But the chancellor refused to commit to cutting fuel duty or VAT on petrol, saying she had to be “careful” with promises to lower prices for everyone because it risked pushing up inflation, interest rates and taxes in the future.
She added that the best way to bring prices down for people was for the conflict to come to an end and for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen. The Strait is a key waterway that usually carries a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas but has been effectively closed since the war began.
“That is why Keir Starmer is absolutely right to not get us dragged into a war that we didn’t start because of the impact it has on people here at home,” she said.
The Conservatives have called on the government to remove VAT from household energy bills for the next three years to help ease the cost of living.
Reform UK has also promised to scrap VAT and green levies on household energy bills if the party were to win power.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick criticised Reeves for “acting like a bystander” and not the chancellor of the exchequer.
He said: “I do really wonder if she really understands how tough people are finding things now. This isn’t a debate for the autumn or some future date, it’s now that people are suffering.”
He added that the forecasts point to energy bills going “straight up again” in the autumn, but that middle income families should also be supported “because it shouldn’t always be about people on benefits”.
The Liberal Democrats have said they would cut household energy bills by changing how new renewable projects are paid for, in order to break the link between gas prices and energy costs.
Liberal Democrat MP Callum Miller told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “What households are crying out for up and down the country is some reassurance their government will stand behind them.”
“There’s a real danger that this dither and delay by government will push households into difficult decisions and push the economy into recession,” he added.
The Green Party has said ministers should guarantee bills will not rise in July, when the price cap is updated, with the costs funded by hiking taxes on capital gains, and tightening an existing tax on energy firms’ profits.
Plaid Cymru has also called for broader direct support for households when bills rise above the current price cap. It also supports long-term investment in renewables to break the link between electricity and gas prices.
The SNP argues that Holyrood should control energy policy and claims that independence is the best route to lowering Scotland’s energy bills.
