Boris Johnson boasted that he "introduced the freedom bus pass" when confronted with the story of a poverty-hit pensioner who rides buses to keep warm.
The Prime Minister gave a car crash interview to ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday and was repeatedly pressed over Britain's cost of living crisis.
He admitted Chancellor Rishi Sunak's £9bn would fail to help all Brits struggling with their bills as inflation and rising food and energy prices clobber households.
Presenter Susanna Reid pushed him on the shaming case of a 77-year-old viewer called Elsie, who has seen her energy bill increase from £17 to £85 a month, has cut down to one meal a day and travels on buses all day to stay out of the house and reduce her bills.
Asked what Elsie should cut down on, Ms Reid warned the pensioner was "losing weight", before the PM replied: “The 24-hour freedom bus pass was actually something that I actually introduced.”
He added: “I don’t want Elsie to cut back on anything.”
Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jon Ashworth said: “It is utterly shameful that pensioners have no choice but to sit on the bus all day to avoid racking up heating bills at home, or are left shivering in blankets and only eating one meal a day.
“For Boris Johnson to respond by boasting about the London bus pass reveals just how out of touch this narcissistic Prime Minister is. The simple truth is Boris Johnson has just imposed the biggest real terms cut to the pension in 50 years and charities like Age UK are warning this will be a year of hell for Britain’s retirees.
“A vote for Labour on Thursday is a vote to send the Conservatives a message they can't ignore about why we need a windfall tax to provide real help to families facing the Conservatives’ cost of living crisis.”
Experts have said that the last Tory mini-budget would herald the biggest drop in living standards since the time of rationing.
Mr Johnson insisted the Government is doing “everything we can” to help with the cost-of-living crisis.
He claimed there are “plenty of things more that we are doing”, before adding: “What we want to do is make sure that we have people who are in particular hardship looked after by their councils, so we are putting much more money into local councils.
“We have the particular payments to help elderly people in particular with the cost of heating.”
He warned, however, that increasing state support beyond its current levels could drive inflation even higher.
There is a “global context” caused by a surge in energy prices which is hitting all aspects of the economy including food, he said, adding: “The cost of chickens is crazy.”
On energy, Mr Johnson said: “This country is in the insane position of having to take in, pipe in, electricity from France and elsewhere because we haven’t done enough to invest in our own security of energy and electricity.”
