Letter from Mark Langabeer, Hastings and Rye Labour member.
ITV’s Tonight Programme illustrated the extent of the cost-of-living crisis. The ‘End fuel Poverty Coalition’ predicts that the number of households in fuel poverty will rise from 4,500,000 to 7,000,000 this winter.
Credit card debt has risen to levels not seen since 2005. Torsten Bell of the Resolution Foundation stated that the cost-of-living crisis has been compounded by an average 10% increase in food prices. Bell states that by January next year, the average monthly cost of energy for those on prepayment meters will be £250.
The Tonight Programme interviewed Andy Burnham, Labour’s Mayor for Greater Manchester. He stated that Britain was returning to the Victorian Age. Millions of people will depend on food banks and other forms of charity, in order to survive. Burnham is considering opening up fire stations for people to keep warm this winter. Not just food banks but warm banks as well.
The programme interviewed a GP from East London who stated that a patient was planning to cut back on food this winter. The GP was worried that this could result in premature death. Also interviewed was a woman with Lupus who requires a dialysis machine for her health condition.
Skyrocketing costs are a threat to life for those with severe disabilities. Burnham states that support from Government is often going to people that don’t need it. The huge profits made by the giant energy producers are an example of this. Although the whole of Europe is affected by the wholesale rise in gas prices, Britain has been among those that have been hit hardest. Higher gas usage and the lack of storage facilities have driven prices higher than most other European states. There are even fears that the UK could suffer blackouts this winter.
What are the solutions to the current cost of living crisis? An end to the war in Ukraine would help. However, leaving energy supply to the vagaries of the market and private ownership will result in an even greater crisis in the future.
