Johnson has faced stern calls from UK politicians and business leaders to take action as soon as possible, after he said that no new support would be announced until the next Tory leader is chosen in early September.

The general public have seen bills shooting up in the past few months, with another increase expected for energy bills in October when the Ofgem energy price cap is raised once more.

It comes after energy companies such as BP and Shell announced record profits.

What did Boris Johnson say?

Following crisis talks with bosses from the energy sector, the Treaury has once again reiterated that Mr Johnson would not be announcing new support and that “significant fiscal decisions” should be left for the new Prime Minister to make.

A statement from Mr Johnson said: “Countries around the world are feeling the impact of Putin’s damaging war in Ukraine.

“We know that this will be a difficult winter for people across the UK, which is why we are doing everything we can to support them and must continue to do so.

“Following our meeting today, we will keep urging the electricity sector to continue working on ways we can ease the cost of living pressures and to invest further and faster in British energy security.”

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi chaired the talks between the government and energy bosses.

He pledged to monitor the “extraordinary profits” of such firms.

What has been the reaction?

The meeting between Mr Johnson, Mr Zahawu and other government minister and energy bosses came after strong calls for immediate action.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for an emergency budget to deal with the cost of living, with a petition backing his call gaining more than 70,000 signatures.

SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also called for Mr Johnson to call an emergency meeting between all UK leaders.

Labour has said that a package of proposals in how to deal with the cost of living crisis will be announced by the party in “the next few days”, on top of the calls for the Tory goverment to scrap a “loophole” in the windfall tax policy.

Following the announcement that no action will be taken until 2 September, when either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak is chosen as the next Tory leader, Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey said: “It is appalling that the Conservatives still haven’t announced any extra support for families and pensioners facing the hardest winter in decades.

“The cruellest element of this chaos is that those who could actually help, Truss and (Rishi) Sunak, are more interested in speaking to their party than taking the action our country needs.

“That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to cancel the energy price hike to avoid a country-wide catastrophe.”