With millions of households facing financial despair due to soaring energy costs, demand is growing on the dithering Tories to freeze bills.
A Daily Mirror poll revealed more than eight out of 10 people back immediate action to prevent families on the brink plunging further into the mire.
Some 82% of those quizzed, including Tories, want the Government to keep the energy price cap at its current £1,971 average a year rather than allow October’s planned rise to £3,549.
Our survey suggests 12 million households will battle to meet that cost – with more than one in 10 people “weeks” away from not being able to afford other bills too.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “These numbers are incredibly concerning, especially with families already consumed by worry about how they’ll get through the winter with bills through the roof.
“This zombie Tory government needs to get back to work now, their lack of action is frankly appalling and a dereliction of duty.”
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady added: “No one should have to worry about heating their homes this winter. But this polling shows millions are worried sick about bank- rupting bills in the months ahead.
“The clock is ticking, but our government is nowhere to be seen.
“Ministers must come out of hiding and immediately cancel the catastrophic rise to energy bills. And to bring down bills for good, they should bring energy into public ownership.”
No10 has come under fire for refusing to announce any new help until the next PM is confirmed on September 5.
Deltapoll interviewed 1,600 adults between August 26 to 30 – in the aftermath of regulator Ofgem’s announcement last Friday that its price cap would rocket by 80% from October 1.
It found one in four people said they will “definitely” not be able to afford the rise. Another 40% said they would “probably” not be able to find the extra money.
To hammer home the need for action, 11% insisted they could not afford their bills already, even before October’s surge.
Another 12% said they were just weeks away from the same plight, with a further 34% months away from being swamped. Overall, 92% of people said they had suffered a cost of living rise in recent months.
Of those quizzed, 85% of Tory voters wanted to keep the current price cap while 81% of Labour voters agreed with them.
Among emergency measures being suggested is a price freeze. Suppliers want a £100billion loan scheme to allow them to hold bills at the same level for two years.
Labour would freeze them for six months, partly paid for by an increased windfall tax on energy giants. Other ideas include one-off payments of £400 to £1,000. The Mirror’s Energy Emergency is campaign is demanding a price freeze.
Deltapoll also asked households what they had done to mitigate the cost of living crisis.
Nearly half said they stayed at home more to save money and more than four in 10 had bought fewer clothes.
A quarter had cancelled non-essential outgoings such as TV subscriptions and 18% had ditched holiday plans. As well as 12% saying they had borrowed money from a friend or family, a worrying 9% said they had been putting essential items on their credit card.
Figures from the Bank of England yesterday showed borrowing on plastic had jumped at the fastest rate for 17 years. Households put £700million on plastic last month, a 13% rise on July last year.
Cost of living campaign Enough Is Enough announced it had reached 500,000 supporters ahead of a rally in Manchester last night.
