Carla Denyer speaking at a People's Assembly demonstration with a Bristol Trades Union Council banner behind her

Green Party of England and Wales co-leader Carla Denyer has called for Boris Johnson to take immediate action to address the cost of living crisis. Denyer – who is also the Greens’ parliamentary candidate for Bristol West – issued the call following a meeting with residents facing soaring energy bills in her home city.

Denyer called for emergency grants to cover the significant increase people are facing on their fuel bills, alongside a plan for home insulation. She said,

Many Bristolians have struggled to get by this winter. I spoke to elderly residents in St Pauls who are already doing all they can to keep their bills down, but are facing price hikes of 54%. This is why I’m calling on the government to give households proper support – emergency grants to cover the costs, and a plan to rapidly insulate Bristol’s homes. I want to make sure residents can keep warm and get their energy bills down for good.

Earlier this year, Denyer issued a similar call at the Green Party’s spring conference. Then, she called for a £40 increase in Universal Credit, a non-means tested winter fuel payment of £320 and an emergency grant scheme to deliver insulation in households at risk of fuel poverty. According to the Greens, this could be funded through a tax on ‘dirty profits’ – a tax on the profits of the fossil fuel industry.

Denyer has now called for MPs from other parties to back this plan. She said,

Boris Johnson ignored our calls last autumn to tackle this crisis, and next winter could be worse. His plan doesn’t go far enough – it relies on loans that will just burden people with debt. MPs need to back our long-term plan to get us off fossil fuels and make living in Bristol affordable again.

On Saturday 2 April, Denyer joined a Bristol People’s Assembly demonstration which demanded action on the cost of living crisis. The demonstration was part of a national day of action. Speaking on the mobilisations, former Labour MP and national secretary of the People’s Assembly Laura Pidcock said,

What people are experiencing is intolerable. No matter how patiently we explain that government inaction over soaring energy and fuel costs and sharply rising food prices is deepening poverty, misery and hunger, it is met with at best indifference and at worse more of the same.

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