Energy prices: Grandmother worried about upcoming 'winter bill'

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Express.co.uk took to the streets of Woolwich to find out how the cost of living crisis was affecting everyday people. Mother-of-four Nancy, 62, from Plumstead, told us that not only has she had to completely change the way she shops, she also isn’t sure how she’s going to afford to look after her family this winter. As a sufferer of arthritis and grandmother to 11 children Nancy isn’t able to work.

She has another grandchild expected to be born on Tuesday – but with the cost of living crisis decimating her budget, winter may prove very difficult to get through.

She said: “My energy bills have gone up dramatically.

“I’ve got a new grandson coming to live with me, he’s going to be born on Tuesday, and I am dreading the winter.

“We’re going to have to spend a lot more on heating, and to be honest I don’t know where I’m going to get the money from.”

Nancy added that she’s had to change a lot about the way she lives to try and save money on soaring bills.

She said: “When it’s a bit colder in the evening, we put on more clothes rather than turn the heating on.

“Water prices have gone up too, so I’m watching everything I do with the water.

“We have to keep a really tight budget on it.

“With our gas and electric, we used to just put a certain amount on and it would last the whole week – but now we’re having to top it up every three days, because it’s just not lasting as long.”

Last week the research firm Cornwall Insight published new, higher forecasts that show the energy price cap is on track to rise to £3,244 a year in October, when it is next adjusted. Meanwhile the default tariff cap is expected to be raised again in January, to £3,363 a year – significantly higher than the £3,003 Cornwall Insight forecast just two weeks prior.

Nancy added that her shopping was also proving a struggle, saying: “things aren’t going up by 3p, 5p, they’re going at 40, 50, 70p – some of them are even a pound dearer. It’s everywhere.”

She told Express.co.uk of her frustration with the government, saying they had their “priorities wrong”.

Nancy argued that while Boris Johnson has rightfully resigned, that still left the others in the Conservative party who enabled partygate, an unchecked cost of living crisis and other scandals to rage on.

She said of the government: “I think they’re all as bad as each other.

“They say one thing, do another. They seem to have their priorities wrong in some instances.

“All this thing with Boris Johnson, yes he’s the leader of the Conservatives, he has told lies, he’s done Partygate and all the rest of it, but what about the minnows – the ones that were organising it all?

“They haven’t paid the consequences – and now they’re trying to bring in a new leader for the Conservatives, and what’s going to change? You’re still going to have the same people.

“Somebody’s got to go right down to the bottom and start from there and say, you’re out.”

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