Fuel poverty in the UK is second only to Estonia among all European countries, according to campaigners.
More than five million British households are already in fuel poverty, which occurs when people have to pay more than 10% of their income on energy just to keep warm.
Recent rocketing energy prices are exacerbating the misery. Four of the biggest six energy supplies have already jacked up prices by some 10% in one go.
The alliance Energy Bill Revolution claimed that fuel poverty is “blighting the lives of millions”, being “nothing short of a national scandal”.
Tackling the root cause, the UK’s poorly insulated housing, was the answer.
The alliance said “woeful” levels of insulation make British homes far less efficient than properties in countries such as Germany and the Netherlands.
And the only way to control high energy bills, it said, was investment in home insulation.
The solution, it said, was a carbon tax on an ambitious programme of home insulation, claiming that it could save up to £500 a year on a family’s energy bill and end fuel poverty in the UK.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We are committed to helping people pay their bills this winter. That’s why we have cold weather payments, winter fuel payments worth up to £300, an enlarged state pension and the Warm Homes Discount which is helping two million households, including well over 1 million of the poorest pensioners, by taking £135 off their bills. We are also helping people by legislating to force energy companies to put customers on the best deal”.
