Alistair Cameron, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Tewkesbury urges support for 'Warm Homes' Bill in Parliament

7.26.00pm GMT Sat 7th Mar 2009

Alistair Cameron, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Tewkesbury is urging local MP, Laurence Robertson to be in Parliament on March 20th to support a new parliamentary bill that will help cut energy bills for the poorest families and could help save the lives of up to 20,000 pensioners a year.

The bill also calls for a massive programme to make homes more energy efficient - saving residents money and protecting the environment.

Alistair Cameron said: "Energy Bills have nearly doubled in recent years and many local families and pensioners are struggling to heat their homes."

"Twenty thousand pensioners are dying a year because the Labour government refuses to tackle fuel poverty. It is horrific that in this day and age so many people are having to make the difficult choice between heating and eating."

"The energy efficiency proposals in the bill will also help save residents money and cut the emissions that cause climate change."

The Fuel Poverty Bill being proposed by Liberal Democrat MP David Heath is being enthusiastically backed by leading charities including Age Concern, Friends of the Earth and the Child Poverty Action Group.

The bill would deliver a massive home insulation programme which would halve the energy needed to heat the average home. It would also require energy companies to make the cheapest tariffs available to low income households until their homes became energy efficient. And it would end the scandal of those who use pre-pay meters - generally the least well-off - paying higher rates for their gas and electricity. Locally, Severn Vale Housing have campaigned against pre-payment meters.

The home insulation programme could be funded through scrapping the recent ineffectual cut in VAT and through making the energy companies use some of their £9.5 billion profits from the European Emissions trading scheme.

The bill is scheduled for a second reading debate in the House of Commons on March 20th. If less than 100 MPs turn up, it could be blocked undemocratically.