Energy price restrictions 'should be introduced immediately'
Published on : 15/01/2009
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Gordon Brown should introduce immediate emergency energy price restrictions, according to the head of the Dundee Anti-Poverty Forum.
Jim Milne has written to the Prime Minister saying that the costs of heating homes was putting "undue pressure" on people's finances, adding that energy firms were "failing the consumer", reports the Courier.
He stated that government fuel allowances were "doing little" to help vulnerable people in society, claiming was now "no longer tenable" for consumers across the UK to "bear the burden" of the high gas and electricity costs.
Mr Milne told the newspaper: "Some vulnerable households will receive a £25 heating subsidy this week but with annual bills still in excess of a whopping £1200, this subsidy is equivalent to just 2 per cent of yearly energy costs.
"This will clearly not prevent some who are most in need from being forced to heat or eat, which may ultimately mean some people could die as a result."
Gwen King, chairman of the Queens Park Residents' Association in Blackpool, recently claimed that people on her estate were too afraid to switch their heating on due to high energy costs, the Blackpool Gazette reported.
