The energy secretary has told Sky News that the government will “fight people’s corner” as the war in Iran threatens a fresh energy price crisis.
But, speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Ed Miliband refused to be drawn on what support the government may provide.
Politics latest: Iran war threatens to raise UK energy bills
Mr Miliband said: “We’re going to fight people’s corner… when it comes to the effects on them. That’s why this week, we’ve been saying to the petrol retailers, the heating oil companies, we’re not going to tolerate price gouging. We’re not going to tolerate unfair practices.
“Some people don’t like that. But that’s tough.”
He added: “I’m not going to speculate on how help will be provided if we do, if we make further interventions”.
Sky News understands the government will announce a support package as early as Monday for the poorest households that use heating oil.
Beyond help for oil customers, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is holding off on anything else for now.
While many homes in the UK are heated by gas, big swathes of rural areas are off-grid and rely on heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas to warm their properties.
In England, around 1.1 million fossil-fuel-heated homes are not connected to the gas grid.
While in Northern Ireland, two-thirds of homes rely on heating oil.
The energy price cap regulates gas and electricity prices and won’t increase until July at the earliest – and is actually set to fall by an average of £117 from the start of April – but doesn’t cover heating oil.
The Middle East conflict has seen the price of oil rise to over $100 a barrel, up from around $70 a barrel in February.
Iran has essentially closed off the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane in the Gulf by threatening to attack oil tankers, cutting off oil supply.
Around 20% of global oil exports usually pass through the waterway.
Fuel market ‘hasn’t been working well’
The former Labour leader also rejected the assertion that the government hasn’t “insulted” fuel retailers.
On Friday, Mr Miliband and Ms Reeves, met with fuel retailers and warned them not to profiteer from motorists.
But some of the government’s rhetoric has angered petrol retailers, who briefly threatened to pull out of the meeting and accused ministers of “inflammatory language”.
Mr Miliband told Sir Trevor: “This is a market that hasn’t been working well.
“It’s what they call rockets and feathers, that when the wholesale price goes up, prices jump up. And then when wholesale prices come down, they come down very, very slowly.”
He added the UK has “got to learn the lesson of this crisis”, which is: “If we are exposed to these fossil fuel markets at a time of the greatest geopolitical instability we’ve seen in generations, then it’s the British people who end up paying the price.”
He pointed to government’s actions to increase renewable and nuclear energy generation.
Asked about increased North Sea oil and gas exploration, he added that the government will continue to exploit existing licences, but that new licences would not reduce bills.
