Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Cost of living crisis: Pensioner admits seeking refuge in public galleries to stay warm

The government has been facing growing calls to do more to help Britons facing energy bills.

Cost of living crisis: Pensioner admits seeking refuge in public galleries to stay warm

The cost of living crisis in UK is pushing people to the wall, literally. People are trying various ways to survive in these difficult times.

Recently, a 72-year-old pensioner has told LBC that she went to public galleries in London to keep warm in the winter months.


Annie was speaking to host Sangita Myska about her experience with soaring energy bills. Due to rising energy bills, she was forced to shut off her gas in winter.

"Annie to have turned off your gas in January you must have been freezing, we had a particularly cold winter. How did you cope?," Myska asked the pensioner.

"The fact of the matter is, I have been heating myself up during the cold winter months. I worked in a gallery in London for ten years and I was told by a very rich lady there who visits the gallery on a regular basis I was told by her, why did you want to use your energy if you are not in a good financial state?," Annie said.

"Why do you not go out in winter, leave your house and go to galleries where it is heated in the galleries? Why not save your energy? That's an amazing point that she made and I have kind of practised that ever since."

The pensioner also advised others to use the 'facility' if they are pushed to the wall.

According to a survey published on Monday (29), around half the backers of the Tories support renationalising the country's energy industry as soaring energy prices put pressure on household budgets.

The government has been facing growing calls to do more to help Britons facing energy bills which are set to jump 80 per cent to an average of £3,549 ($4,140) a year from October as wholesale gas prices hit record highs.

Britain's energy suppliers were privatised by Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher three decades ago.

While the opposition Labour Party has previously called for renationalisation, current leader Keir Starmer has said the money would be better spent directly reducing people's bills.

Reports said that the government is working on plans to help people with energy bills this winter.

Victoria Prentis, a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told Times Radio: "It's right that people need help and I'm really here to try to reassure them that the Government is making plans to help people as they will need it with energy bills this winter".

"I would like to reassure you that there are many, many different plans being worked on by civil servants and ministers at the moment, and whoever comes in as the next Conservative leader and our next prime minister will have the background work ready and will be able to make those difficult choices very quickly and before it's needed," she said.

Prentis, a supporter of Rishi Sunak, argued that targeted support is needed instead of nationalisation of the energy industry or freezing the price cap.

More For You

ve-day-getty

VE Day 80 street parties, picnics and community get togethers are being encouraged to take place across the country as part of the Great British Food Festival. (Photo: Getty Images)

Public invited to attend VE Day 80 procession and flypast

THE 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day will be marked with a military procession in London on May 5.

The event will include over 1,300 members of the Armed Forces, youth groups, and uniformed services marching from Parliament Square to Buckingham Palace.

Keep ReadingShow less
Knife crimes

Knife-enabled crimes include cases where a blade or sharp instrument was used to injure or threaten, including where the weapon was not actually seen.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Knife crime in London accounts for a third of national total: ONS

KNIFE-RELATED crime in London made up almost a third of all such offences recorded in England and Wales in 2024, with the Metropolitan Police logging 16,789 incidents, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday.

This amounts to one offence every 30 minutes in the capital and represents 31 per cent of the 54,587 knife-enabled crimes reported across England and Wales last year. The total number marks a two per cent rise from 53,413 offences in 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer and Modi

Starmer and Modi shake hands during a bilateral meeting in the sidelines of the G20 summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Brazil, on November 18, 2024.

Getty Images

Starmer calls Modi over Kashmir attack; expresses condolences

PRIME MINISER Keir Starmer spoke to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning following the deadly attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam region that killed 26 people on Tuesday.

According to a readout from 10 Downing Street, Starmer said he was horrified by the devastating terrorist attack and expressed deep condolences on behalf of the British people to those affected, their loved ones, and the people of India. The two leaders agreed to stay in touch.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London, England. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Post Office spent £600m to keep Horizon despite plans to replace it: Report

THE POST OFFICE has spent more than £600 million of public funds to continue using the Horizon IT system, according to a news report.

Despite deciding over a decade ago to move away from the software, the original 1999 contract with Fujitsu prevented the Post Office from doing so, as it did not own the core software code, a BBC investigation shows.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pahalgam attack: Prayer meet held at Indian mission in London

The prayer meet was led by Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami

Pahalgam attack: Prayer meet held at Indian mission in London

Mahesh Liloriya

A PRAYER meet was held at the Gandhi Hall in the High Commission of India in London on Thursday (24) to pay respects to the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

Chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ rang out at the event which was led by Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami.

Keep ReadingShow less