Fuel crisis risks Tory winter of discontent – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Richard Godley, Meadowfields, Whitby.
Is the Government risking a winter of discontent with the elderly over fuel poverty?Is the Government risking a winter of discontent with the elderly over fuel poverty?
Is the Government risking a winter of discontent with the elderly over fuel poverty?

THIS week we heard the news that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 3.1 per cent. This is the figure that will be applied to the OAP, ex-Service and Government pensions.

We will certainly not be getting an eight per cent rise as that has already been deemed ‘unaffordable’.

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For someone on the basic OAP of £179.60 per week that means a rise (if that figure is in fact to be used and not lowered by tinkering) of nearly £290 a year, still the lowest pension in Europe.

Is the Government risking a winter of discontent with the elderly over fuel poverty?Is the Government risking a winter of discontent with the elderly over fuel poverty?
Is the Government risking a winter of discontent with the elderly over fuel poverty?

Yet household energy costs are set to rise by at least £400, council taxes will undoubtedly rise by about five per cent if reports are to be believed (about £100 for a Band D house) and pensioners over 75 are now being forced to pay for a TV licence.

Pensioners who have bought their own home and worked all their lives to try and have a comfortable retirement are now wondering if they’ll be able to keep warm and put food on the table in the coming winter months.

I estimate that the ‘bonus and winter fuel payments’ should be raised to at least £750 just to stand still.

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The Government should not ignore the fact that Theresa May very nearly lost the election by refusing to guarantee the Triple Lock. Grey power would easily overturn a government of whatever colour if pensioners perceive mis-treatment.

Could we be in for a winter of discontent under a Tory government?

From: Clark Cross, Springfield Road, Linlithgow.

UK and Scottish politicians would never get a job in the private sector at a salary anything like they receive. The 129 MSPs range from £64,470 to £157,861. The 650 MPs range from £81,932 to £161,866. There are 800 members of the House of Lords.

Their most expensive and pointless exercise is ‘net zero’. This will cost UK taxpayers trillions. Other countries are too busy building coal-fired plants and harvesting oil, gas and coal to bother about their emissions.

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To pay for UK’s net zero there should be a ‘net zero’ tax of 20 per cent on all earnings and expenses over £64,000. That would mean that our politicians would have to pay towards the green mess they landed us in.

From: Rebecca Newsom, Greenpeace UK’s head of politics.

TAKING a longer-term view of the huge economic opportunities from climate action, as well as the costs of inaction, is the right approach. It would be 
short-sighted only to look at short-term financial impacts.

Rishi Sunak is also right to emphasise fairness in the transition, which will be an increasingly critical issue as we advance to net zero. This focus on fairness must now be matched with ambitious policies to reap rewards and avert climate disaster. This includes more funds to allow low-income households to benefit from heat pumps and greater investment in sustainable public transport to help level up the UK while cutting emissions.

It’s time for the Chancellor to match his words with action at next week’s Spending Review.

From: Neil Richardson, Kirkheaton.

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IN addition to clear policy pronouncements (The Yorkshire Post, October 20) ahead of COP26, should Boris Johnson et al also be very concerned about how well the UK’s energy networks cope with a week or more of a big freeze during the next five months.

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