The rising fuel and food prices together with the financial crisis are now threatening the health and the lives of millions of people all over the world. In an advanced economy like Britain, government figures show that at least one million more households are living in fuel poverty. According to a report in London's Metro the number of homes in Britain spending more than 10 per cent of their income on heating rose to 3.5million in 2006 from the previous year. The government admitted the figure has most likely worsened now.
Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite union, cut right to the heart of the matter: "The government cannot stand back while struggling households choose whether to heat or eat. If interventions is on hand to bail out the speculators and spivs who have caused this economic turmoil, then our government should not have to think twice about helping the frail and vulnerable heat their homes."
The caption of the picture in the news report tries to psychologically prepare the population for the hard times lying ahead: "In the cold: People will struggle". In reference to the charity Help the Aged, each winter more than 25,000 people die from cold-related illnesses, such as pneumonia. This figure could be easily reduced to zero if the government worked not for the "speculators and spivs" (i.e. the capitalists, that tiny minority of the population), but for the overwhelming majority of the population and provide the three basic human needs: food, clothes and shelter.
