I rather think my energy provider has mistaken me for a turkey that will cheerfully vote for Christmas.
You can tell from the email that dropped on me while I was sitting on my couch on Sunday night with a big “Let’s Do It!” link to increase my monthly direct debit.
And why do I need to do such a thing? Because the lovely folk that provide my gas and electricity estimated I’m going to be spending £1,110.46 more a year with them.
You might want to read that number again… I know I did. Getting on for an extra £100 a month to cough up if I want to eat hot food and not shiver in the dark.
Why are gas prices going up?
And why? Because, according to my chums at EDF, wholesale gas prices have quadrupled in the last year, which puts leccie up too. The protection offered by Ofgem with a price cap is going up by 54%, so cough up, old boy.
Westminster has the ability to protect people, not profits for global conglomerates.”
Please note that there’s no mention here of the disruption to gas and oil caused by tyrant Putin deciding he was going to level a neighbouring country. So when the Tories start banging on about rising prices being all the fault of the crisis in Ukraine, don’t believe them.
This hideous increase was in play and on the way well before the tanks rolled towards Kyiv.
Energy giants are raking it in
Why has the energy price cap been increased? Who benefits from that? Not you and me that’s for sure, so that just leaves the energy giants that are already raking in gazillions every hour. We’re being crippled to pay for their profits, are we?
And for many people crippled is an inadequate description. Sure, we will all have to find the money from somewhere. For some it will mean having to forego some of the nice-to-haves, eating out less, not quite so plush a holiday, turning the thermostat down a notch or setting the heating to start later and finish earlier.
But for many, this is the hammer blow that will push them into real poverty, making decisions between heating and eating. Really? In this day and age, in a country where we are a net exporter of electricity?
Energy price cap increase and soaring prices will cripple many
Add to that the soaring price of petrol, which in turn pushes up the prices in shops, while there’s an increase in National Insurance payments set to arrive.
This, surely, could have been avoided. Why is that energy price cap increasing just as people get back on their feet after the pandemic. Ditto the NI hike?
Surely Chancellor Rishi Sunak could step in to fix one or the other. At the very least he could listen to the rising calls to at the very least cut fuel duty on petrol and diesel.
“I am virtually out of tools to help people now,” says the Money Saving Expert
Martin Lewis says the UK is facing the worst cost of living crisis he has ever seen#Raworth https://t.co/PYeTp7O30G pic.twitter.com/foekmqPlph
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 20, 2022
Instead, the Chancellor is busy saying he cannot “fully protect” people from the consequences of rising prices.
But isn’t that what a responsible government does? Sees a crisis looming for ordinary people and pulls all the levers of power it has to protect them? Look at Europe and you’ll see what I mean.
Westminster has the ability to protect people, not profits for global conglomerates. So maybe we should all send an email to Mr Sunak with a big link saying: “Let’s do it!”
Scott Begbie is entertainment editor for The Press & Journal and Evening Express
