COURIER OPINION: Bleak winter in store if we don’t act now despite energy price cap

There is no doubt the energy price cap will protect some from poverty as the cost-of-living crisis deepens.

But the sad truth is that, for many, it simply won’t be enough to keep them above the breadline.

The average household energy bill will rise from £1,971 to a frozen £2,500 on October 1.

Some will see that as a relatively modest rise.

But it cannot be taken in isolation.

A wider package of measures must now be considered

Inflation is rocketing, prices at the petrol pumps remain stubbornly high, mortgages are going up… it is a relentlessly bleak picture.

After months of benign weather, it is unfortunate that people will be asked to shell out so much more for energy just as they need it the most.

There have been dire warnings of people having to choose between heating and eating – recently one community leader in Dundee suggested some vulnerable older people would be lucky to do either, let alone face a choice.

The price cap was a welcome step forward, but surely a wider package of measures must now be considered – otherwise we really could be set to face a winter of discontent.