The Government has shown little action in dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. Families around the UK are struggling, and charities believe lives will be lost.
With energy bills forecast to hit over £4,200 a year next year millions of struggling families are asking what is the Government doing about it. Many fear that they will have to choose between heating, and eating, with some charities claiming the rising energy bills will cost lives.
Government ministers are claiming they cannot do anything until a new Prime Minister is installed at Number 10, leaving struggling families fearing for the future. Martin Lewis has slammed the Governments response that they cannot do anything until Boris Johnson’s replacement has been announced.
Martin Lewis has launched a ferocious attack on the government over its refusal to take immediate action to help people cope with soaring energy bills. He said it was a load of bull that the Government could not do anything until a new Prime Minister has been announced.
Education secretary James Cleverly told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that “the candidates cannot put their plans into practice until they are prime minister”.
Martin Lewis who appeared on the same show said: “What a load of bull. That is complete bull. I won’t use the final word on the back of it. That’s just simply not true.”
He said the government had previously brought forward an emergency package of help “when the government was facing political problems due to Boris Johnson”.
“There is absolutely nothing stopping the government doing that now and we have a party in government that controls a majority of the House of Commons,” he said.
“That’s how our political system works. The fact that there is internecine warfare between two candidates to lead that party does not stop the government from doing anything. Those two candidates could make an agreement about what is going to happen.
“So, the idea that they can’t do anything is wrong, they are not willing to do anything. They are not willing to work together in a national crisis that is coming on the scale of the pandemic.”
Struggling families around the UK including Manchester, Lincoln, Grimsby, Sheffield, Skegness, Boston, and Birmingham are having to make tough decisions due to the rising cost of living and rising energy bills. Families who fear how they are going to survive are asking why the Government is doing nothing.
A mother of two from Skegness who did not want to be named has said she is struggling to survive. With two children waiting to start secondary school, she is worried about how she is going to afford to pay for school uniforms.
Mark Knowles from Manchester told In2Town News Today that he is having to live on ten pounds a day.
“The Government is doing nothing. What are we paying these MPs and Ministers for? I am being forced to eat one meal a day while Government ministers are living it up. If the energy bills continue to rise, then I am going to have to look at missing more meals.”
It has been estimated that more than 6.32 million are in fuel poverty, but some experts believe the real figure is much higher.
A new report by York academics has said that fuel poverty will rise to more than 15 million people by January 2023 if the Government continues to sit on its hands and do nothing.
The report predicts that, even with the £400 fuel rebate being offered by the government, 58.5% of households will be plunged into fuel poverty in Yorkshire and the Humber, 47.5% in London, and 71.7% in Northern Ireland.
People living in poor areas and seaside resorts such as Skegness and Blackpool could be hit the hardest. Charities are warning that people will die from the rising energy bills while some doctors have said hospital admission could increase due to fuel poverty.
Belfast Children’s Hospital has said they expect a higher number of child fatalities as a result of poverty and the cost-of-living crisis this winter.
What people want is real action and for the Government to take action now instead of sitting on their hands and leaving families to suffer.
