[flowersnewacq]

Cheerio limeys...suck up the austerity measures against the middle class.

I doubt anybody here would want to ride septa all day although going to the mall and looking at stuff you can't afford in addition to your heat and meds is also an option...

MIDDLE class families are among millions of Britons who cannot afford to heat their homes this winter, as elderly ride on buses all day to stay in the warm.

After a week of snow and freezing temperatures a shocking picture has emerged of the bleak months ahead for 5.5 million households.

Pensioners, who are among those most vulnerable to the cold, are resorting to extraordinary measures to keep warm.

Many have been using their free travel passes to spend the day riding on buses while others are seeking refuge from the cold in libraries and shopping centres.

Dot Gibson, spokeswoman for pressure group the National Pensioners’ Convention, said: “Now that we have one of the coldest winters, older people are going to have to make the unenviable decision whether or not to put the heating on. The Government should guarantee that they won’t cut the winter fuel allowance.”

The death toll from the big freeze rose to seven yesterday. They included two men who were killed in a crash on the M62 in Humberside and two teenage girls who died when their car collided with a Royal Mail van in Cumbria.

The winter death toll is set to rise steeply as official figures show that nine elderly people died every hour because of cold-related illnesses last year. The number of deaths linked to cold over the four months of last winter reached nearly 28,000.
Charities claim this country has the highest winter death rate in northern Europe, worse than colder nations such as Finland and Sweden.

About half of the people forced to spend over 10 per cent of their income on energy bills – the official definition of fuel poverty – are aged over 60

But working families also face a tough time meeting the cost of keeping the central heating turned on as fuel prices continue to rise.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at price comparison service uswitch.com, said: “Middle-class households are now in fuel poverty.”

National Energy Action estimates that 5.5 million households will have plunged into fuel poverty by early next year due to price rises.

This is up 400,000 on the group’s last estimate and represents 21 per cent of the UK’s 26 million households.


Read more: Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Britain is freezing to death