Letters / Labour will help
Given that most of Britain’s oil comes ashore in Shetland, it is all the more shocking to realise that even here in Shetland there is a need for a ‘food bank’. (High costs highlighted as wealth gap grows; SN, 03/10/13)
Money is very tight. Prices have risen faster than wages for 39 out of the last 40 months. There are increased food costs, the worry of the bedroom tax, and there are significant cuts in benefits for some.
With the onset of winter and the serious hikes in the price of fuel planned, especially electricity but also gas and oil, things can only get worse for the vulnerable, those on benefits, low incomes, pensioners, and those already in fuel poverty.
Despite the increased use of insulation, it is still not widespread enough in older housing. There are pensioners who cannot afford to heat their houses at night, and are at risk of hypothermia.
It is difficult to find your way around the ‘Green Deal’. The paperwork is not made easy, and the uptake has been poor.
Shetlanders are particularly at risk.
The Tory government response is to suggest putting on an extra jumper. One can only wonder how many layers of Fair Isle sweaters those in danger of hypothermia will require in the winter months ahead.
That is why Shetland Labour Party are strongly supporting Labour’s promise to freeze energy bills until 2017, and urge you to sign their petition calling on the Tories to freeze prices NOW.
You can work out how much you might save on energy bills if there was a price freeze using the calculator here.
Labour will also help 24 million people in the UK on middle and low incomes by introducing a lower 10p starting rate of tax, and by expanding free childcare for working parents.
Instead of this, of course, the SNP government is more interested in constitutional questions than care for the vulnerable people who should always be at the centre of society’s concerns.
Gordon Thomson
Susan Bowie
Geordie Jacobson
Shetland Labour Party
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