Caroline Molloy is openDemocracy’s UK health and social affairs correspondent, a journalist and speaker. She has written extensively on politics, public services and the welfare state, and has a particular interest in public services and technology.
UK household energy debt hit record high even before price hikes
A committee of MPs said last week that the government should “stop announcing short-term policies and moving existing budgets around and instead fully fund a national retrofit programme” of home insulation.
August 9, 2022
To ‘level up’, the UK needs a real jubilee: a mass write-off of debts
If we really want communities to come together and unite, we need to cancel the debts that weigh so heavily on the very poorest.
Now – wouldn’t that be a good excuse for a street party?
June 3, 2022
On energy strategy, the government is leaving women in the cold
As the government faces widespread criticism for failing to act to help us keep our homes warm more affordably – and at less cost to the climate – a feeling of powerlessness is palpable for many. The idea that fuel poverty is just another thing more of us will have to “learn to live with” is devastating.
April 11, 2022
Law forcing energy companies to insulate UK homes runs out as bills soar
Tens of thousands of Britain’s poorest energy customers could miss out on a chance to bring their bills down before winter – because the government allowed its flagship insulation scheme to run out.
April 5, 2022
Putin isn’t to blame for fuel poverty in the UK – the government is
Conservative prime ministers are fond of invoking the 1940s spirit of post-war reconstruction when talking about the scale of their climate ambitions.
But Britain wasn’t rebuilt by making ordinary people scramble for scraps from the market – and we won’t see off Putin like that, either.
March 22, 2022
Keep the faith – a review of the UK’s People’s Assembly
So we assembled, over 4000 of us, for the People’s Assembly against austerity.
June 27, 2013