Millionaire Tory minister Jacob Rees Mogg has admitted even he has seen his energy bills go up but insists the Government shouldn't spend more money to tackle the crisis.
The Brexit Opportunities minister acknowledged he's "in a very fortunate position" and didn't want to moan about feeling the cost of living pinch as his constituents are "finding life difficult".
But when asked if he backed Chancellor Rishi Sunak's handling of the crisis, he instead called him a "brilliant man".
Mr Rees-Mogg and Mr Sunak have clashed over the crisis before, with the former Commons leader urging his colleague to drop the tax hike which came into effect earlier this month.
The Brexit Opportunities minister is understood to have argued the measure could not be justified as families faced increased living costs.
Speaking to the Mirror at the Eurotunnel in Folkestone, the cabinet minister said: "Well, I've seen bills go up in the same way as other people have seen bills go up."
But he added: "Government spending will not alleviate the problem, it will make it worse."
The latest hike – which saw the cap on energy bills rise to £1,971 at the beginning of April – is just starting to take effect and is expected to push millions of households into fuel poverty.
Downing Street has confirmed the Prime Minister will chair a committee with an aim to create a plan to tackle soaring living costs, weeks after Mr Sunak's disastrous Spring Statement did little to help the poorest households.
The Brexit Opportunities minister spoke from the Eurotunnel as he announced plans to drop a string of planned post-Brexit checks on imports after several delays.
Rules that were due to enter force in July after two delays will now only come in at the end of 2023 - and not in their original form.
He bizarrely admitted his own government's Brexit checks would have cost traders £1bn a year and "would have been an act of self-harm.”
Mr Rees-Mogg also admitted to the Mirror, they would have driven food prices up for Mirror readers, by £500 “for a load of fish fingers”.
A new 'Target Operating Model' setting out the plans will only be published in the Autumn. The government claimed it will 'harness the power of data and technology' with more digital checks.
Downing Street said after inflation and the Ukraine war, "we don’t think now is the right time to introduce these checks given the unique circumstances UK businesses are facing.”
The PM's spokesman said the new system will be “safe, secure and efficient and harness innovative new technologies.”
No10 didn’t rule out dropping physical checks altogether when a new model is drawn up in the Autumn.
