‘She has no choice’: Liz Truss faces U-turn on energy if she enters No 10, MPs say

Liz Truss is likely to have to perform a U-turn on handouts given the scale of the crisis. Photograph: John Sibley/Reuters

For months, everyone in government had known that Friday was energy cap day, and at 7am the bad news duly dropped. Phones pinged as the nation woke to Ofgem’s confirmation that typical gas and electricity bills were to rise by a frightening 80%.

Millions of people would be unable to cope, said charities. Even those on low or middle earnings who had some savings could see them entirely wiped out. It was a full-on national crisis, albeit long predicted.