POPULAR ITV breakfast programme Good Morning Britain visited the Scottish Borders this morning to canvas opinions on Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announced of £15 billion of measures to tackle the impact of soaring inflation.

Every household will get a £400 energy bill discount under an emergency cost-of-living package that will be partly funded by a £5 billion windfall tax on oil and gas giants.

This will replace the initial plan for a £200 loan, with Mr Sunak scrapping the requirement to repay the money.

As well as the universal payment, there was targeted support for the poorest, the elderly and the disabled in the package that will be two-thirds funded by borrowing.

In his statement to parliament yesterday the  Chancellor acknowledged that high inflation is causing “acute distress” and said that the Government “will not sit idly by while there is a risk that some in our country might be set so far back they might never recover”.

When asked her views, Peebles Foodbank Manager Fiona Dalgleish said “We really didn’t know how we were going to cope, we’ve been so busy. Bur we are really relieved and it does show that things can change.

“But let’s just hope it’s a long term shift that we are seeing here.

“There is definitely rural poverty which puts different pressures on families. For instance a lot of people have to have oil rather than being connected to the gas. And that has gone up even more than traditional fuels.

“Transport links are pretty sparse so people depend on their car and petrol is obviously going up.“