Politics
Ofgem’s energy price cap a ‘total con’, says Richard Burgon
Labour MP Richard Burgon has spoken out against Ofgem’s price cap rise, labelling it a “total con”:
Ofgem’s so-called energy price cap is a total con. Bills are going up again
We need a real price cap that protects ordinary people, paid for through the profits of energy giants.
We need to replace expensive gas with cheaper renewables. And energy back in public ownership!
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) May 27, 2026
Ofgem energy price cap
Reporting on the latest Ofgem price hike, the Canary’s Rose Cocker explained:
On 27 May energy regulator Ofgem announced that it will raise the energy price cap for 1 July to 30 September 2026 by a massive 13%. That’s the sharpest hike in household energy prices of any summer in the past four years.
Bill-payers under the cap will now pay the equivalent of £1,862 a year from 1 July to 30 September for gas and electricity. That’s up from the current equivalent of £1,641 a year – an increase of around £18 a month, based on typical use.
Cocker added that Ofgem is blaming Trump and Israel’s war on Iran for the price increase. It should be noted, however, that while most of us are facing price increases, Shell just saw “first-quarter profits surge by 115%”. It’s a similar phenomenon to supermarkets experiencing record profits as the rest of us suffer record prices.
As Burgon notes, public ownership would improve things. Instead of losing money to shareholder profits, we could re-invest money into the network. We could also stabilise prices whenever an event like the current oil shock occurs.
On this topic, Cat Hobbs of We Own It said:
It is also time to rethink the private ownership of our energy grid. Across the sector, energy companies made £23.1 billion in profits last year, at a time when household energy bills were going up, and families were being squeezed on all fronts. Reinvesting profits that are currently being paid out to shareholders into cutting bills could go a long way to cut our energy bills and save people from falling further into fuel poverty.
Burnham to the rescue?
Many are hoping that Andy Burnham is the man to renationalise Britain’s utilities. The problem is that Burnham’s statements on the matter have been wishy-washy and conflicting:
Andy Burnham says we could have a "localised public control option" for Thames Water
What does that mean? Who is in charge? Where do the profits go?
We need nothing less than permanent PUBLIC OWNERSHIP of Thames Water with households, workers and anti sewage groups on the board pic.twitter.com/0s1OT1mMzz — Cat Hobbs (@CatHobbs) May 23, 2026
As we reported, Burnham has not committed to ‘renationalising’ anything as far as we’ve seen. Instead, he’s talked about putting utilities under “stronger public control”. Burnham also said:
He has also spoken of stronger public control over utility companies. “I use that phrase advisedly. People then shorthand it as nationalisation; it’s not the same thing,” he said, pointing to Greater Manchester’s bus services, which are run by private operators.
When we suggested this means Burnham has no plans to renationalise, he responded as follows:
I’m not doing anything of the kind. Just got to be realistic about how quickly it can be done.
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) May 24, 2026
How quickly ‘what’ can be done, we don’t know, because he’s still not explained what he has in mind.
Reading between the lines, he seems to be suggesting that ‘stronger public control’ would be a stepping stone to full-on re-nationalisation? We don’t know, Andy — sounds like another centrist half-measure to us!
Hot air
Should Burnham come forwards with a clear plan for renationalisation, we’ll be sure to update you. Until then, we need to keep the pressure up. And this shouldn’t be difficult, because the public is massively in favour of nationalisation:
It’s almost like your average Briton doesn’t like being ripped off by private companies.
Featured image via Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
By Willem Moore
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