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Labour is accused of plotting a "bailout for Benefits Street" instead of taking action to secure Britain's energy supply and bring down bills for everyone. Conservatives will this week attempt to force a vote in Parliament to get drilling started in the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields.

This comes after Labour doubled-down in the King's Speech on its commitment not to allow the exploration of new fields and to ban fracking. The Government will also gain new powers to target support at the worst-off households. The Chancellor has already said she is looking at ways that help with bills which have been pushed up by the Iran can be based on household income".

The Conservatives said an "energy bill bailout for benefits street" is in the works and called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to stand up to the "zealotry" of Ed Miliband, the Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, and give the "green light to drilling".

Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho claimed: "The Government is about to ask struggling families on £30,000 or £40,000 a year to pay more in tax to fund an energy bill bailout for those on benefits. They are determined to do anything but address the root cause of the problem - the levies and taxes that make our electricity prices the most expensive in the world.

"Meanwhile Ed Miliband is about to introduce an Energy Independence Bill that will make us more dependent on foreign countries for our energy supply by shutting down the North Sea. This is unforgivable, especially during an energy crisis where we should be maximising our own production. We will give Labour MPs the chance to do the right thing, overrule their ideological energy secretary, and back the North Sea. If we truly want to make Britain more energy resilient then we must make electricity cheap, double down on secure nuclear, axe the carbon tax and get Britain drilling."

A Government spokesperson said: "Issuing new licences to explore new fields cannot give us energy security and will not take a penny off bills. Regardless of where it comes from, oil and gas is sold on international markets, which set the price for British billpayers - making us a price taker. The route to energy sovereignty, lower bills and thousands of good jobs in our communities is clean, homegrown power we control."