It’s very nice of Liz Truss to deign to grace Aberdeen with her presence but, ultimately, rather pointless.
Because, right now, no one has any real interest in what the Tory leader wannabe has to say, unless it is a concrete, joined-up and practical way to get us ordinary folk through the devastation about to be wrought by soaring energy bills.
Maybe Miss Truss would like to go and chap on the doors of the Aberdeen businesses that have had to shut down or are about to close up shop because they can’t afford the tenfold plus increases in their bills.
Then she could tell them what her plans are to save them. Or if she actually has any real plans.
In fact, Liz shouldn’t be swanning around the provinces drumming up support for her leadership bid. She and Rishi Sunak should be sitting in 10 Downing Street with Boris Johnson – remember him, the prime minister chappie? – thrashing out a way to stop millions of households being thrown into poverty this winter.
And that has to go beyond Ms Truss’s mantra about cutting taxes being the way ahead. No, it’s not – not for those on low incomes and the vulnerable who don’t hit the threshold to be paying taxes.
She also needs to give her head a wobble with the whole “profits are not evil” thing. That’s a tough argument to make when families will be making the choice between heating their homes or feeding their children at a time when energy companies are making record-breaking, eye-watering, shedloads of cash.
This is not a moment for political dogma, but direct action
We are talking about money literally being taken out of ordinary people’s pockets and given to rich shareholders of global energy giants who certainly won’t be faced with life or death decisions when bills go rocketing in October, and again in April.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had people with their hands on the levers of power who had the spine to reply: ‘Eh, no you don’t’ to the energy giants?
For pity’s sake, there is even talk about “warm banks” being set up – community hubs where people can gather to get a heat because they can’t afford to turn on the thermostat in their own homes. In this country, in the 21st century. For shame.
And, with this disaster looming, the Westminster government has simply vanished
These are extraordinary times, an extraordinary crisis is heading our way, and extraordinary action is needed. Instead, we have zippity doo-dah from the Tories.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had people with their hands on the levers of power who had the spine to reply: “Eh, no you don’t” to the energy giants? To sit them round a table, look them in the eye and say: “Nope, you’re not going to leave people to shiver and starve in the dark this winter.”
They need to have the guts to freeze these hikes and use windfall taxes to pay for them.
This is not a moment for political dogma, but for direct action to protect ordinary people – you and me. Time to take from the obscenely rich and give to the desperately poor, not the other way around.
Scott Begbie is entertainment editor for The Press & Journal and Evening Express
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