A Tory MP has told voters the government paying their gas bills is an "illusion" that "isn't going to happen" and people will "have to live with" soaring prices.
Sir Desmond Swayne also said the Covid furlough scheme, which saved millions of Brits from poverty and unemployment, had been "disastrous".
And he added: "This notion that the government can wrap its arms around us and save us from every vagary of the modern world I think is an illusion that was built by our reaction to the COVID crisis, which frankly was disastrous in my view."
Sir Desmond made headlines for being caught falling asleep in the Commons in 2018, and again in 2019 for refusing to apologise for wearing blackface to a fancy dress party, boasting that it was "fun."
Speaking to the Bournemouth Echo, the Covid-skeptic Tory said: "Let's face it, most of us are going to have to cut our consumption in some way or make sacrifices elsewhere.”
The energy price cap is set to rise by 80% by October, pushing the average household's yearly bill up from £1,971 to £3,549 and industry regulator Ofgem warned the Government it must act urgently to "match the scale of the crisis we have before us".
Of the contenders to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, Liz Truss is reportedly ready to give extra winter fuel payments to pensioners to ease the burden - despite in the past insisting she was focused on tax cuts rather than "handouts".
While her rival Rishi Sunak has said he will provide additional support targeted at the most vulnerable.
Sir Desmond accepted there would "undoubtedly" be some kind of response in order to protect "very vulnerable people who are going to be cruelly exposed."
But he added: "People can't believe that the government can simply borrow money to pay all our gas bills, that isn't going to happen."
He said: "It's going to be a hard winter. There’s no getting away from that, there's a war on.
“Whilst we're not being bombarded, we're suffering the huge economic consequences of that invasion.
“Our part is having to live with the price rise, Ukraine has to live with the bombs and people need to get that sense of national urgency and proportion."
