The leader of the Liberal Democrats has urged the government to pay for the October price cap increase in a bid to take the pressure off the households’ shoulders.

Sir Ed Davey said: “The contest to be leader of the Conservative Party might as well be happening in a parallel universe. Neither of them has any idea how to help people through what could be the toughest winter in decades.

“The government must cancel the planned rise in energy bills this October.”

The call follows an analysis that suggests customers could pay £500 a month for their energy bills in January.

While experts have warned that the latest government package does not reflect the real increase in the price of electricity and gas for this winter, policymakers have yet to announce potential measures to help struggling households. 

Tory leadership hopefuls, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have been urged to decide which will be the UK’s roadmap for the energy bill crisis.

Liz Truss had already dismissed the idea of giving people “handouts” in the autumn while Rishi Sunak had vowed to scrap VAT on energy bills. 

Liberal Democrats have described the proposed plan as “energy furlough” – a similar measure to the government’s intervention to pay salaries during the pandemic.

Ed Davey said: “This price rise is another crisis – and you would spend less than 10% of what we did during Covid to prevent people suffering the worst social crisis in modern times.”

Liberal Democrats’ proposal comes after a campaign that calls people to cancel their direct debits gained steam in recent weeks.

Last week, asked about the “Don’t Pay” campaign, Jonathan Brearley highlighted the negative consequences of this kind of practice.