Newcastle central's MP Chi Onwurah has called the rise in energy prices "another devastating blow" to her constituents, as bills rise while wages stagnant.
Millions of household will pay an extra £693 a year on their energy bills from April, as the energy regulator Ofgem confirmed it is upping its price cap by 54% from £1,277 to £1,971.
The sharp rise in energy bills will put a further squeeze on people already facing higher prices for food and rising taxes, taking "money out of the pockets of the poorest" said the Newcastle MP.
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak said help of £350 per household would "ease" people's anxiety over the increase and take the "sting" out of the rise.
But the scheme has been criticised for not targeting those most in need and because £200 of it is a loan that must be repaid.
Chi Onwurah said: "The rise in the energy price cap is another devastating blow to people who have seen prices rising whilst wages have been stagnant and the Government have taken money out of the pockets of the poorest with another big tax hike planned for April.
"My constituents are really worried about the impact of rising energy prices and the real choice between heating and eating - or getting further and further into debt.
"I know debt counselling services have seen a huge rise."
She continued: "The Tories are once again making the wrong choices, what we need to see is a cut in VAT paid for by a windfall tax on the excess profits of the big gas companies.
"Shell announced a quadrupling of profits to around $20bn whilst my constituents can't afford to put the heating on."
Stripping out one-off costs, Shell's CCS earnings were $19.3bn for the year, up from $4.8bn in 2020.
It comes at a time when prices on wholesale markets are running at about four times the level of a year ago - with the rise squeezing many small energy suppliers out of business.
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