Come April, the cost of heating and lighting homes is set to go through not just the roof but also the loft insulation.
Inflation could be as high as six per cent and Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s National Insurance tax hike will be hitting every pay packet.
People will be burning money to heat their homes and in many poorly insulated properties still not brought up to standard, they might as well be.
Gas prices will soar and the average household bill is expected to rise by £700 a year.
There are no easy solutions and the Government failed to build enough bunker storage to make sure our gas supply is resilient.
But some things can be done.
Labour would impose a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers – the big companies that make big money out of the consumer.
A one-off £1.2billion levy would help reduce the average household energy bill by £200.
Add to that £2billion from removing VAT on domestic energy bills for a year as well as expanding and increasing the warm homes discount, and you are on your way to putting that cost-of-living freight train into a siding.
But the Tories oppose the move as it would squeeze big business instead of the average voter.
Despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit bluster about being able to cut VAT once the UK had left the EU, he opposes taking a slice of big business profit to directly cut household bills.
At least we’ll know whose side he is on when the cost-of-living crisis hits the buffers.
Pointless jail time
Opposition politicians love to claim governments have gone soft on crime.
But Scotland jails more people now, on average, than it did 20 years ago.
This steady rise was taking place while Labour was still in power and has continued under the SNP.
But it has failed to cut reoffending.
The Scottish Government accepts reform is required and is consulting on changing the remand system to reduce short periods of imprisonment.
Justice Secretary Keith Brown has admitted non-custodial alternatives need to be improved.
While violent and sexual offenders need locking up – with the heaviest possible sentences – there are too many men, and especially women, in jail who pose no risk to the public.
It’s refreshing to hear ministers talk about the challenges they face in reforming our justice system as throwing all criminals in jail isn’t working.
Judges need robust alternatives available to them.
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