Saturday, December 01, 2012

Cold capitalism

There were 24,000 extra deaths last winter in England and Wales, according to official figures. Not all of them were due to people turning down their heating because they couldn't afford to pay their bills, but plenty were.

The World Health Organisation reckons that 30 per cent of winter deaths in Europe may be attributable to living in cold homes. If true, that means up to 7,200 people in England and Wales died last year from not living in warm homes.

Ed Matthew, director of the Energy Bill Revolution  "The tragedy is that thousands of these deaths are preventable. If UK homes were fully insulated it would significantly reduce the number who die from the cold each year."

 Years ago they were called soup kitchens, now they are named food banks. Three million people live below the poverty line in the UK, with many going hungry. 128,687 people in the UK were fed by food banks between 2011 and 2012 - a 100 per cent increase on the previous year.

Anneliese Sterry, manager of the Gloucester Foodbank, said the centre had seen a 25 per cent rise in demand in the last year. 'We have people coming in because they don’t have enough money to buy food or they have run out of food and can’t afford to get any more. We are increasingly seeing people like Vickie, parents not eating so that they can make sure their children are fed.The problem is that if the parents become ill because they are not eating, then who will look after the children?'

Hand-outs and homeless shelters have not solved the problem of poverty.

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