It takes some brass neck for the boss of a power company that made £6.6billion in profits last year to say that energy prices are too high.
But we ought to be thankful to E.On boss Michael Lewis for telling it straight.
Lewis listens in to the call centre pleas from desperate customers who can’t pay their soaring power bills.
E.On predicts the number of people in fuel poverty will double by October.
When the price cap on energy is increased again, the average household could be spending £3000 a year on heating and lighting.
For many that will be unaffordable –bad news for the power companies when consumers default but worse still for the people sitting in the cold, scared to put the radiators on.
The question is what is to be done? The Tory government, as usual, shows no sign of having an answer.
An obvious solution is a massive one-off tax on the energy giants to pay for a £600 discount for every household in need. It is a Labour plan and because of that, and because he is against taxing big corporations in principle, Boris Johnson has not enacted the idea.
It now seems almost inevitable that the Tory government will have to act.
There can’t be a piecemeal approach of just increasing a few warm home grants.
Higher benefit rates are needed so that the poorest people don’t have to choose between heating and eating, there has to be widespread assistance on energy costs and a quick transition to an alternative.
All that means increasing taxes on companies and the wealthy. That is where the argument should be.
Dad’s victory
Kevin Woodburn’s fortitude and determination are inspirational.
He battled to change a justice system that seems designed to wear down ordinary people.
His four-year crusade for the Scottish Government to appoint a Victims’ Commissioner was triggered by the death of his son Shaun.
When he used that grief as motivation to take on a powerful bureaucratic machine, there was only ever going to be one winner.
His victory won’t bring Shaun back but it does mean that other families will have an independent figure looking after their best interests.
Now policy makers have listened, they must make sure that there is meaningful improvement and map out how change will be implemented.
Vulnerable families who have been victims of crime must be given greater consideration.
They can’t become another box to be ticked.
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