Gordon Henderson MP joins energy bill revolution

2nd May 2012
Gordon Henderson MP joins energy bill revolution

Gordon Henderson MP has joined with over 100 MPs from nine political parties in signing up to a parliamentary petition (Early Day Motion 2769) in support of the Energy Bill Revolution campaign. Launched in February, the Energy Bill Revolution is calling on the Government to spend carbon tax revenue on energy efficiency programmes to make UK homes super-energy efficient. The campaign offers the most effective solution to bring down household energy bills and end fuel poverty.

The Government will raise an average of £4 billion in carbon taxes every year from the European Emissions Trading Scheme and the Carbon Floor Price. It is enough, for example, to provide £6,500 to 600,000 fuel poor homes every year to make their homes highly energy efficient. It is enough to bring 9 out of 10 homes out of fuel poverty. It could also generate up to 200,000 jobs and save four times more carbon emissions than the Government's new energy efficiency policies.

New research for the Energy Bill Revolution, funded by the Cooperative Group and Consumer Focus, revealed that fuel poverty could affect 9.1 million households by 2016, the year in which the Government has a target to eliminate fuel poverty. This is a potential rise of 40% which would increase the number of UK households in fuel poverty from one in four to one in three.

Members of the public are being encouraged to sign up to the public petition at www.energybillrevolution.org, which is already backed by 80 leading charities, unions, consumer groups and businesses, including Barnardo's, National Children's Bureau, Save the Children, The Children's Society, National Pensioners' Convention, Consumer Focus, The Co-operative Group, USwitch, Kingfisher, IKEA, Asda, Kingspan, National Energy Action, Macmillan Cancer Support, TUC, GMB, NUS, Unite, The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare and Friends of the Earth.

Ed Matthew, Director of Transform UK, the organisation which is coordinating the campaign said:

"In only one month this campaign has attracted the support of more than 100 MPs from across the political spectrum. These MPs understand that recycling carbon tax back to households offers the best hope for their constituents to slash their energy bills. It is scandalous that anyone in a developed country should face the choice of whether to buy food or heat their home. From next year the Government will have the money to end the blight of fuel poverty. This is the most fair and just solution and we hope all MPs will join with Gordon Henderson MP in supporting it."

Gordon Henderson, MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, said:

"Helping people to properly insulate their homes will benefit not only those householders by reducing their bill, but our local community by creating more much needed jobs."