Brown rules out cash handouts

Gordon Brown has ruled out the possibility of a one-off cash handout to households who are struggling with the cost of rising energy bills. In a speech to the Scottish CBI in Glasgow on Thursday night, the Prime Minister said ministers were focusing on long-term proposals such as working with utility companies to try to reduce bills, rather than "short-term gimmicks or giveaways".

However the Government will announce an "assistance package" for those affected by rising energy bills next week, following the £1 billion package of support for the housing market announced on Tuesday. The package will instead concentrate on securing extra financial help from electricity producers to pay for home efficiency measures, targeted at low-income households.

Moves to make every home in Britain more energy efficient would "reduce bills not just temporarily, but permanently," Brown said. "Because you cannot address a long-term problem - the supply and demand for oil- with a short-term gimmick like a fuel duty stabiliser.”