Warm This Winter, a new national coalition group, has published an open letter in The Times to all candidates in the race to become the next Prime Minister asking that they urgently set out how they plan to address the cost of living crisis driven by soaring energy bills.
The letter calls on each of the candidates to use these next precious few weeks to set out practical measures for how they will help people now, and how they will ensure we have lower energy bills in future.
The campaign, which is backed by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, is pushing for practical solutions that have the public’s support, and which are ready-to-roll out now, including:
- Providing financial support to people who without urgent action will be on the front-line of poverty this winter
- Upgrading and insulating homes across the UK to bring down bills and prevent energy waste
- Rapidly expanding clean energy, which is now four times cheaper than gas, to urgently lower energy bills
- Stopping drilling new oil and gas fields so that we can escape our dependence on volatile fossil fuels.
A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:
Based on current estimates, well in excess of a third of all homes will be in fuel poverty this winter, yet the candidates to be our next Prime Minister are ignoring the single most pressing issue facing families across the country.
Unless leadership candidates promise bold and decisive action, the next Prime Minister’s first act as leader will be to preside over the worst winter for millions of people in living memory.
Full letter to candidates
We are writing to you from Warm This Winter – a new national coalition representing 40 organisations and over 22 million people from across the UK during this time of national economic crisis – to ask what your plan would be as Prime Minister to address the cost of living crisis.
We are headed into a potentially catastrophic winter. In eleven weeks time, more than a third of households – many millions of British families – may not be able to afford to heat their homes. Meanwhile, earlier this year, 2.3 million families on low income were going without enough food and were unable to keep their homes warm.
According to the latest predictions, from October 1st the average annual energy bill will be over £3200. That means, for example, that the average pensioner will spend more than a third of their state pension on heating their home – and many people, including families, will have to choose between heating and eating. In the words of Martin Lewis last week: “millions of households will be forced into poverty unless we act. This is a genuine, urgent emergency.”
So far in the Conservative leadership campaign, no candidate has put forward a credible plan to support families, businesses, village and community halls, places of worship, hospitals and schools to keep their buildings warm this winter. Indeed whilst the public has grasped the scale and seriousness of the crisis heading our way, none of the leadership candidates seems to have done so.
We believe that in these next precious few weeks – when the Government should be planning and preparing for this winter – you should set out your plan for tackling the crisis of unaffordable energy bills, which are set to remain high until at least 2025. We know that this emergency, fuelled by the spiralling price of gas and by the war in Ukraine, does have solutions that are ready-to-roll out now – and that would also help us protect the future of the natural world – these include:
- Providing financial support to people who without urgent action will be on the front-line of poverty this winter
- Upgrading and insulating homes across the UK to bring down bills and prevent energy waste
- Rapidly expanding clean energy, which is now four times cheaper than gas, to urgently lower energy bills
- Moving away from drilling new oil and gas fields so that we can escape our dependence on volatile fossil fuels
Our members and supporters want to know what your plan would be – so we can have a proper debate on the most important and urgent issue facing this country. Whilst we may not all have a say in who becomes the next Prime Minister, we can ask that any candidate has a practical plan to keep people safe and warm this winter.
We would be keen to meet with you to discuss this further.
Full list of signatories:
- End Fuel Poverty Coalition
- The Climate Coalition
- CPRE The countryside charity
- Wildlife & Countryside Link
- Save the Children
- WWF UK
- The Wildlife Trusts
- Oxfam
- Fuel Poverty Action
- Fair Energy Campaign
- Robin Hood Tax
- The Centre for Sustainable Energy
- Energy Action Scotland
- Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
- Possible
- Ashden
- Austerity Action Group part of Social Workers Union
- New Economics Foundation
- Uplift
- Camden Federation of Private Tenants
- Regen
- Northern Housing Consortium
- Groundwork
- Advice for Renters
- Fairer Housing
- Friends of the Earth Scotland
- MCS Charitable Foundation
- Fairness Foundation
- Tax Justice UK
- Women’s Budget Group
- The Economic Change Unit
- Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland
- IPPR
- Chartered Institute of Housing
- The Centre for Ageing Better
- The Working Class Economists Group
- Greenpeace UK
- Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
- 38 Degrees
- Action with Communities in Rural England
The Petition - SIGN HERE
In October, millions of households across the UK could be pushed into fuel poverty by soaring energy bills. This comes after oil and gas giants, like Shell and BP, announced record-breaking profits. No more.
Oil and gas companies are getting richer while people are struggling to pay their bills. Our government’s failure to act will have catastrophic effects this winter.
It’s wrong that people in this country are forced to ride buses or visit public spaces just to keep warm – while, at the same time, oil and gas companies earn vast profits.
We all deserve to be warm in our own home, but right now soaring energy bills mean that many millions of people will struggle to pay their energy bill. It doesn’t have to be this way.
The UK has the means to solve the energy price crisis – but it will take action from the government. We’re demanding the UK government helps those people who need it now and fixes the UK’s broken energy system for good. Here's what we're demanding:
- Emergency support now: Providing a new package of financial support to people who without urgent action will be on the front-line of poverty this winter.
- Help to upgrade homes: Launching a new, properly-funded programme of home upgrades and insulation across the UK to bring down bills and prevent energy waste.
- Cheap energy: More than triple the amount of renewable energy in the UK by 2030, including wind and solar generated in harmony with nature, so that we can permanently lower bills.
- Free us from oil and gas: Stop approving new oil and gas fields so that we can escape our dependence on volatile fossil fuels
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