Fuel Poverty Bill – back it Joan, don’t wreck it
Last night I spoke at a public meeting in Brockley on the Fuel Poverty Bill, alongside representatives from Conservatives, Lib-Dems, Age Concern, Friends of the Earth and the Women's Institute. Local Labour MP Joan Ruddock was not there as she had told the organisers there was "no point" in attending the meeting because the Government had already made up its mind to oppose the bill!
As a London Assembly Member I chaired an investigation last year that showed that at the current rate of progress it would take 65 years to insulate London's homes. We drastically need to speed things up with a national programme and this bill would achieve just that.
In Lewisham it is estimated that over 9,000 pensioners are forced to spend the winter in just one room because they can't afford to pay their heating bills. 3,000 have to make an unbelievable choice between heating their homes properly or eating properly. And 80 pensioners are estimated to die in our borough each year because of fuel poverty. The Fuel Poverty Bill could help prevent all of this as well as drastically reducing CO2 emissions. But Joan Ruddock as Energy Minister led the Government's attempts to wreck the bill when it was first put before the Commons back in March.
In the current climate when people are feeling so disillusioned with the political process it was good to see around 80 people at this meeting. Proof that people are passionate about the issues but feel so let down by their current crop of MPs.
The Bill comes back before the House on 12 June. Certainly the mood in Lewisham Deptford last night was that Joan Ruddock should back the bill not wreck it.
Write a comment