Don't let this crisis cost lives - an open letter to new Prime Minister Liz Truss
An open letter from the Yorkshire Evening Post to new Prime Minister Liz Truss:
Prime Minister, we need urgent help to prevent the cost-of-living catastrophe that is unfolding in our city.
That's the stark message we must deliver today as you prepare to meet the Queen at Balmoral after securing the keys to Number 10.
Failure to take radical action - right now - will mean local businesses go to the wall and take people’s livelihoods with them.
It will mean many people go cold, hungry or both as they are forced to make the impossible choice between heating their homes in the depths of winter and putting food on the table.
And, most troubling of all, it will mean that some of our most vulnerable residents die purely because they cannot cover the spiralling cost of these basic needs.
Soaring energy prices are already hitting the poorest in Leeds hardest and many more households will come under intense pressure in the months ahead.
Exclusive analysis for the YEP projects that the cost of household bills and mortgage payments for a typical family in Leeds will hit £1,272 next month.
This is £260 more per month than a year ago, a staggering 26 per cent rise.
And all too often, the system is stacked against the people who can least afford to weather the storm.
It is a scandal that prepayment meters, used by many on low incomes, come with higher energy costs under the price cap.
It can’t be right that someone on a prepayment meter is charged more than anyone else to boil a kettle or put on the heating.
So we are joining forces with our sister titles in cities up and down the UK to demand urgent help for both households and businesses.
On behalf of hard-working people here in Leeds, we are calling on you to take immediate action, specifically:
To stop the cost of energy from going above double the levels seen last winter, for both households and businesses;To help those on prepayment meters so they are no longer facing higher energy prices; andTo tell energy companies that they cannot cut off the supply to any homes this winter if people fall behind on their bills.
You must not let this cost of living crisis cost people their lives.