Readers' letter: Too dependent upon imported energy

I always find it amusing when Labour politicians start lecturing on what governments should be doing.

Sure enough, as decided at Labour HQ because it is coming to council too, the Halifax MP makes suggestions (Halifax Courier, January 27) regarding the cost of living and the increases coming regarding energy. Their main thrust seems to be to remove the five per cent VAT on energy bills. While that might be a start we must first of all accept that successive governments have made us dependent upon imported energy.

With gas and oil around and below us but not being extracted, and a complete ignorance of replacing the aging nuclear plants, has put us in this predicament. Yes energy prices all round the world are going to rise but it might be worth noting that 25 per cent of our electricity bill is used to subsidise ‘renewable’ energy.

How about removing that massive chunk just to satisfy the eco-warriors? I believe gas also contains a smaller but similar burden. How about looking at reality instead of this Net-Zero, carbon neutral fetish which isn’t going to heat our homes. If the eco-warriors really care about emissions (the UK’s contribution is a tiny one per cent ish) then why aren’t they protesting in Tiananmen and Red Squares? Seems China and Russia are putting their energy needs well over and above any climate desires. As for lectures from Labour about caring for the lower paid/working class perhaps they could answer the costs to the taxpayers from their disastrous PFI initiatives. Maybe they could explain to the lower paid why they destroyed their occupational pensions (the public sector just taxes us more for theirs) as well as removing (important in this area) the Mortgage Interest Relief which was a big help especially for those starting out on the property ladder with a very modest first home. And the most grubby of all was their Fuel Escalator which, if still in place now, would mean a litre of petrol costing more than £1.80. Gladly governments (coalition and Conservative) since 2010 have frozen it.