BBC Question Time descended into pure pantomime last night as Greg Hands tried to explain why the government’s £200 energy discount is “not a loan”.
With energy bills rising at an eye-watering rate, the government has stepped in to ensure people can pay their bills by giving every home £200 as part of their ‘Energy Bills Support Scheme’.
However, the discount is only temporary and from next April households will need to start paying back their grants in £40 instalments.
To most people this looks like a loan, which means the government isn’t actually giving the British public anything to help them through the cost-of-living crisis.
But according to Tory MP Greg Hands, it is nothing of the sort.
Here’s how he tried – in some sort of weird double-speak – to explain it away on BBC QT last night:
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