This petition was launched on Friday 4 February and by Wednesday had over 200,000 signatures!! That is AMAZING! And that calls for two responses - great joy as “Yaaay! We hit the nail on the head!” and “Oh dear! The reason this petition is doing so well is because so many people are suffering...”
However, it shows how many people care. We do have People Power and using this petition we can make the point and use the petition to make a difference. Hopefully we can push - not only for a Windfall Tax (the newsworthy point of the day), but for a complete restructure of the way we pay for our energy. Let’s push for Energy for All and stop subsidising fossil fuels. Let’s insulate our houses and flats. Thank you for caring. Let’s spread the news!!
Disabled People Against Cuts, Fuel Poverty Action, rs21, Peoples' Assembly and the Peace and Justice Project have called a demonstration to tackle the cost of living crisis.
If you can, please join us at one of the Cost of Living demonstrations this Saturday, 12 February, 1 pm.
We need stewards for the London demonstration. If you can volunteer, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/vkrjudrYLgYNQ5Rs5
Or if you would like to speak out through the media, and tell them your own situation please get in touch with us!
London protest: https://www.facebook.com/events/1021624578387357
Protests in other cities: https://thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/
This protest is about not only energy price rises but the cost of food, benefit cuts, low pensions and wages and more. Ruth London from Fuel Poverty Action will be one of the first speakers on the day. If you can, come with a placard saying “Energy for All!”. If you can’t come along, please share the information, along with the petition itself.
Then we need to go further and press through our demand for a pricing system that gives us security. The small payments offered by the government cover only a fraction of the price rise - and over half their money is a loan to energy suppliers, which WE are expected to pay back!
We won’t be conned. There is plenty of money.
- Yesterday, BP published its profits for 2021 - $12.85 billion. As its chief executive Bernard Looney said, “this is literally a cash machine.”
- Last week it was Shell, which has quadrupled its takings, and is paying out hand over fist to shareholders. Their costs have not gone up, but they can charge higher prices, so they do – at the cost of people’s lives.
- The Big Six retailers too, are doing fine: they raked in more than a billion pounds in profit before this year’s record price rise.
- Yet the government is still SUBSIDISING fossil fuel giants to the tune of millions of pounds every DAY.
- The UK loses taxes of £35 billion a year from non-payment, avoidance and fraud, which is barely pursued.
- Billionaires’ wealth has soared by hundreds of billions during the pandemic.
- A group of “patriotic millionaires” have begged the government, “tax us now”, but instead millions of people are being left hungry and cold.
In other countries, schemes like Energy for All are already under way. In Norway, from December to March, the government will cover half of households’ high-priced electricity usage, up to 5,000 kWh. And in Honduras the new President is seeking to implement a decree announcing free electricity for the poor.
Please continue to share the petition, tell your friends, come to one of the demonstrations, and think of your own creative ways to push forward with this demand. It is not a small “ask” and it won’t be easy – but then, keeping the present upside down pricing structure is not easy either!
Fuel Poverty Action works on a shoestring, without any office or full time staff. If you can help financially please consider donating via https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/fuelpovertyaction#start. Standing orders are even better as they help us plan for the future, but even a fiver for this cause is worth its weight in gold.
Media coverage of the petition, the demonstrations, and FPA’s perspective on the issues has included regular radio and TV interviews including repeatedly on LBC Radio and GB News, on the Jeremy Kyle show Talk Radio, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio Somerset, 5 News, and Newsnight – which was cut short by bad internet - why not ask them to reschedule? And in the Daily Mirror, the Times, the Express, the Morning Star, Glasgow Live, Bloomberg Quint, CNBC, Energy Live News. Other interviews are still to appear.
If you would like to speak out through the media, and tell them your own situation please get in touch with us and we will make sure your voice is heard!
Much love,
Diane