Boris Johnson responds to Nicola Sturgeon's call for emergency meeting on cost of living crisis

Boris Johnson has written to Nicola Sturgeon following calls for an emergency meeting on the cost of living crisis.

In a letter sent to the Prime Minister on Monday, the First Minister said that a meeting scheduled to take place in September should be brought forward.

The SNP leader had warned that many people in the UK “simply cannot afford” to wait until then for further action to be taken in tackling the issue.

2/ Action is needed now and a clear plan to help those in need must be developed for autumn/winter. I have therefore written to the PM seeking a 4 Nations’ Heads of Government Council meeting this week. The current Westminster paralysis can’t go on. People need help now pic.twitter.com/RyLrlmT5Rc
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 8, 2022

Setting out the steps already taken by the UK Government, Johnson underlined the need to work with the devolved governments “collaboratively”.

In his letter to Sturgeon, Johnson said he had asked his permanent secretary for the union to work with Scottish Government officials to plan for a “meaningful” ministerial meeting with the heads of devolved governments to consider how best to support families.

However, the Prime Minister did not commit to a timeline for holding such a meeting.

The letter was sent by the Prime Minister to the First Minister. STV News

No 10 has ruled out making any further fiscal decisions ahead of the election of the new leader of the Conservative Party.

Either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will be announced as the new leader of the party, and Johnson’s successor as prime minister, on September 5.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister met with representatives from the energy sector including from Scottish Power, EDF, SSE, E.ON, and the National Grid.

Johnson was joined by chancellor Nadhim Zahawi as part of the roundtable discussion held in No 11 Downing Street.

I know people are worried about the difficult winter ahead, which is why we are providing support – including a £400 energy bill discount for all households.

This morning I urged electricity companies to continue working on ways to help with the cost of living. pic.twitter.com/sdpLrKfcTN
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 11, 2022

Following the meeting, Zahawi said that firms had agreed to help more people “in the spirit of national unity”.

“We have already acted to protect households with £400 off energy bills and direct payments of £1,200 for eight million of the most vulnerable British families,” he said.

“In the spirit of national unity, they agreed to work with us to do more to help the people who most need it.”

Dhara Vyas, Energy UK’s director of advocacy, said: “The latest bill projections for this winter are extremely worrying.

“Both the Government and the energy sector know that we need to work together and act quickly to put in more support for them.

“While energy suppliers continue to do all they can to support customers, they know that more people than ever will struggle to afford their bills and so the demand for extra help will far outstrip the support that is in place.

“Today’s meeting was very welcome and the whole energy sector is committed to working with Government over the coming weeks to see what measures can be put in place to reduce the burden on customers.”