Parliamentarians call for Chancellor to act on energy crisis

Today 41 cross-party MPs and peers joined forces with Scope to write to the chancellor Jeremy Hunt MP, calling for further cost-of-living support.

The letter, backed by all main parties across parliament, calls on the government to introduce a social tariff and bring forward the cost-of-living payments this winter. Disabled people cannot afford to wait.

The cross-party letter is led by Debbie Abrahams from Labour, Peter Aldous from the Conservatives, Wera Hobhouse from the Liberal Democrats, Sammy Wilson from the DUP and Caroline Lucas from the Green Party.

The parties are joining together to send a clear message to the chancellor that disabled people in our communities need more from this government.

Support for our calls is clear. Scope launched an open letter calling for a social tariff supported by nearly 35,000 people from across the country, and today launched a cross-party letter with MP and peer support.

3 in 5 (60%) disabled people feel that the government is ignoring disabled people and people with long-term conditions in its response to the crisis. It is time the government listened and took action to support disabled people across the UK with the cost-of-living crisis.

The letter in full:

Dear Chancellor,

We are writing to you as a cross-party group of MPs and Peers to urge you to provide a longer-term solution for disabled people affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

As you will know, the cost-of-living crisis is having a significant impact on communities across the UK. The crisis however is disproportionately impacting disabled people. Universal non-targeted measures, such as the Energy Price Guarantee, do not directly acknowledge those who need to use more energy as a result of their condition or impairment. Research from the charity Scope found that a third of disabled adults have said their impairment or condition has a significant impact on their energy costs. This has led to half of disabled people in Scope’s survey saying they won’t use heating this winter even when cold, and a third saying they will have to skip meals.

We welcome the Government’s decision to provide further cost-of-living payments but these must come this winter to prevent disabled people from falling into debt and destitution. Our disabled constituents simply cannot wait until the spring for further support.

To protect and support the most at-risk disabled people going forward, we are calling on the Government to urgently establish an energy social tariff for disabled customers. This would provide discounted rates to ensure disabled people in greatest need have access to the energy they need, and could be achieved by using the Priority Services Register and DWP data. A social tariff would provide the necessary tailoring to recognise and more accurately address the disadvantages faced by disabled people.

We would be grateful for a response on the Government’s consideration of the creation of a social tariff in supporting disabled people this winter and beyond. We would also urge the Government to expedite the cost-of-living payments.

We would be happy to meet with you to discuss this further.

Yours sincerely,


Debbie Abrahams MP
Peter Aldous MP
Wera Hobhouse MP
Caroline Lucas MP
Sammy Wilson MP
Anne McLaughlin MP
Baroness Campbell
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Ben Lake MP
Charlotte Nichols MP
Daisy Cooper MP
Dan Carden MP
Deidre Brock MP
Derek Twigg MP
Sir George Howarth MP
Gregory Campbell MP
Hywel Williams MP
Ian Byrne MP
Ian Paisley MP
Jamie Stone MP
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP
Jim Shannon MP
John McDonnell MP
Kate Osborne MP
Kenny MacAskill MP
Kim Johnson MP
Kim Leadbeater MP
Baroness Lister
Dr Lisa Cameron MP
Liz Saville Roberts MP
Margaret Ferrier MP
Margaret Greenwood MP
Marion Fellows MP
Marsha de Cordova MP
Mohammad Yasin MP
Nadia Whittome MP
Peter Dowd MP
Siobhain McDonagh MP
Steve McCabe MP
Virendra Sharma MP
Wendy Chamberlain MP