I thought I’d write this article to let you know how I’m going to cope this Winter. I’m one of those poor folks that you keep hearing about. I have an household income of £8,500 and was paying just 10p a KWh for electricity less than two years ago. I’m now paying 29p per KWh and soon, in October, I’ll be paying 50p per KWh (60p in January ’23). “How can we help poor folk” is the cry, “let’s freeze energy prices”, some say. I say, NO, let’s not freeze energy prices. That is insanity, because freezing energy prices helps the rich folk. Folk like Prince Charles, who has multiple homes to heat this Winter, or Rishi Sunak who, not only has multiple homes to heat, but also a new swimming pool that needs heating too. I say, let those folks pay the inflated prices, they can afford it. I say let’s get cash to those who need it the most.
So far, I’ve had £150 Council Tax rebate, and I’ll receive £325 by the end of September. There’ll be another £325 coming, whenever they get round to it, and, the Government is paying £400 to the energy companies on behalf of every household in UK. That’s a £66 discount every month for six months. Do I need more help? Sure I do, and I’m sure there’ll be more comng my way. Pensioners get a little extra over the Winter, but they could have done without the triple lock being broken (thank Sunak for that). I see a lot of working folk need assistance too, and I think cutting taxes will help. But, please, don’t be fooled into thinking that “freezing” energy prices is any kind of solution. It will load the taxpayer with HUNDREDS of £billions of debt. The proposal is that the debt will then be loaded onto your energy bills in the future, at a rate of around £400 for the next ten years. Seriously, I’m not joking.
You’d be surprised at how resilient a lot of older (and poorer) people are. The human race has been evolving for the past 50,000 years or so, and we can actually put up with a bit of cold. Every year though, thousands die of hypothermia in the UK and that’s not going to change anytime soon. If you have the opportunity to help someone, then do it. Invite people round for a “warm up”, or invite them round for a meal or two. The Government can’t solve all your problems, and there’s no magic wand that can be waved. Energy companies have decided to take profits rather than increase supply and that’s down to Government Net Zero policies which aim to put these companies out of business by 2050. Would you make a long term investment in a fossil fuel energy business? I’m seeing a lot of unwarranted hysteria on Social Media and in the Main Stream Media, but these people have no idea what they’re talking about, they want the Government to spew forth taxapayers money by the £billion to “save the poor”. Those people have no interest in thrift and they certainly aren’t trying to help me. I’m sure that energy prices will fall in two or three years time, but for now, we’re just going to have to do the best we can.