Extend UK energy price cap to hold inflation back, thinktank says

IPPR says cap for longer than six months would aid growth and allow more to be spent on public services

Jeremy Hunt should allow the energy price cap to run beyond the existing six-month deadline to act as a shock absorber" that would reduce inflation and give consumers 90bn of extra spending power, a leading thinktank has argued.

The left-leaning IPPR said the energy price cap could repay the exchequer in lower wage demands and lower interest rates, boosting economic growth and raising tax receipts.