Essay by Eric Worrall
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s sabotage of cheaper gas, by immediately re-imposing the fracking ban upon assuming office, in my opinion demonstrates a callous indifference to the suffering of ordinary Britons.
Air fryer and slipper sales surge as UK strives to reduce energy use
Consumers move quickly to prepare for unaffordable energy bills despite mild autumn, finds market research
Sarah Butler @whatbutlersawFri 28 Oct 2022 16.00 AEDT
Sales of air fryers, slow cookers, microwaves and electric blankets are soaring as households faced with unaffordable energy bills look for ways to reduce their power use.
Air fryers – a small countertop convection oven that uses less electricity than a conventional cooker – are in huge demand, with the number sold in September four times higher than in the same month last year, according to the market research firm GfK. So are electric cooking pots such as pressure cookers, rice cookers, slow cookers or multifunctional pots that can do all three things, with sales up 80%.
GfK said 216% more electric blankets were sold in September this year, as households searched for less expensive ways of staying warm and cooking food – the two most energy-intensive needs in a home.
Such is demand that some popular models of air fryer, such as the Ninja, have sold out. Asda said its sales of air fryers had increased 320% increase on year, while those of slow cookers had more than doubled and sales of heated airers increased by 90% up compared with last September.
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Citizens Advice has said its advisers have been told of people unplugging fridges and freezers, washing clothes by hand and skipping meals in order to cut back on their energy costs.
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In the last leadership election a few weeks ago, which Liz Truss won, Rishi Sunak was favoured by members of parliament, but Liz Truss won the support of the British Conservative Party membership.
Angered by the Truss win, members of parliament rebelled against Truss, and Liz Truss’ attempts to soften the Conservative Party’s extreme green energy agenda by liberating the British energy market. Truss was forced to resign.
Conservative members of parliament then apparently decided not to give Conservative party supporters a second chance to vote against their chosen candidate, so they circumvented the procedural need for a membership vote by ensuring Rishi stood as the only candidate.
One of Rishi Sunak’s first acts as Prime Minister was to re-instate a long standing ban on fracking, which his predecessor Prime Minister Liz Truss had attempted to repeal.
I predict in the next election the British Conservatives will be wiped out at the ballot box if they continue showing such contempt for the concerns of ordinary people. Even though the other major parties currently offer more of the same, by the next election voters will be utterly desperate to signal their need for a change.
Unfortunately the next election doesn’t have to be held until the start of 2025. British voters will likely have to endure two more years of energy policy hell under Rishi Sunak, before they get the opportunity to deliver their verdict on the British Conservative government’s decade of gross mismanagement of energy policy.
