Equipo Nizkor - Britain Battles Bone-chilling Temperatures, Energy Crunch With Warm Banks.

Millions of Britons have been left unable to afford to properly heat their homes this winter amid a perfect storm of factors ranging from poor energy planning to London's bid to 'punish' Moscow for Russia's operation in Ukraine by slapping restrictions and 'price caps' on Russian energy supplies.

British charitable organizations have put together a network of more than 3,000 warm spaces to help the country's most vulnerable citizens survive the bone-chilling temperatures that have been pummeling the island nation.

The campaign, organized by the 'Warm Welcome Campaign,' and created by the ChurchWorks Commission and nearly three dozen partners ranging from the Salvation Army to the Muslim Council of Britain, now has some 3,305 registered warm spaces across the United Kingdom, with new ones popping up every day.

"Our mission is to support organizations to open their doors and provide a warm welcome for those struggling to heat their homes this winter," WWC explains.

The campaign estimates that some 16 million Britons will face fuel poverty this winter, with the elderly, people with disabilities, children, minorities and low-income families among those hit hardest by skyrocketing prices. The campaign warns that the number of households in fuel poverty has doubled since 2020, and that the situation could cause thousands of excess deaths, plus Ł43.2 million in monthly additional costs to the National Health Service.

The warm spaces campaign uses a variety of buildings, from libraries and community centers to places of worship and places of business.

"Our role is to offer a warm, safe space, but also to offer that advice to people who need it," Daniel Andrews, a partnership manager at Wandsworth Libraries, told local media. "Our warm spaces project is about opening up the libraries for extended hours in the new year to help people with the cost of living crisis, to provide them with a safe, warm space to come down to enjoy activities, to engage with other people," Andrews said.

"Families should not be in a position where they are agonizing over whether to put the heating on in sub-zero temperatures," Becca Lyon, the head of child poverty at Save the Children, said. "Parents have told us they will risk going into debt to keep their children warm."

"We're all struggling with everything - gas, electric, food," Nora, a 50-something-year-old who regularly visits the warming centers, said. "Until a year ago I could get by on benefits," the woman, now unemployed, said.

Brian, a 65-year-old retiree, is another visitor to the centers, and says he's been forced to sleep bundled up in a dressing gown and sleeping bag in his frigid home, while his energy bills have jumped to Ł80 a month. In the UK, the basic state pension is Ł185.15, and the average pension amount is roughly Ł304, when combined with private pension nest egg contributions.

Winter officially kicked off on the British Isles on December 1, and a cold Arctic air front has blanketed much of Scotland, southeast England and Wales with snow, frigid rain and bone-chilling temperatures ranging from 0 to -12 degrees Celsius - a far cry from the mean monthly temperature of 5.3 degrees in December 2021.

Britain's energy crisis began over a year ago in the fall of 2021, with experts warning authorities across Europe at the time that a series of ill-fated policy decisions (including overreliance on green energy solutions which have performed more poorly than expected, a failure to bulk up energy reserves, and dependence on chaotic spot prices for natural gas) would cause a disaster.

The security crisis in Ukraine worsened the situation dramatically, particularly after Brussels and London slapped sanctions, price caps and other restrictions on Russian energy - which accounted for 5 percent of Britain's imports of natural gas, 9 percent of its oil and 27 percent of its coal in 2021, to try and "punish" Moscow for the crisis. Like their allies in continental Europe and in the US, British authorities and media largely continue to blame Russia for the crisis.

However, many ordinary Britons don't appear to be buying this argument, with polling conducted earlier this year finding that 47 percent of respondents blame ministers for "failing to prepare and prevent" skyrocketing prices, and 30 percent blaming energy firms and accusing the latter of profiteering.

11dic22

Britain Battles Bone-chilling Temperatures, Energy Crunch With Warm Banks

[Source: Sputnik, Moscow, 11dic22]

Information
Derechos \| Equipo Nizkor