Last updated 14:02, Tuesday, 26 August 2008

In any civilised society the need for elderly people to choose between heating and eating is an inexcusable shame.

But the shame of forcing our weakest, poorest and most vulnerable to skip meals in order to keep warm is one we carry routinely as fuel costs soar – and energy suppliers count their profits in billions.

The price of domestic gas and electricity has rocketed and there’s no sign of a reversal in soaring trends any time soon. With winter some months away yet, already it’s reported that more than 9,000 people in north and west Cumbria are in fuel poverty. Some older people, fearful of demands they can’t meet, are scrimping on food and literally going hungry.

This kind of hardship, set against energy companies’ determination to protect profits, has prompted a call for windfall taxes to be imposed on suppliers announcing steep rises in gas and electricity charges.

Supporting that call is Age Concern, which wants the Government and energy companies to work together to offer assistance to the poorest pensioners.

Difficulties facing all businesses in the current slump are well known. But if the point of protecting a national economy is to safeguard company shareholders, with little or no regard to the plight of the country’s most vulnerable elderly, we can have no rightful claim to a civilised society.