THIRTEEN years of incompetent government and disdain for ordinary people's struggles have left Britain freezing and starving, says Darlington councillor.

As Britons turn down the thermostat – again, and many turn to food banks, Darlington Green Party Cllr Matthew Snedker believes it’s time for the Tories to accept responsibility for the disastrous outcome of their long years in power.

The cost-of-living crisis is a direct result of their policies and lack of planning, he says.

He blames the root cause of this nation’s suffering on the Tories’ failure to take decisive action over fossil fuels and energy efficiency measures that would save everyone money. The results are: inflation in double figures; food and other basics up a staggering 16.8 percent[1] and domestic gas and electricity rocketing by 132 percent[2] and 65 percent[3] respectively. Yet median wages have fallen since the Conservatives took office in 2010.[4]

Cllr Snedker said: “While people struggle to juggle final demands, all we hear from the Conservatives is excuses that blame other people. They refuse to accept any responsibility at all.

“It is mainly our reliance on fossil fuels which stokes inflation and wrecks our economy. We have understood for decades that the price and supply of gas and oil is in the hands of dictators, despots and religious fanatics. By refusing to break the UK’s addiction to fossil fuels the Conservative government has left industries and consumers at the whim of international price fluctuations. The war in Ukraine caused this latest spike in prices but it is inevitable that other price shocks lie in the future.

“It’s only the Conservatives’ unwillingness to act in the long-term interests of the UK as a whole that is preventing them shifting to an economy largely free from fossil fuels.

“Even when they do intervene on fuel bills, they do it in a way that encourages unfettered profiteering by energy companies[5] and Shell[6] and BP[7] report record profits.

“One of the best ways to literally insulate people from rising energy costs is to insulate their homes. Because the cheapest energy is the energy you never have to use.

“Over the last 13 years, I have watched with growing frustration and anger as, time and again, the Conservatives have failed to meet even the most modest energy efficiency targets. Instead, their decisions have added over £2.5billion to the country’s energy bills and they slashed insulation programmes by 90 percent after David Cameron infamously decided to ‘cut the green crap’.[8]

“So, don’t fall for Conservative hand-wringing and excuse-making, when they try to blame Vladimir Putin for the lengthening queues at food banks and people being forced onto pre-payment meters. See through the distraction when your shrinking pay-packet doesn’t go so far and Conservatives say you need to learn how to budget better.[9]

“Of course, there are other reasons that the UK population are suffering more than all other major economies — including sanctions-hit Russia. There are long-running disadvantages from Brexit and the short-lived but spectacularly disastrous Liz Truss regime has raised mortgage payments up by £3,000 a year. [10]

“There is no time to waste. We need to bring forward the Green Party’s affordable and sustainable plans to make fuel bills more affordable, make homes easier to heat and pay workers a decent wage for a day’s work. “We need to provide an emergency grant to homeowners, landlords and councils to fund immediate insulation improvements to those at risk of fuel poverty.[11]

“We need to invest in domestic energy security by massively ramping up onshore and offshore wind and solar power and reintroduce the feed-in tariff at a high rate for homes and community projects.

“We need to scrap the National Insurance (NI) increase, abolish the lower rate of NI on higher earnings and temporarily remove VAT from domestic fuel.

“Our investment in insulating homes would generate well-paid, sustainable jobs, provide decent, warm homes and slash fuel bills by up to 90 percent.

“All of this would bring a return to living our lives without daily fears of destitution. And it would ensure that profiteering energy corporations wouldn’t get their hands on people’s hard-earned income.”

ENDS

Contacts

Matthew Snedker matthewsnedker@icloud.com

07780807059

[1] https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/cost-living-crisis

[2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/czda/mm23

[3] https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/costoflivinginsights/energy

[4] https://fullfact.org/economy/employment-since-2010-wages/

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/02/big-oil-profits-energy-bills-windfall-tax

[6] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64489147

[7] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/bp-smashes-forecasts-with-82-billion-profit-2022-11-01/

[8] https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cutting-the-green-crap-has-added-2-5bn-to-uk-energy-bills/