Failure to insulate UK homes costing thousands of lives a year, says report

(The Guardian, 13 Mar 2024) Analysis finds 58 people have died due to cold homes every winter day since 2013 Tory pledge to ‘cut the green crap’.

The government’s failure to insulate the UK’s cold and leaky homes is costing thousands of lives a year, according to analysis.

The report from Greenpeace reveals 58 people have died due to cold homes every day on average during the winter since David Cameron’s Conservative government decided to “cut the green crap” in 2013 – drastically slashing support for home insulation.

Paul Morozzo, Greenpeace UK’s fuel poverty campaigner, said: “Thousands of people are literally freezing to death in their own homes during winter. And not only have successive governments failed to prevent this needless and shocking loss of life but they have fuelled this silent public health crisis by slashing insulation funding and failing to deliver a proper scheme to upgrade our cold, damp, draughty homes.”

Morozzo said tackling cold and damp homes would not only save lives but would reduce bills, tackling fuel poverty and the cost of living crisis as well as reducing carbon emissions.

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The Guardian, 13 Mar 2024: Failure to insulate UK homes costing thousands of lives a year, says report