So what now for the parents who skip meals so their children can eat ? The families relying on ‘kettle boxes’ because they can’t afford to turn on their cooker? And the people using candles to light their homes at night?
They will no doubt be utterly horrified by the news that the energy price cap is rising by 80% - sending average household bills rocketing to £3,549.
That prediction will send a shiver down the spine of most. Quite literally by the time we reach winter.
But despite this frankly scary news, no government minister made themselves available to speak to Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. Or BBC Breakfast. Or GMB.
The Chancellor later put out a statement acknowledging the ‘stress and anxiety’ the price cap will cause, and blaming Vladamir Putin for driving up prices as ‘revenge’ for the UKs support of Ukraine.
Nadhim Zahawi says he is working ‘flat out’ to develop more options to support households.
Feel better? Me neither.
Andy Burnham says the government’s response this morning was ‘not good enough’. “People will be terrified by this news and need to hear from those supposedly running this country,” the Greater Manchester mayor tweeted.
He’s not wrong. Mr Zahawi’s words will be cold comfort to people like Francesca Jay, who had to ask the Aldi cashier to stop scanning her shopping when ther bill unexpectedly reached £50.
She was overwhelmed when a stranger paid for the last few bits on the conveyor belt, totalling £6. The kind woman explained she had been in the same situation herself.
And I doubt the Chancellor’s assurances will resonate with those turning off cookers and fridges to save on bills. Not that this is anything new. The Manchester Evening News first reported the emergence of kettle boxes in 2014 - but the problem most certainly predates this article .
Fast forward eight years and people like Angela Speak are using candles to light their home because they just can’t afford the electricity.
Even those helping the most needy are struggling.
Tricia Reilly-Hurst, a trustee of Perry’s Pantry Foodbank, recently told reporter Hana Kelly she may soon need the service herself. “We’re going to see more people just going out, sitting with a coffee lasting three hours so they don’t have to put the fire on,” she predicted back in April.
And I’m sure the coming months will be busy for Tunde King, social and emotional resilience coordinator at E-ACT Blackley Academy. He spends his days working with families stretched to the hilt and says some of their living conditions are frightening.
Staff had to take hot urns from the school to help one family - who were surviving with no gas and no money and just needed to warm their baby's bottles.
"This was all picked up on because Tunde visited and found the baby screaming and the house freezing. We stayed late until they got the help they needed,” headteacher James Hughes told reporter Emma Gill .
Week in, week out, our reporters speak to people who simply cannot afford to live. Many are already in abject poverty. But even those living relatively comfortably will be badly hit by the price cap rise.
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In Sedgley Park - where householders had the highest bills in Greater Manchester before the rises - one mum recently admitted to being ‘scared stiff’.
Michelle Barratt, who lives in Prestwich, says she never used to think about her shopping bill. “If I wanted something I would put it in the trolley. Now I’m looking at if I can get it cheaper elsewhere,” she told reporter Paige Oldfield , who has been out talking to families about the cost of living crisis every week for months and says it’s the biggest issue they face.
At Bury Market today shoppers and stallholders feared the worst.
Grandmother Kathryn Webster is worried about how her 93-year-old father will manage.
"He lives on his own, he's in his nineties and needs heating," she said. "He relies on that. It will be down to heat or eat."
She blames the government for not stepping in sooner, accusing them of 'selling out' to large energy companies and says they should be brought back under national control.
"It's just devastation now, because at the end of the day you're trapped by the laws that are made and the money they're asking for. It's just going to get worse," she told reporter Nicole Wootton-Cane.
There was more anger at the government on the streets of Harpurhey too.
Retired caretaker Michael Taylor called the government's response to the crisis 'disgusting'. “The energy companies are making billions of pounds of profit - they’re rubbing it in the faces of the little guy. Areas like this are struggling already and this will devastate people - people are scared and crime will go up as people can’t afford things. The knock on effects are going to be horrendous,” he said.
As if the huge predicted average bills weren’t bad enough, Martin Lewis says could be coming in January. He has warned that people will die this winter because of the price cap rise.
The money saving expert told the Today programme the situation is ‘a catastrophe, plain and simple’. “You could easily be paying £5,000 or £10,000 a year if you have high usage,” he said.
Meanwhile, North Sea oil and gas producer Harbour Energy announced its profits rose 1,100%, to almost £1.3billion, in the first half of 2022. In the same period, British gas owner Centrica made £1.3bn, BP, £12bn, and Shell, £17bn.
Of course, it’s not just households that will suffer.
Sacha Lord, our region’s night time economy advisor, says businesses could easily fold because of the price cap.
“For months we’ve been calling for an energy price cap for businesses as well as households. On the back of this morning’s news, the horse has already bolted. Now, without an urgent energy reduction/rebate, it will be lights off for many in my sector this winter,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile many charities - which help the most needy but rely on donations many can no longer afford to give - also fear the future.
Earlier this week, Scottish Power’s chief executive Keith Anderson presented a two-year, £100bn energy bill freeze to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. Whether or not the new government takes on his plan remains to be seen.
It's true that global politics has a part to play in this crisis. But it’s not as though the UK government hasn’t had fair warning.
Whoever becomes our next Prime Minister needs to address the problem urgently. If they fail to act, people will face destitution on a scale not seen for decades.
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