A St Helens man, who is “constantly counting the pennies”, is joining Liverpool’s fight against the rise in energy bills.
Mark Jackson, a former ecologist, will be protesting this weekend as part of the city’s Warm-Up Protest – the demonstration urges the government to take action over “sky-high” fuel prices and “forced” instalments of prepayment meters in the UK.
The 57-year-old claims since the energy prices started to rise, his electricity unit rate has “doubled” and his gate unit rate has “quadrupled” – despite him being a “low user”. As he spoke with the ECHO, he claims he was sitting on his settee “with tracksuit bottoms on under my jeans, two t-shirts, a hoodie and fleece and a hat with a quilt over my legs.” During the December cold spell, Mark said the temperature in his house dropped to four degrees.
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Mark, who is now retired, said: “I am constantly counting the pennies and aware of how much energy I am using, which is depressing, especially with the added increase in food and diesel prices. I no longer buy luxuries and rarely go out – my socialising is now going to the protests or handing out leaflets. I now cook enough for four meals and freeze the rest so my food variety has decreased.”
Mark believes “we have no power as individuals” and that’s why he is joining the protest this Saturday, January 21, in the city centre. Meeting at the Pier Head at 11:30am.
Mark said: “The only power we have against the profiteering of utility companies is to fight them as a collective, all the way. This can only be done if greater numbers of us come together and let them know how we feel and that enough is enough. They can not continue causing misery to millions of people for the sake of profits. Profit is profit – how much more profit do they want.”
Joining Mark at the protest with be 52-year-old Lisa. The full-time carer, from Anfield, said the energy increase has impacted her daily life “greatly”. Lisa, who looks after her son who has autism and severe learning difficulties, claimed she would sit in the cold “for most of the day” until her son returned from college.
She told the ECHO: “It has impacted my mental health because I have had to cut down on what I eat to be able to maintain my son's wellbeing. I find it warmer to go out for walks than to sit at home, but I cannot do that all day. I do not go out and see friends anymore, so it is quite isolating."
Lisa, who is on a pre-pay meter, recalled how this time last year she was paying £25 a week “at most” for gas. Now, this winter she has “had to put up to” £90 a week for gas. She added: “Electricity has gone up too. It is depressing enough knowing how much more I'm paying for gas, I have not looked at how much my electricity has gone up. I have to be extremely careful with my shopping, as food prices are constantly going up, weekly it seems.
“I literally cannot keep up. I have had to cancel subscriptions, I changed my phone for a cheaper tariff, I get showers and rarely get baths now, which should not be seen as a luxury in this day and age, but I consider it to be because of the cost. Christmas was particularly tough this year. It is very depressing when you can not buy family or friends gifts.”
The protest will be one of several Warm-Ups taking place across cities in the UK including Birmingham, Edinburgh and London. The campaign is supported by Don’t Pay UK, Fuel Poverty Action and Extinction Rebellion, amongst other groups organised under the Warm This Winter Coalition.
Don’t Pay UK is calling for energy bills to be capped at the rates they were in October 2021 before the “massive price hikes” started and for an end to the forced installation of prepayment meters. The group claims “thousands of the most vulnerable in society risk dying as a result of being unable to heat their homes”.
Moreso, Fuel Poverty Action is calling for “Energy For All” – 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.
The group’s campaign coordinator, Stuart Bretherton, said: “In the world’s sixth richest economy and one of Europe’s largest producers of oil and gas, failing to meet people’s basic energy needs is a political choice. Energy For All is a proposal for a system that works for people and the planet, not profiteers or polluters. The polar opposite of this is struggling people having their homes broken into, or meters switched remotely without warning to a method of payment that could prevent them from heating their home this winter.”
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