By Thomas Engrand
Posted 2 hours ago, Updated 2 hours ago
They are threatening not to pay their energy bills after October 1st. UK not paid
Stifled by the skyrocketing prices, many households joined in a civil disobedience movement to secure a gesture from the government.
97,035 this Wednesday, August 10th, and the number keeps rising. This is the number of Brits who have pledged not to pay their energy bills from October 1 unless the government acts to bring the amount down. One condition, however, is that the number of signatories must reach one million by then. These “strikers” on the bill have joined forces in a civil disobedience movement: “Don’t Pay.”
For several months, social networks and British newspapers like the Guardian have been reporting on these inflation-stifled homes. An increase that affects electricity and gas in particular. Since April, the UK Energy Agency (Ofgem) has raised the country’s energy price cap by 54%. If the structure justifies the increase with “a record rise in global gas prices over the last six months, with wholesale prices quadrupling over the last year”, it will result in an annual increase of £693 (more than €830) for the 22nd quarter, according to a press release Millions of affected customers.
Don’t Pay believes that even if just a fraction of households stop paying, utilities will find themselves in a very complicated situation and will force them to sit down at the negotiating table.
Payment freeze, a familiar weapon
Stopping payments as a weapon to get the government to act is nothing new, particularly in the UK where it was used successfully in the late 1980s, early 1990s to persuade Margaret Thatcher to exit the Poll Tax, a very unpopular poll tax, because it is considered unequal.
Also readUK: 1.7million customers at risk of losing their energy supplier at the start of winter
The Conservative government has taken the lead amid an election to appoint Boris Johnson’s successor. A spokesman for the Guardian columns warned that this is “a highly irresponsible message which will end up driving up prices for everyone and affecting loan applications as well”. Before highlighting his party’s efforts to mitigate the impact of rising prices on citizens. “We have provided £37billion in domestic aid, including £400 cuts in energy bills and £1,200 in direct support to help the most vulnerable with living expenses,” he said.
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