Many people in Portsmouth are scared about how they’ll make ends meet through the winter. I hear this when out and about talking with people across our city, read it in my postbag, and hear it from organisations that provide services to others.
It’s one of the reasons why I am raising our city’s concerns in Parliament, why I recently hosted a cost of living coffee morning to provide practical advice to constituents and why I will continue to work with local charities to provide support to our community.
No one should have freezing hands because they don’t have enough to pay for the heating or are forced to make the horrific choice between putting food on the table or heating their home.
People in Portsmouth are struggling right now and that is before prices go up again to record highs which would plunge millions more into fuel poverty. Yet it does not have to be this way.
This is a national emergency that requires strong leadership and urgent action.
With a fully funded plan to stop the energy price cap rise, freeze your bills this winter and to tackle rising energy bills for the long term, Labour will:
1. Stop energy prices rising now
Under the Tories, energy bills are going up by £1,000 this winter.
Labour would stop the energy price cap rising. We would introduce a bigger windfall tax on oil and gas producers who are making record profits from the current crisis and close the unjustifiable Tory loopholes.
Our £29 billion plan would bring inflation down, making future interest rate hikes less likely and easing the burden on households and businesses.
We’d also tackle the scandal of higher charges for 4 million people using prepayment meters, making sure the price users pay for energy is the same as people who pay their bills monthly.
2. Insulate homes to save on bills
In addition, through Labour’s Warm Homes Plan, we would lower bills for good by insulating 19 million homes across the country over the next decade.
We urged the government to implement this plan a year ago. If they had acted then, they could have insulated 2 million of the coldest homes by this winter – saving households over £1,000 every year.
3. Invest in sustainable, British energy sources
We also have a plan for securing our domestic energy supply to make sure we’re protected against future shocks.
Labour would get Britain off expensive foreign gas by investing more in home grown, cleaner energy such as solar, wind, hydrogen and nuclear power.
These fully-funded plan puts people before the windfall profits of giant oil and gas producers.
I will continue to do all I can to help our city get through this crisis and support constituents struggling to make ends meet, while building a stronger, more secure and sustainable economy.
Stephen Morgan MP
