Energy companies make billions while families are shivering — we need to tax one to help the other

Energy companies make billions while families are shivering — we need to tax one to help the other

Caroline Lucas On Wednesday, we had the government’s plan on “levelling up” Britain. Then, on Thursday, struggling families learnt that they’ll be hit with an average £700 rise in their energy bills — while the boss of one of the UK’s biggest energy companies says the energy crisis has turned his company into a “cash machine” with huge benefits for shareholders; and another reports a 14-fold increase in profits. Some levelling up. When the energy price cap rose by 12 per cent last October, the number of households in fuel poverty rose to 4.5 million. This latest rise pushes that up to more than 6 million. And this is just one of the many hits to people’s pockets, alongside rising food prices, council tax increases and a rise in national insurance payments. Yet until yesterday, ministers have sat on their hands watching this crisis get worse and worse, providing little reassurance for desperately worried families. Some members of the Tory party put forward the “solution” of a return to fracking and dropping the environmental levy on energy bills — moves that would simply help fuel the climate emergency, while having zero impact on gas prices. This is a global crisis