3 February 2022
The Green Party has warned the Treasury’s announcement today aimed at easing the cost of living crisis will only cause further damage to both households and the environment in the future.
Responding to the Chancellor’s announcement of £200 discount on all electricity bills from October – which will later be repaid – and a £150 council tax rebate for those in bands A to D, Councillor Zoe Nicholson, leader of Lewes District Council and Green Party Green New Deal spokesperson, said:
“At a time when millions of people across the country are facing unprecedented rises in energy prices, the government’s solution fails to respond to the seriousness of either the cost of living crisis or the climate crisis
“In October, the Green Party proposed a £320 winter fuel payment to all as an immediate measure to help people survive through the winter. This would also have acted as a bridge towards future-proofing the country through a mass retrofit scheme and roll-out of renewable energy.
“Regrettably, the Chancellor has today opted to do the opposite of future-proofing households from further economic pain.
“Instead of a simple and effective payment to everybody as we suggested, he has put forward a buy-now pay-later scheme which will create an additional burden for those on the lowest incomes further down the line.
“At the same time he has done nothing to help reduce bills and reduce carbon emissions by insulating people’s homes, and instead opted to prop up the fossil fuel companies whose profits are sky-rocketing at the expense of all of us as well as the environment.”
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