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As soaring energy prices begin to come into effect for households across Britain, a Tory MP, whose £115,824 salary went up another £2k on Friday, has sparked outrage by suggesting his bills are “tricky” to manage.
Ofgem’s 54 per cent energy cap hike came into effect on Friday increasing bills for struggling households by several hundred pounds a year. At the same time, MPs salaries increased 2.7 per cent, to £84,144.
Home Office Minister Kit Malthouse says his household is 'very significantly' feeling the challenges posed by the cost of living crisis.@NickFerrariLBC pic.twitter.com/jLktENISoZ
— LBC (@LBC) April 1, 2022
Policing minister Kit Malthouse, who already earns an extra £31,680 on top of the standard MP salary for his heightened role, told LBC on Friday that his “day-to-day is quite tricky.”
His children “need to be fed and that cost is rising.”
Malthouse added: “My fuel prices are rising quite significantly, and I have to say that in my constituency I’m on oil central heating still, sadly.”
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Talking about how those in “rural areas” are “suffering from the oil price rise”, Malthouse then said, “we are feeling it significantly.”
Minister Kit Malthouse tells @skynewsniall the government "acknowledges" the cost of living crisis is a "tough situation", and says "we hope that over time we can get back onto the path of prosperity".https://t.co/MEd3NXPqKS
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/vVVXJ6iD7t
— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 1, 2022
“I have to confess to you, we did convert last year to electric vehicles, so we are feeling the electric price but not through the petrol,” he said. “So it is a challenge for everybody.”
The internet did not take kindly to Malthouse’s “tone deaf” statements.
“Oh just fuck this country man,” wrote one Twitter user. “It’s absolutely screwed.”
Another scathed: “Politicians including this parasite always include the ‘WE’ when referring to high inflation, high taxation, energy poverty, transport fuel, & unnecessary ‘Green’ levies.
🖕Politicians including this parasite always include the 'WE' when referring to high inflation, high taxation, energy poverty, transport fuel, & unnecessary 'Green' levies
Its not WE, matey! you have just had a £2,400 wage rise, your not even living on the same planet as us https://t.co/KoZVDgOMmW— Lord flashhard/ true Brit (@johns00000) April 1, 2022
“It’s not WE, matey! you have just had a £2,400 wage rise, your not even living on the same planet as us.”
Malthouse also appeared on Sky News, where he said that an array of circumstances from the pandemic to Ukraine have made the situation “tough.” A lot of these factors were, by his account, “outside of our immediate control.”
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Malthouse added: “For those of us who have a smart meter, as we do here in my house, we can see how much it is costing us on an hourly basis, and it is not happy reading.”
Related links:
- The eight ‘vampire appliances’ that are adding £500 to your energy bills
- MPs get pay rise for ‘dramatically increased duties last year’ – but didn’t we all WFH?
- Energy provider blames Martin Lewis for ‘bringing down Britain’ as website crashes ahead of price hike