Energy Charges

This winter many people in Bracknell will have to choose whether to eat adequately or heat their homes. Yet Mark Owen-LLoyd, an executive of E.on, was quoted last week as saying that the continued high gas and electricity prices would mean more money for people such as him. What an awful thing to boast about when so many are suffering.

Some energy company have been making profits of £1000 per second throughout the first six months of this year. Huge sums of money are leaving this country and going abroad, as many of the utility companies are foreign owned, Why should poor UK residents pay high energy prices to benefit foreign shareholders?

Of course it was the original decision of the Conservatives "to sell off the family silver" (against the advice of their ex-Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan, who used these words). And since 1997 the Labour Government has continued to allow this awful situation. The Green Party calls for a large windfall tax on the vast profits of the energy companies. I think the money raised should be spent on providing solar panels in public and private buildings. This would mean less power being used in Summer. For Winter reductions in the use of fossil fuels, I call for more wind turbines locally.

David YoungThe Green Party General Election candidate for Bracknell.