YESTERDAY, the Government rejected my amendments to the Energy
Bill when I called for clear and unambiguous targets to eradicate fuel poverty.
Today I witnessed the Chancellor
compounding the living standards crisis and ignoring a golden opportunity to
reverse decades of underinvestment in Britain’s ageing housing infrastructure.
He could have made up for the failings of the Energy Secretary by using
today's occasion to reduce the rate of VAT on domestic renovation and repair
and help to get Britain's million plus unemployed young people back to work.
The inaction of the Energy Secretary
and the Chancellor has left millions of households powerless in the face of
rising fuel bills. These millionaire ministers have failed to stand up
for ordinary people and have capitulated to the Big 6 Energy Companies.
They have proved themselves so out of
touch with the lives of the British public that, rather than doing something
about the rising numbers of people in fuel poverty struggling to pay their fuel
bills, they've simply changed the definition of what constitutes fuel poverty!
Even though there was a 29% increase in
the number of excess winter deaths last winter, ministers smugly claim they've
secured a good deal for people by knocking £50 off the increase in energy
bills. But people's fuel bills are still going up by at least £70,
placing even more people in the invidious position of choosing between putting
food on the table or adequately heating their homes.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the
Federation of Master Builders voiced his concern this afternoon when he said:
“In his Autumn Statement George Osborne says he is backing British business and
British families, and correctly named housing as the general public’s top
infrastructure priority.
"However, the Government continues
to focus on big-ticket projects such as road and rail, which will be years in
the planning and are unlikely even to begin within the term of this
Parliament.
"The Chancellor has missed an
opportunity to reduce VAT on housing renovation and repair. This would
deliver an instant economic fillip to millions of households that are
struggling with the ever-increasing cost of living and give Britain’s builders
the boost they need to capitalise on the recovery."
Berry added: “Householders need more
help to combat the rising cost of heating their homes, and lowering the rate of
VAT charged on all housing renovation and repair would do this at a stroke.
He also echoed the point I made in the
House of Commons on Wednesday about diverting the £4 billion raised annually in
carbon taxes that could be earmarked for a mass programme of publicly funded
energy efficiency improvements.
The sad irony of this latest Government
debacle is that is that money is already in the system that could be used to
fund these vital programme of works. In addition to the £4 billion to
which Berry refers, the Chief Medical Officer points out that for every pound
spent tackling fuel poverty, NHS spending on treating cold related illnesses is
reduced by 42 pence. This would release around £1.3 billion to invest in
insulating Britain's housing stock.
So these bungling ministers continue to
blunder while kids are left languishing on the dole and millions struggle to
keep their homes warm. This is a national scandal and demands urgent
attention. That's why I will continue to press the case for a national
plan to end fuel poverty and ensure that no British citizen is forced to live
in a cold home.
