Amid Unprecedented Cost-Of-Living Crisis, BoJo Tells Brits “Buy A New Kettle”

As electricity bills hyperinflate due to dwindling natural gas supplies from Russia, half of all UK households risk being pushed into energy poverty in the coming months. Brits face a historic energy crisis that is morphing into a cost-of-living nightmare while disgraced and outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson told people this week to purchase a new efficient “kettle” to save on their power bill. 

“If you have an old kettle which takes ages to boil, it may cost you £20 to replace it – but if you get a new one, you’ll save £10 a year every year on your electricity bill,” Johnson said. 

Buy a new kettle and save £10 on your £3,549 energy bill, says Johnson.

The Tories just don’t get it. Never have, never will. #YouYesYet? pic.twitter.com/bEv5LWVfsl

— Tommy Sheppard MP (@TommySheppard) September 1, 2022

The prime minister’s critics and the internet were quick to jump on his “out of touch” comment ahead of what could be one of the darkest winters Brits will face in more than a century as hyperinflating power prices will collapse living standards. 

One Twitter user said: “Boris Johnson says we should spend £20 on a new kettle which will shave a tenner off our energy bills, even now as the UK crumbles, as people beg, steal, borrow to survive (because of his party) it’s one big joke.”

A second said: “Sooooo spend £20 to save a tenner this year? Never mind the fact that it takes exactly the same amount of energy to boil water slowly as it does to boil it quickly.”

Many said his advice was “out of touch” with reality… “This is the best the prime minister of this country can come up with?” one person questioned.

Johnson’s comments come nearly a week after energy regulator Ofgem increased the cap on power bills to a record £3,549 ($4,189) beginning Oct. 1 from £1,971 ($2,330) at present. That cap is expected to rise to £5,439 ($6,427) by January and £7,272 ($8,594) by spring — all due to elevated wholesale NatGas and electricity prices caused by declining Russian energy supplies to Europe, made worse by Western sanctions that have backfired. 

News Friday that Russian energy giant Gazprom was expected to resume critical supplies of NatGas to Europe via Nord Stream 1 on Saturday has since been postponed because an undetected oil leakage could make things a lot worse for the UK and Europe. 

On Monday, a vote will decide who will replace Johnson — if it’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss or former Chancellor Rishi Sunak.