URGENT FUEL POVERTY / NEED YOUR MP IN LONDON ON MARCH 20TH 2009

**Admin** · by **Admin** on Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:14 pm

Were all in fuel poverty so lets do something about it.
Help make fuel poverty an evil of the past!

This]This winter, over five million households in the UK are struggling to heat and power their homes.

Many older people, disabled people and adults and children living on low incomes will have to choose between keeping warm and putting food on the table.

We want to change the law so no-one should have to live like this. Your MP can help end this scandal by voting for the Fuel Poverty Bill on Friday 20th March

Act now

Most MPs return to their constituencies on a Friday but we need at least 100 MPs to stay in the House of Commons and vote for the Fuel Poverty Bill.

Please make sure that your MP is one of them.

About the Fuel Poverty Bill

David Heath MP has put forward a Private Members Bill to end fuel poverty. It aims to ‘fuel poverty proof’ homes.

It will do this by:

making homes ‘fuel poverty proof’ by making homes super energy efficient
energy companies providing the lowest price deals (social tariffs) for vulnerable households and people on low incomes until their homes have been ‘fuel poverty proofed’.

Fuel poverty is defined as needing to spend more than a tenth of income on energy. Every year over 20,000 more people die in the winter months than in the summer months, largely due to cold-related illnesses. Many more become ill as a result of living in cold, damp homes.

The bill is backed by Consumer Focus, Disability Alliance, Age Concern England, Child Poverty Action Group, Help the Aged, Friends of the Earth, National Right to Fuel Campaign, Association for the Conservation of Energy, Centre for Sustainable Energy and the Sustainable Energy Partnership.

Write to your MP

You can use the facilities at http://www.writetothem.com to quickly find contact details for your local MP. You may find the following information helpful when deciding what to include in your message.

Suggested wording

MPs take more notice of messages that are individually written. A short email message or letter is fine and you may like to include some of the following bullet points. It is best to use your own words where possible and write in your own style so we have offered some alternative wording.

ask your MP to help put an end to fuel poverty by being in the House of Commons on the 20th of March to vote for the Fuel Poverty Bill
ask your MP to support the Fuel Poverty Bill put forward by David Heath MP on Friday 20^th March
say that you know it is important for your MP to be in their Constituency on a Friday but ask them to please stay in Parliament and support/vote for this Bill
ask them to let you know whether they intend to be in the House of Commons and if they will vote for the Bill on Friday 20th March.

Explain that:

this winter, more than five million households in the UK are not able to afford to heat and power their homes/pay their fuel bills
some older people, disabled people and families on low incomes are being forced to choose between eating and heating their homes/putting food on the table and keeping warm
some families risk getting into debt in order to provide a minimum level of warmth/keep their children/homes warm.

Say why the Fuel Poverty Bill is important.

it will bring in energy efficiency measures to help ‘fuel poverty proof’ homes
it will bring in social tariffs/the lowest energy prices to help families on low incomes until their homes are ‘fuel poverty proofed’
households often waste a huge amount of energy and money trying to heat and power their leaky homes. Cutting energy waste and achieving high levels of energy efficiency not only ‘fuel poverty proofs’ homes, it can help tackle climate change by cutting carbon emissions
creating energy efficient homes should be seen as an investment because it will help protect jobs in the construction industry and create a new, vibrant low carbon economy/new jobs.