Don’t Pay UK to stage protest outside Ofgem offices as energy price rise is confirmed

Don’t Pay UK, the campaign group calling for people to boycott their energy bills, is set to hold its first protest to coincide with Friday’s energy price cap rise.

The group is rallying supporters outside Ofgem’s London offices on Friday, after the regulator confirmed the price cap will increase by 80 per cent, from £1,971 to over £3,549.

Over 114,000 people have pledged not to pay their bills on October 1, according to Don’t Pay. That’s the day the energy price cap rise comes into effect.

Don’t Pay UK is calling for the cap to be returned to pre-April 2021 rates, an end to the enforcement of pre-payment meters and an “emergency social tariff”.

A London protest is planned for 6pm, outside Ofgem’s office in Canary Wharf.

Since its launch, Don’t Pay has billed itself as an anonymous group. The Mail on Sunday revealed one of the organisers was Alessio Lunghi, a long-time anarchist, who told an online meeting the group had managed to get groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil on board.

Don’t Pay UK says it will call off October’s strike unless one million people sign up, after it faced criticism that its campaign could land individual non-payers in trouble.

• What are the risks of Don’t Pay UK? We asked a leading lawyer

It hopes, however, that mass non-payment will force change, and provide safety in numbers.

It is one of several groups set up to fight the intensifying cost of living crisis. A number of trade unions and politicians have come together to form the Enough is Enough campaign, with Manchester mayor Andy Burnham expected to become the latest backer.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown has teamed up with the Big Issue and a number of other groups to call for immediate government action as part of the Anti-Poverty Coalition.

Over 70,000 people have backed Brown’s call, with the former Labour leader predicting a rise in homelessness as costs spiral.