Fuel poverty must be tackled

THE Government’s own Fuel Poverty Advisory Group JAS published the shocking figure that 300,000 homes across Britain will be pushed into fuel poverty by Christmas.

That means an extra 1,500 homes here in Calderdale, will be forced into making an increasingly stark choice between heating and eating. Even more worrying is that half of those households are pensioners.

With such a cold winter, welfare cuts and other rising household costs, the problem of the fuel poor has never been more serious.

The Government must tackle the scandal of profiteering energy companies head on, while making greater investments in energy-saving schemes such as cavity wall and loft insulation in the Warm Homes Schemes, in order to alleviate the lot of the thousands of Calderdale folk who are living in misery due to high energy bills.

Standing still

From: James Wightman-Smith, Durkar, Wakefield.

THERE is little that irritates me more than the misuse of the verbs “to stand”, “to sit”, “to lean” although sadly, I fear it is becoming prevalent. In day-to-day speech it just irritates me; when it slips into mainstream journalism it depresses me.

Some people insist that language is transient, but I find it insidious that an error should become acceptable through numerically overwhelming ignorance.

Time for vote

From: John DC Piper, West Burton, Leyburn.

I STRONGLY support GP Taylor’s article on Ukip (Yorkshire Post, December 8).

At the last election, I wrote to William Hague pointing out that I, and many others, wanted a referendum on Europe in or out, not the prevailing ambivalent attitude. I am over 90 but it is surely time that we bite the bullet – hopefully with a large turnout of electors as a genuine democracy requires to function properly.