Campaigners occupied Arndale Centre for Government to take action on UK Fuel poverty

Local people struggling to heat their homes entered and occupied the Manchester Arndale Centre in a Warm Up protest, demanding the government take immediate action on UK fuel poverty. 

Warm Ups happened across the country in support of the #EnergyForAll campaign, and there will be more happening tomorrow.

Participants from groups including Unite Community, Manchester Disabled People Against Cuts (MDPAC), Manchester People’s Assembly, Manchester Friends of the Earth/United for Warm Homes arrived at midday with banners and placards saying “Freeze Profits, Not People” and “Cold Homes Kill” and a large “Unite for Energy For All, End Fuel Poverty” Banner. 

They sang a new version of In the Bleak Midwinter and chanted: 

“Ofgem, come off it, You’re in it for the profit!” and “Deaths from cold have got to fall! We need Energy For All!”

Bev Keenan, from Greater Manchester Unite Community branch, said: 

“It felt really important to come out today and shout about the suffering that’s happening in our communities. People came up to us to say they supported the action and that the government must take notice and act on fuel poverty. This is why we started the Unite 4 Energy For All campaign.”

Hannah, from Fuel Poverty Action’s Energy For All campaign, said: 

“One mother told us about her supply teacher daughter having a prepayment meter forcibly installed in her home, and now for every £10 she spends they take £7 back to cover debt from a period when she couldn’t work. She had to get a job at Amazon to try to keep up with the payments”. 

A participant told us that her friend, a clinically vulnerable wheelchair user, was forced to take a prepayment during Covid: 

“They had to charge up their chair and go out in the cold to top it up, a 30 minute round trip, and the electricity would run out again after a few hours. That’s why I wanted to join the protest today” 

One in four UK households are estimated to be in fuel poverty, and thousands of people die each year due to cold and damp homes. This especially affects people who are sick or elderly, and disabled people who have extra energy costs.

Immediate actions the UK Government could take, such as banning forced prepayment meters and ditching regressive standing charges, would prevent loss of life. Instead of these unfair measures.

It should also be a national priority to fix poorly repaired, poorly insulated housing, and to guarantee that every household has enough energy to cover essential needs like heating, lighting, hot water and medical aids. 

The Energy For All Manifesto sets out how this could be achieved.