Boris Johnson's Brexit pledge for cheaper gas bills has aged terribly

A 2016 headline has resurfaced across Twitter which presented Boris Johnson's promise there would be "cheaper household gas bills" if we left the EU.

It's safe to say – it aged terribly.

On Thursday, the cost of living crisis was exposed when Chancellor Rishi Sunak was forced to step in to offset a nearly £700 spike in energy bills. At the same time, the Bank of England warned inflation would hit its highest point in more than three decades.

Energy bills are set to skyrocket by 54 per cent for 22 million households as of April, which will see an increase £693 to the annual bills of a typical household.

Inflation is also set to hit a jaw-dropping 7.25 per cent in April, according to the new Bank of England forecasts.

The bad news doesn't stop there, unfortunately.

As a result, disposible income is expected to drop by 2 per cent – the worst impact since records began in 1990.

Subsequently, the Chancellor announced a £200 rebate on energy bills – which will have to be paid back – a £150 reduction in council tax for millions in England, which will not have to be paid back, and £144 million to councils.

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Fellow Twitter users were on standby to express their (expected) frustrations. One said: "They might as well promised a free unicorn and a handful of magic beans for every Brexit voter because they obviously lived in the land of fairy tales."

Another added: "They should be forced to correct this headline from 'YOU’LL NEVER' to 'DON’T EVER'".

“The price cap has meant that the impact of soaring gas prices has so far fallen predominantly on energy companies,” the Chancellor told MPs on Thursday.

“So much so that some suppliers who couldn’t afford to meet those extra costs have gone out of business as a result.

“It is not sustainable to keep holding the price of energy artificially low.

“For me to stand here and pretend we don’t have to adjust to paying higher prices would be wrong and dishonest.

“But what we can do is take the sting out of a significant price shock for millions of families by making sure that the increase in prices is smaller initially and spread over a longer period.”

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