A TORY MP has said he does not know how his family will be able to afford their bills if energy prices continue to rise.
Alec Shelbrooke said people are "terrified" after experts predicted that the price cap could reach more than £3400 in October with another rise set to come in January.
The MP for West Yorkshire constituency of Elmet And Rothwell told PoliticsHome he had seen "the absolute fear in people's eyes" as he spoke to constituents on the doorsteps.
He said: “I've been on the doorstep for decades, and you always get people moaning at you on the doorstep ... that's politics.
"What I've been seeing on the doorstep for the last six months is fear, absolute fear in people's eyes.
"They are terrified as to what is coming down the line, they don't know how they're going to pay it.
“To be honest, I'm not sure how in my family, how we're going to pay if it carries on going up this road."
Shelbrooke said that to meet his current bills, "we're taking money out of the economy, for paying for exactly what we already had".
The Conservative politician pointed to increased mortgage payments "taking money out of the economy" amid rising interest rates.
He said: "I could afford these, everybody knows MPs earn good salaries. But I'm doing it by taking money out of the economy.”
MPs are paid a salary of £84,144 although expenses can often amount to more than this.
It comes after consumer champion Martin Lewis called for an urgent package of support to help households cope with soaring energy bills.
He said a strategy should be thrashed out by Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
The Money Saving Expert founder said the “zombie Government” must not wait until the conclusion of the Tory leadership contest to decide on help for households who will face the energy price cap rising to £3500 or more.
He dismissed the extra help promised by Sunak and Truss during their leadership bids as “trivial” in the face of bills which are set to be £2300 a year higher than they were last October.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.
“It’s going to throw many households into a terribly difficult financial situation that will leave them making some awful choices.”
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the data that informs the price cap suggests it will increase 77% on top of the 52% rise in April, taking the typical bill to £3500 a year.
“Others say it will be higher,” he warned.
“We are expecting it to rise again in January.”
Lewis said the choice facing the UK Government is “you either have to cut prices for people or you have to put more money in their pockets, especially at the poorest level”.
But he added: “The problem is we have this zombie Government at the moment that can’t make any big decisions.”
