Social media is abuzz with the observation that, though the Government has cancelled the Winter Fuel Payment for millions of pensioners, nearly £12 billion has been found for international ‘climate aid’. (And that may be just one of many reasons why the Government is so keen to censor social media.) The critics are right: despite finding a £22 billion “black hole” in the country’s finances, the new Government is committed to spending money it does not have on things that do not serve our needs, and which we did not vote for.
For many years, the fact that global warming is not “the biggest problem facing mankind” has been staring governments in the face. The far greater problem for Britain’s senior population is the winter – climate as usual, not climate change. Before Covid, the Government’s grim ‘Excess Winter Deaths’ (EWD) statistic reflected, in large part, Britain’s capacity to look after its elderly. Between the 1950s and 1990s, excess winter deaths fell by two thirds. Then, as energy prices rose, they began to increase again. The chaos of Covid will conceal this metric of indifference for some time to come. (Which is why the following chart stops in 2019.)
To read the rest of this article, you need to donate at least £5/month or £50/year to the Daily Sceptic, then create an account on this website. The easiest way to create an account after you’ve made a donation is to click on the ‘Log In’ button on the main menu bar, click ‘Register’ underneath the sign-in box, then create an account, making sure you enter the same email address as the one you used when making a donation. Once you’re logged in, you can then read all our paywalled content, including this article. Being a donor will also entitle you to comment below the line, discuss articles with our contributors and editors in a members-only Discord forum and access the premium content in the Sceptic, our weekly podcast. A one-off donation of at least £5 will also entitle you to the same benefits for one month. You can donate here.
There are more details about how to create an account, and a number of things you can try if you’re already a donor – and have an account – but cannot access the above perks on our Premium page.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.