by Southampton Greenpeace group.
“Constituents met with Caroline Nokes MP on a video call and Alan Whitehead MP in central Southampton as part of the nationwide Warm This Winter mass lobby. Several local people came along to the meetings and shared their experiences of how the current rise in energy bills is affecting them and how insulating their homes would be a big help in bringing down bills. These events were two of more than 80 taking place across the UK this spring.
Greenpeace Southampton volunteer Jessica said: ‘Constituents met Caroline Nokes MP on 30th March and Alan Whitehead MP on 31st. They shared the messages we’ve collected from other local people about how they are experiencing the cost of living crisis and that they want solutions such as home insulation. We thanked the MPs for signing our Warm this Winter pledge and asked for them to continue working alongside Parliamentary colleagues to ensure the Government goes further to tackle the energy crisis at every available opportunity, including upcoming fiscal statements and the Energy Bill.
‘We’re really pleased that at the meeting, MPs Alan Whitehead and Caroline Nokes pledged to call for the expansion of Government-funded home insulation schemes, heat pump installation, more investment in renewable energy, and further support for vulnerable households with their energy bills. We’ve also asked MPs Julian Lewis, Royston Smith, Paul Holmes and Steve Brine to pledge but haven’t heard back from them yet. We look forward to hearing from all our local MPs soon about how they’re pushing for the Energy Bill to work for their constituents and make our homes warmer and bills cheaper.’
The recent Spring Statement failed to commit any new money to keep homes warm, and the Government’s promised ‘Green Day’ (30th March) turned into yet another failure on climate action. Greenpeace Southampton volunteers are calling for £5.3bn in new cash for home insulation, £14bn of emergency support for households struggling with bills, and £3.3bn to roll out cheap, clean heating in our homes to get the UK off gas once and for all. We also need to triple renewable energy by 2030, and stop new oil and gas extraction. The Energy Bill is the next opportunity to legislate for these measures and build a secure energy future, with cheaper bills and warmer, greener homes.”
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