During the Prime Minister's Questions today, Wednesday 27th November, the Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton, Ed Davey, urged the Prime Minister to freeze energy bills following Ofgem's announcement that the energy price cap will rise again in January. 

 Ed Davey also called on the government to reinstate Winter Fuel Payments or risk pensioners in Kingston and Surbiton being clobbered in the coming months by bill rises and cuts to support.

 This comes as Ofgem announced on Friday 22nd November that the energy price cap will rise to £1,738 a year in January, following the previous 10% rise in October. 

 Additionally, previous analysis following the Government's changes to the Winter Fuel Allowance estimated 12,627 pensioners in Kingston and Surbiton would be at risk of losing the £300 payment.

 A national poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats also revealed the staggering effects of the cut to the Winter Fuel Allowance this winter.

The poll of pensioners showed that three in four (75%) expect to be affected by the Government's cut to winter fuel allowance payments. 

 Over half (55%) of UK pensioners polled said they would likely be heating their homes less this winter, while 4 in 10 will look to cut back on other "essentials".

Furthermore, 1 in 5 (19%) pensioners are planning to eat less this winter due to the cut. 

 With a further increase in energy prices in January, and changes to the winter fuel allowance, many pensioners in Kingston are worried about how they will be able to get by this winter.

That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to cancel this rise in energy bills so that households don't face even higher energy costs in the new year.

 During the Prime Minister's Questions, Ed Davey, asked: "On Friday, Ofgem said that energy bills will go up again in January, after last month's 10% rise. 

 "Millions of people are really worried about how they will make ends meet this winter, not least hundreds of thousands of pensioners who are in poverty but above the pension credit limit, who will now lose winter fuel payments. 

 "With energy bills going up again, will the Prime Minister reconsider and restore winter fuel payments?"

Previous polling by the Liberal Democrats revealed the staggering number of pensioners who could be negatively impacted this winter with over half (55%) of pensioners saying that they expected to heat their homes less in the coming months and a fifth (19%) saying that they will eat less.