Fuel poverty has doubled in five years

Fuel poverty in the UK, measured by the number of people who spend more than 10% of their monthly income on utility bills, has doubled in the UK over the last five years. This is a damning indictment of the current state of not only the UK utility sector but the UK benefits system. As you might expect, bulk of those affected by fuel poverty are in the older population bracket, the very people who have saved the years for their future only to see more and more of their nest eggs taken up by every day bills.

One very worrying development is the fact that pensioners are often used as pawns as we approach general elections and similar critical moments on the political scene, where UK governments have been known to hand out financial assistance to increase their popularity. The truth is that each end every government in the UK has to a certain extent abandoned pensioners across the country until a vote is required.

Now that the subject of fuel poverty is very much in the headlines we can only hope that the UK authorities are able to find some funding from somewhere to ensure this winter will be as comfortable and as warm as possible for many people across the length and breadth of the UK.