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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Kerry Hudson

I lived through fuel poverty as a child. This is how it really feels

Silhouette of a mother with her children in the hallway of a block of council flats
‘At night, I would lie in bed and draw shapes with my fingertip in the black mould on the wall.’ Photograph: Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Let’s start with a multiple choice question. It is a cold, wet February evening. You come home with your two kids after school. You stand in the hallway and contemplate your options. Do you put on the heating? It is freezing and your kids are reluctant to take off their coats. Perhaps you should make a cheap but nutritious dinner for them. They have been saying all the way home that they are “starving”. You could give them their night-time bath, because it is two days since they had their last one, or save the cost of the heating for some new winter boots – theirs are too tight and letting in water.

You can pick only one option.

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