Extinction Rebellion: Brighton residents join UK-wide action to demand action on fuel poverty

Taking place today [December 3], the Day of Action on Fuel Poverty will see thousands of people across the UK organising events in their towns and cities.

The campaign is demanding more help for the millions of households facing fuel poverty this winter, including in Brighton, as well as government action to ensure energy is affordable for everyone in the future.

A group of Brighton citizens will be peacefully occupying the Lower Mall at Churchill Square Shopping Centre and warming it up with blankets, music, games and snacks. The group believes everyone has a right to warmth this winter and that people come before profit.

The Day of Action will focus on telling the stories of people facing fuel poverty this winter, highlight some of the help being provided by communities, as well as the solutions available to the government.

Alongside events across the UK, two larger events will take place in London, including a rally in Parliament Square, and a public meeting at Stoke’s historic Fenton Town Hall, which neighbours streets with some of the highest levels of fuel poverty in the country.

The Day of Action on Fuel Poverty is being organised by the Warm This Winter campaign, which is demanding the government provides more support for people struggling with energy bills this winter and a coherent plan to lower bills in future through a national rollout of insulation and by rapidly moving the UK away from gas and onto cheaper renewable energy.

Warm this Winter partners include the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, WWF UK, Uplift, Oxfam GB, Women’s Institute, The Climate Coalition, Save the Children and Greenpeace UK.

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition is supporting the Day of Action and its co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “People are already seeing for themselves the suffering caused by living in fuel poverty and it will just get worse as we get deeper into winter.

“The Day of Action is a final chance for the Government to take notice of the problems caused by living in cold damp homes and pledge to do all it can to end fuel poverty once and for all.”

For more info visit warmthiswinter.org.uk.