Rishi Sunak has repeatedly declined to say how many more people could be pushed into fuel poverty by rising energy prices, saying only that people should not be scared. The chancellor is facing increasing pressure over cost of living issues in the run-up to Wednesday’s spring budgetary statement, with particular concerns that a rise in energy bills next month, followed by another in October, will be devastating for household budgets. “Without question, this is people’s number one priority at the moment,” Sunak told BBC One’s Sunday Morning programme when asked about energy costs. “I get that, and I know how difficult it is when you’re working hard and seeing the price of everything go up every week. “And the steps that we have taken to sanction Russia are not cost-free for us at home. I want to be honest with people: it’s not going to be easy.” However, when asked a number of times how many people could potentially fall into fuel poverty, Sunak declined to answer the question, saying only that actions already taken – including a £150 council tax rebate for homes in bands A to D, and a £200 discount on bills in October that will be repaid with higher bills in future years – “will make a big difference”. Appearing earlier on the same show, the consumer expert Martin Lewis predicted that 10 million people could experience fuel poverty, saying the impact of energy prices would have a worse impact than Covid or the financial crisis of 2008. “Money prioritisation used to be, do I go to the hairdresser or do I go to the pub and have a takeaway. Now it’s about: I’m prioritising feeding my children over feeding myself,” Lewis said. “That is simply not tenable in our society. There is absolute panic, and it has not started yet.” “It’s not something money management can fix,” he said. “We need political intervention.” When asked about Lewis’s forecast of the number who could face fuel poverty, Sunak said: “I don’t know if he presented any analysis to show that.” Asked if he had done such an analysis, he said: “The analysis we’ve done will show that the impact of policies we’ve put in place will disproportionately help those on lower incomes.” While declining to speculate on what, if any, extra help might come this week, Sunak said people should “judge me by my actions over the past two years”, adding: “Where we have been able to make a difference, I have tried to do that.” Questioned about another likely rise in energy bills in October, when the price cap for the bills is next reassessed, Sunak said: “We don’t know and I don’t want people to be scared. What we have is a price cap that will protect people all the way through to the autumn. We’ve acted now to help them with the increase that is coming in, in April. The situation is obviously very volatile in Ukraine.” In an earlier interview with Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, Sunak hinted he could be leaning towards measures to help people with petrol and diesel costs. “Obviously I can’t comment on specific things,” he said. “But what I would say is, I understand that. I have a rural constituency; people are incredibly reliant on their cars, and this is one of the biggest bills that people face, watching it go up. “We are all seeing that when we are filling up our cars. I get that. That’s why we have frozen fuel duty already; I announced that in autumn. It’s the 11th consecutive year of fuel duty freezes and that really helps people, I know that.”