Awkward moment Rishi Sunak is confronted by mother who can't afford to heat her own home

A woman confronted Rishi Sunak on the realities of the cost of living crisis and it made for awkward viewing.

The chancellor took calls from members of the public on LBC yesterday after delivering his spring statement and one woman described how the rising costs in bills was already forcing her to make radical changes to her lifestyle,

She explained she had "on paper a good job" and salary but the rising cost in energy was putting "intense strain" on her ability to provide for her children and she had been forced to take extra jobs to "bridge the gap" like cleaning houses and delivering food.

She said she had turned her boiler and lights off to cope and cut down on the price of her supermarket shops.

"Sometimes you can see our breath when we breath," she said.

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In response, Sunak said it sounded like she was "working her socks off" and paid tribute to the woman before explaining the £350 energy "rebate" people are receiving to deal with soaring energy bills. This "rebate" has been criticised for its spin - it's actually a loan people will have to pay back.

He then mentioned cuts to national insurance, which again was a bit spinny given it is increasing by 1.25 per cent then being cut for people on lower incomes, and said "I hope that that's helpful to you and your kids".

What did the caller make of that? "I think the response from Rishi is difficult because the support that is apparently being offered just isn't relative at all to what the rising costs are for us," she said.

"You are going to see more and more people relying on food banks and also not able to afford to work. You are going to have people in low-income families or families such as myself who may well get very very ill because they are unable to afford to heat their homes."

Take a look at the conversation for yourself here:

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