WHAT do you call someone if their behaviour knowingly causes the death of others? A killer, yes?

What are the UK government, the energy companies, and Ofgem doing now? They are — either by their actions or lack of action — creating a set of conditions which will lead inevitably to the deaths of British citizens.

This winter people will die due to energy price rises. Some will choose between heating and eating. It’s unavoidable that the poorest, sickest and oldest will be the main casualties.

How many might die? Who can tell. We must wait and see how far the tidal wave sweeps over us, now that Ofgem has permitted profiteering on, what amounts to, frankly, a criminal scale. 

If it was just a case of energy prices alone, it would be bad enough. But the ripple effect will be extraordinary. Come October, you may be unemployed. The company you work for, the business you run, might simply be unable to keep the lights on — and so you go on the scrap heap. A casualty.

Your elderly parents might be in long-term residential care. What happens when care homes can no longer keep the lights on? Or the hospitals?

Ofgem now runs a cartel for energy companies. It ensures their profitability at our expense. But ‘our expense’ is too weak a term; what Ofgem is doing is permitting the greatest transfer of wealth ever from low and middle-income families to the world’s wealthiest. Ofgem will bankrupt families and firms, wiping out your savings.

The UK government - embodied by Boris Johnson — now rivals Nero for reckless cruelty. Johnson has done nothing, except holiday — and visit Ukraine for an ego-massage — while this horror movie has built over the last months.

The Herald:

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