Letter to the Prime Minister: Three demands to help victims of cost of living crisis

Prime Minister, we need urgent help.

As Liz Truss today (Tuesday 6 September) prepares to meet the Queen at Balmoral after securing the keys to Number 10, we have this stark message for her on behalf of everyone in Glasgow.

We need help - now - to prevent a cost-of-living catastrophe in our city.

Businesses will fold, many people will go cold, hungry or both and some will die unless you, Ms Truss, take radical action immediately.

Spiralling energy prices are already hitting the poorest in Glasgow hardest. It is a scandal that prepayment meters, used by many on low incomes, come with higher energy costs under the price cap. It can’t be right that someone on a prepayment meter is charged more than anyone else to boil a kettle or put on the heating.

We are joining forces with our sister titles in cities up and down the UK to demand urgent help for both households and businesses.

We are calling on Liz Truss to take immediate action, specifically:

• To stop the cost of energy from going above double the levels seen last winter, for both households and businesses;

• To help those on prepayment meters so they are no longer facing higher energy prices; and

• To tell energy companies that they cannot cut off the supply to any homes this winter if people fall behind on their bills.

A failure to move swiftly and decisively in all these areas will not merely be a lost opportunity - it could cost thousands of lives and cause untold hardship this winter.