Quiz of The Week: 29 January - 4 February

Living standards could drop for millions of Britons as they are hit with soaring costs of energy bills, inflation and tax increases.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak yesterday unveiled a £9.1bn plan to soften the blow of rising energy prices, after regulator Ofgem announced that the energy price cap would increase by 54% to £1,971 on 1 April. That means 22m households are facing an average energy bill increase of £693.

Sunak said the multi-billion pound plan would “take the sting out of a significant price shock”, but households will also be contending with rising national insurance deductions and higher interest rates. The Bank of England confirmed it would raise rates from 0.25% to 0.5% yesterday.

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Sunak said that the “vast majority” of households will receive £350 to help tackle rising energy bills. From October a £200 energy bill rebate will be applied for all homes in England, Wales and Scotland, while properties in England in tax bands A to D – roughly 80% of all homes – will receive a £150 government loan to go towards their council tax bill in April.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s premiership looks increasingly imperilled after five of his top advisers quit their Downing Street jobs. Munira Mirza, one of Johnson’s closest aides and the head of his policy unit, resigned from her job last night over Johnson’s false claim that Keir Starmer failed to prosecute paedophile Jimmy Savile when he was director of prosecutions.

Johnson's chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield, his principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, and Jack Doyle, his director of communications, have also stepped down from his No. 10 team, while Elena Narozanski, a policy unit aide, quit her role this morning.

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