Keir Starmer demands ban on raising energy prices

Exclusive: Labour calls for the price cap to remain at 1,971 as charities warn Tory leadership candidates of catastrophic impact on the cost of living

Labour leader Keir Starmer is to call for a ban on crippling energy price rises this autumn in a move that would save the average household more than 2,000 a year on gas and electricity bills, the Observer can reveal.

The demand to freeze the energy price cap at the current 1,971 level - blocking the regulator Ofgem from allowing a huge anticipated rise to around 3,600 in October - will place intense pressure on the Tory leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to follow suit when one becomes prime minister.