Campaigners stage 'warm up' protest outside Scottish Power

Extinction Rebellion Scotland and members of the community have gathered outside of the Scottish Power HQ, Glasgow, in a protest to demand government action on fuel poverty in the UK.

They have sat down at the front of the building to ‘keep warm’ with blankets, sleeping bags and hot water bottles, while others are holding a rally outside displaying banners reading ‘Energy For All’ and ‘No New Oil & Gas’.

The protest was one of several Warm-Ups taking place across the UK in towns and cities including Brighton, Bristol, Liverpool and London in support of both Fuel Poverty Action’s Energy For All campaign.

Almost 7m thought to be living in fuel poverty across the UK

National Energy Action estimates that as a result of rising energy costs, around 2.2 million people have fallen into fuel poverty in the past year raising the total figure to 6.7 million in the UK, expected to climb to 8.6 million when bills rise once again in April 2023 . Earlier this year Energy Action Scotland estimated that this would apply to more than a third of the Glasgow population after rises last April.

"People are being let down"

James Grant, 60, who is participating said ‘I’ve cancelled my direct debit due to the profiteering of big energy suppliers and generators. As these companies and the government are failing to keep us warm at home, we have the right to go where we want and keep warm together.’’

The Energy For All campaign calls for a universal, free amount of energy to cover people’s necessities like heating, lighting and cooking. This would be paid for by ending all public money going towards fossil fuel subsidies, windfall taxes on energy company profits and implementing higher tariffs on excessive, luxury energy use.

A petition for the demand received over 650,000 signatures from the public, helping to prompt the Proposed Energy Equity Commission Bill in parliament.

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