Civil disobedience is now the only option on energy bills

Photograph: Islandstock/Alamy

I am a pensioner with health conditions that make me more susceptible to the cold and I am worried about running into debt while trying to stay warm this coming winter. There will be more deaths than ever in the elderly, disabled and vulnerable groups, and the government is not acting to prevent this.

Not only are ministers not facing up to the economic crisis, but they are not facing up to the problems in the NHS or with global warming. Indeed very little is working successfully in this country.

The government will only act on heating costs if it is forced to, and if the public don’t force it, who will? That’s why I’m seriously considering not paying my fuel bills and why I urge everyone to do the same (Letters, 8 August). The government has to be held accountable by those who elect them to office.

We are in very extreme circumstances now. If you look through history, it’s only large-scale civil disobedience that instigates change. I don’t want to hear of people dying due to hypothermia and malnutrition in this country this winter. Do you?
Jessamine Ainsworth
Old Tupton, Derbyshire

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