LONDON | British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday unveiled a new 15 billion pound ($24 million CAD) aid package to address the impact of the cost of living on poor households, funded in part by an exceptional tax on the energy sector.

• Read also: Partygate: Boris Johnson severely reprimanded for neglect in Downing Street

• To read also: Boris Johnson: the cat with nine lives, but until when?

These announcements come the day after a damning report on multiple watered parties in Downing Street in full confinement which again weakens the Prime Minister.

During a speech in Parliament, the minister said that thanks to this set of measures the most modest Britons “will feel the weight (of inflation) easing”.

According to a statement from the UK Treasury, “nearly one in 8 of the UK's most vulnerable households will receive at least 1,200 pounds ($1,933 CAD) this year, including a one-off payment of 650 pounds ($1,047 CAD). CAD) in the face of the cost of living, an increase in the minimum income (Universal Credit) of 400 pounds and a doubling of the reduction on energy bills” for October, when the tariff ceiling will be raised considerably.

In total, with the measures estimated at 22 billion pounds already announced, the total aid for “the cost of living for low-income households reaches 37 billion pounds ($60 million) this year,” notes the Treasury.

These measures will be financed in particular by a “temporary 25% tax on energy profits for oil and gas companies, reflecting their extraordinary profits” since the Russian invasion of the war in Ukraine, which aggravated the surge in hydrocarbon prices. , details the press release.

However, he specifies that to “encourage investment, the new tax will include a generous investment allocation of 80%” to stimulate the transition to low-carbon energies.

The Labor opposition joked in Parliament on Thursday about this apparent U-turn, after several months of persistent refusal by the Conservative government of Boris Johnson to introduce such a tax for fear of discouraging investment in the transition to carbon neutrality and the energy security echoing the arguments of the giants of the sector.

UK inflation hit 9% in April, a 40-year high.

The British energy authority Ofgem warned on Tuesday that the energy price cap could increase by more than 40% in October, or an additional 800 pounds (over $1,288 CAD) per year per household.