Essex TPA supporters sweltered in welcome summer heat as they joined Chris Manby, new grassroots coordinator for Colchester, for our ‘Stop the Energy Swindle’ campaign. Handing out leaflets in the narrow streets of this historic market town, they explained to locals how their heating bills are fatter than they need to be thanks to the government subsidising expensive green energy sources.
'The government's energy strategy is a complete shambles,’ says Chris Manby. ‘Poor households pay higher energy bills so that the government can subsidise rich, rent seeking landowners disfiguring the Great British countryside with wind farms. Any claim that this benefits the British economy by creating “green jobs” is ridiculous—every one of the 12,000 jobs in the UK's wind industry costs the taxpayer £100,000.’
‘We’re not seeing enough benefits of the taxpayers’ money spent on alternative energy,’ said supporter Chris Newark, who’d come from Romford to join us. ‘Big business and government cronies are gaining from all the subsidies and our bills are just going up and up. We’re sitting on massive coal reserves and it’d be good to see some of this money spent on clean coal and gain some proper jobs from it too.’
‘It’s another burden on business,’ said Southend supporter Eddie Curtis, ‘on top of business rates and the rest.’ ‘About time too,’ said a local estate agent, welcoming our campaign. ‘Bring on fracking! Good luck to you!’
If you too are fed-up with sky-high energy bills, click on www.energyswindle.org and a letter will automatically be sent to your local MP