Top Tory in talks with energy bosses to slap families with £320 levy for 20 years

The Business Secretary's plan to keep gas and electricity prices low would mean imposing a huge cost on the next generation (

Image: PA)

Chancellor-in-waiting Kwasi Kwarteng is in talks with energy bosses to impose a £320 tax on households for the next two decades, sources say.

The Business Secretary's plan to keep gas and electricity prices low would mean imposing huge costs on the next generation.

Former Labor Minister Mike Foster of the Energy and Utilities Alliance said: 'It is the less fortunate who will suffer the most and the young will have to pay a debt they did not incur.

"And the energy companies making millions out of this crisis are off the hook."

Mr. Kwarteng is strongly tipped to take charge of the Treasury if Liz Truss, the Conservative leadership's favorite, becomes Prime Minister in eight days.

The energy giants want him to give them a huge loan to cut bills and avoid a one-off tax that customers would be asked to pay back over the next 20 years.

That would make them pay an extra £160 on their bills each year if the crisis lasts one year and £320 if it lasts two years.

Mr. Foster added, "The government needs to act to help the people, but it needs a bazooka, not a pea shooter.

"It's an attractive approach for the Conservatives because they get the money back."

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And there are warnings that if something isn't done, there could be protests similar to the poll tax riots that brought down Maggie Thatcher 30 years ago.

Lewis Shaw of Shaw Financial Services said: "We're completely out of rudder in a storm and no one on deck is taking the controls.

"This has all the hallmarks of serious civil unrest if we're not careful. People are already stretched beyond the breaking point."

And TUC boss Frances O'Grady added: 'This is the worst possible time for the government to go missing.'

A typical household will pay £3,549 for energy from October, with predictions that it could rise to over £7,000 next year.

That means 22 million customers have been hit by hikes of £2,271 so far this year. In March they were paying £1,277.

Yet most only get £400 off from October and Ms Truss remains opposed to everything but targeted distributions.

Yet as electricity drops from 27p to 52p per unit, it will cost £3.60 to run a boiler for an hour and 10p to boil a kettle. More than two million households will run out of savings next year.