There will be no extra help for families hit by huge gas price hikes, No 10 says, despite a Cabinet minister warning of “a very difficult winter”.

       The business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng acknowledged the impact on “vulnerable” households, also facing the prospect of the Universal Credit cut and tax hikes next year.

       And Damian Green, the former de-facto deputy prime minister, is among Tories worried about the rising cost of living creating “very, very difficult times ahead for hundreds of thousands of people”.

       But Downing Street rejected the idea of “any additional help”, saying: ‘We already have schemes in place to help people out over the winter.”

       Boris Johnson’s deputy spokesman pointed to a “range of support that we already make available to people over the winter, to help them to support them with the energy payments”.

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       They are “the warm home discount, the winter fuel payments, cold weather payments, which will continue to support millions of vulnerable and low-income households with their energy bills”.

       Asked why – if those measures are sufficient, Mr Kwarteng is warning of “a very difficult winter” – the spokesman said: “We want to build back better from the pandemic and the prime minister has committed to levelling up across the country.”

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