The Prime Minister has put soaring heating oil prices at the centre of his response to the Middle East crisis, condemning reports of cancelled orders and sudden price hikes as “simply unacceptable”. He said he had been “shocked” by accounts of suppliers “cancelling orders and jacking up prices”, warning firms that “if the companies have broken the law, there will be legal action.”
He stressed that households off the gas grid were being hit by a “perfect storm” of rising global kerosene costs and weak protections at home, and pledged to “stand up for rural and off‑grid communities who have been left exposed for too long”. While he accepted that the conflict had pushed up wholesale prices, he drew a clear line between legitimate increases and exploitation, saying: “I will not allow companies to make huge profits from the hardship of working people.”
In Case You Missed it:
As part of a wider five‑point plan on the cost of living, the Prime Minister announced a £53 million package of “immediate support” aimed at the most vulnerable households that rely on heating oil. He said this would help families “top up their tanks, keep the heating on and get through this winter without having to choose between warmth and food”. He framed the intervention as a question of fairness, insisting: “People who do the right thing, work hard and pay their way should not be punished because of a war thousands of miles away.”
The government will also move to tighten rules in what he described as an “under‑regulated market”, promising to give watchdogs stronger powers to act where there is evidence of profiteering. “That kind of conduct is simply unacceptable,” he said, adding that tougher oversight would ensure that customers “get a fair price, a fair contract and the confidence that when they place an order, it will be honoured”. The heating oil clampdown, he argued, shows that ministers are “on the side of working people in every part of our country, from big cities to the most remote rural communities.”
He linked the heating oil crisis to a broader push on energy security, arguing that Britain must “get ourselves off the rollercoaster of international oil and gas markets and onto clean, homegrown British energy”. In the meantime, though, he acknowledged that many households are “worried sick” about their next delivery and said his message to them was clear: “We are going to put this right. We won’t just wait for that – we are acting now and we will keep going until people feel the difference in their bills.”
