The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Jubilee celebrations, energy bill discounts and a trade deal with Indiana

issue 04 June 2022

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The Jubilee for the Queen’s 70 years on the throne was marked by two days of public holiday, 16,000 street parties, a service at St Paul’s, Trooping the Colour, late pub opening, beacons, bells, and anxiety about the Queen’s health. After Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced in parliament that he had added £15 billion of public money to the £9 billion allocated in the spring statement to relieving energy bills, the nation questioned what it meant for their pockets and for Conservative politics. The government would get some of the money for the plan from a windfall tax, or ‘energy profits levy’, of 25 per cent on the profits of oil and gas producers, expected to yield £5 billion this year. Everyone would get an energy bill discount of £400 in October, instead of the £200 loan already offered. Eight million households on means-tested benefits would get £650.

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