RISHI Sunak has told wealthy second homeowners who get two taxpayer-funded energy bill rebates to give one away to charity.

The Chancellor - who has three homes in the UK - has come under fire for the scattergun nature of the measure which will see £400 knocked off the energy bill of every household in the country.

Mr Sunak said the easiest way to get the cash to those most in need was to make the help universal.

It was announced in the Commons on Thursday as part of a £21 billion package to help with the cost of living.

The statement followed weeks of mounting pressure to act, and bitter disagreements in cabinet over how it should be funded. 

Labour said the government should have been targeting those on the lowest incomes rather than giving grants to “somebody who’s incredibly wealthy”.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said it was an indication of how rushed the Chancellor’s package of measures had been.

“It is not right that if you own a second or a third home you should get this £400 payment multiple times," she told Sky News.

"You can now get a situation where somebody who’s incredibly wealthy gets £400 on three or four occasions because they own so many properties.

“This is only happening because this package has been rushed through because the government has been resisting this.”

The energy bill rebate replaces plans announced earlier this year for what was, effectively, a £200 loan that would be paid back in £40 instalments through people’s bills from April next year.

The new grant will be paid via a reduction in energy bills over six months from October.

Mr Sunak told Sky News host Niall Paterson: “You, like me, can also give that money to charity if you don’t need it.

“I’m sure you will, and set an example.”

The Chancellor insisted that measures in the de-facto emergency budget were targeted at the most in need.

He added: “When you’re trying to help people on that scale, when you need to get help to tens of millions of people, you’ve got a choice - how best can you deliver that? The reality is when you’re talking about that number of people, there really aren’t many ways to do it.”

Mr Sunak said the alternative would have been to pay the money through a rebate on council tax for properties in lower bands.

But he said: “We tried that and we tried to do it with a discretionary fund, and it’s worked reasonably well.

"But there are lots of cases of people who will say ‘Hang on, I happen to live in this expensive-looking house or in a high council tax band house, but I need help too’.

“How else would you get the support to those on middle incomes who are working hard, who do feel they need support - and I hear a lot from them every week.

"Just because they’re not on benefits or they’re not pensioners, they still actually think ‘this is tough for me, it’s a £1,200 increase in my energy bill, it’s right that the government’s on my side’."

The IFS said the measure - along with others announced in the statement - would offset 82% of the energy price rise for most households, rising to 93% for poorer households.

Mr Sunak also refused to rule out a further emergency cost-of-living package next year. 

That's despite anger from some Tory backbenchers. Dorset MP Rcihard Drax accused the Chancellor of "throwing red meat to socialists."

Mr Sunak insisted he remained a “fiscal conservative” and was committed to managing the public finances “responsibly”, but he refused to rule out another emergency package next year.

“People can judge me by how I’ve acted over the last couple of years,” he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

“I’ve always been prepared to respond to the situation on the ground, what’s happening to the economy, what families are experiencing, and making sure we’ve got policies in place to support them through that.

“I do want people to be reassured and confident that we will get through this. We will be able to combat and reduce inflation, we have the tools at our disposal, and after time it will come down.”

Much of the disagreement was over the funding of the measures. Around £5 billion is coming from windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas giants, with another £10 billion covered by extra borrowing.

 

Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg reportedly raised his concerns at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, later telling broadcasters there was not “a honeypot of free tax that governments can just pop into”.

 

 

Mr Sunak also denied he was considering resigning.

He said: “I am fully committed to helping get the country through what are some challenging months ahead and build a brighter future for the people that I’m very privileged to represent.

“And as you saw yesterday I have the same energy and verve I’ve always had for this job and I’ll keep at it.”

Earlier this week, Mr Sunak became the first cabinet minister to appear on the Sunday Times rich list. 

The former hedge fund manager, and his Indian heiress wife, Akshata Murty, were named as the 222nd wealthiest people in the UK, with a combined £730m fortune.

The couple own a property portfolio of four homes worth an estimated £15m, including a £5m Santa Monica penthouse overlooking the beach where Baywatch was filmed.