The current crisis could drag half of UK households into fuel poverty, while the Conservatives support oil and gas giants
The cost of living emergency facing the British people is not an inevitable, unalterable fact of life. We are told so often by government ministers that the pain and anguish the British people are facing is something we have to get used to, and all we can do is tinker round the edges. This energy bill crisis will devastate millions of families and could force more than half of British households into fuel poverty. Unlike the Conservatives, Labour is not willing to stand by and allow that social catastrophe to happen. This is why Labour has proposed to freeze energy prices.
It’s important we understand the deeper lessons this moment teaches us. First, while some of the causes of this cost of living crisis are driven by global factors, its effects – who suffers, who pays and who government protects – are not predetermined. It is a deeply political decision: the Conservatives have opted to let families and businesses pay unsustainably high energy bills while oil and gas companies enjoy huge and unexpected profits.
Ed Miliband is the Labour MP for Doncaster North and is shadow business, energy and industry secretary
