UK
More than 100 bids received in latest round of offshore oil and gas licensing

Neil Pooran, PA Scotland Political Reporter
Tue, 17 January 2023 

More than 100 applications have been received in the UK’s 33rd round of offshore oil and gas licensing.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates the sector, said a total of 115 bids have been received from 76 companies, covering 258 “blocks” of the sea.

The licensing round for exploration and potential development opened in October.



The NSTA says the bids will now be studied and those that go ahead could begin production in as little as 18 months.

Several different consents are needed after licences are granted but before production can begin, including ensuring it is in line with climate commitments.

While offshore licensing is reserved to Westminster, last week the Scottish Government published its draft energy strategy which discussed its policy on the North Sea.

Ministers in Edinburgh are consulting on whether to adopt a position of a presumption against new oil and gas drilling.

Ministers in Edinburgh launched their energy strategy last week (Jane Barlow/PA)

Nick Richardson, the NSTA’s head of exploration, said: “We have seen a strong response from industry to the (licensing) round, which has exceeded application levels compared to previous rounds.

“We will now be working hard to analyse the applications with a view to awarding the first licences from the second quarter of 2023.”

UK climate minister Graham Stuart said: “Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has led to volatile global energy markets.

“It’s fantastic to see such interest from industry in this round, with the awarded licences set to play an important role in boosting domestic energy production and securing the UK’s long-term energy security of supply.”

Trendwatch: How indigenous guides, tours and experiences are changing the way we travel

Lucy Thackray
Tue, 17 January 2023 

An aboriginal guide shows kids around his community near the Great Ocean Road, Australia (Intrepid Travel)

In The Independent’s travel trends column, Trendwatch, we dig into the types of trip, modes of transport and top buzzwords to watch out for.

Of the many exciting new tours, accommodation and travel experiences that pinged into my inbox as the calendar flicked from 2022 into 2023, one loomed larger and more vivid than most. This was the trend for days out and micro-adventures led by, or immersing travellers in, indigenous and First Nations communities.

Extending far beyond the odd Aboriginal-culture-themed day trip in Australia, this is a new, diverse generation of experiences designed for learning and appreciation. Thoughtfully planned and sensitively led, ideally by people from the community they are hosted in, a raft of new micro-adventures range from Canada to Costa Rica, the Pacific islands to South Dakota. They’re not merely tucked into itineraries that pass through certain remote regions; rather, they’re proudly marketed as one of the most essential and meaningful ways to immerse yourself in that country’s culture. Increasingly, they involve staying overnight with, and being guided by, indigenous people who are experts on their land, wildlife and folklore.

Experiences are proudly marketed as one of the most essential and meaningful ways to immerse yourself in that country’s culture

So why now? Many of these communities have existed for centuries, with mainstream tourism only making contact in more recent years. The 2023 wave is likely a more focused aspect of a wider recent trend for travels that empower the locals in a destination. The idea is that operators and tourist boards link up fully with remote communities and indigenous guides who may have been working and living in the same way for centuries. With more experiences of this kind than ever before, many operators have reviewed their offering in all countries with an indigenous population, making sure they engage respectfully with and channel funds towards these enlightening guides and hosts.

Foraging, wildlife tracking and ‘bush tucker' are hallmarks of many indigenous-guided experiences (Intrepid Travel)

As just one example, Australia-based adventure operator Intrepid Travel is launching 100 new indigenous-led experiences in 2023. Its general manager of purpose, Sara King, tells me that the pandemic was a time for reflection – and one major thing the team reviewed and overhauled was the role of visits to indigenous communities on its tours. As an example, she says, “in 2019 we had 12 indigenous-led experiences in Australia,” she says. “In 2023, we’ll have 50, led by 41 different operators”.

She tells me this type of tour stop is not just popular with guests; it’s an ESG (environmental, social and governance) commitment. “As a company we have a Reconciliation Action Plan, which helps us create relationships and do things in the right way, engaging appropriately with indigenous communities,” she says. “Going into 2023, we’ve really tried to offer some kind of First Nations experience no matter where you go.”

Beyond Australia, the group adventure operator’s 100 new experiences extend to Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, Mexico, Utah and Tanzania. As well as channelling tourist spend directly into the towns and projects they visit, King says, responsible tourism to these areas can even have a direct, positive effect on the environment.

Indigenous guides can be that conduit for travellers to understand what the impact of climate can be on their own country
Sara King, Intrepid Travel

“There’s a huge connection between First Nations people and the country they have lived in for many years, the wildlife and the land. They can be that conduit for travellers to understand what the impact of climate can be on their own country,” she says. Connecting with these tribes, villages and projects, ensuring they thrive, is key because they are often the stewards of nature.

According to the UN, indigenous peoples are stewards of the world’s biodiversity and cultural diversity. “Although they account for only around 5 per cent of the world’s population,” it says, “they effectively manage an estimated 20-25 per cent of the Earth’s land surface. This land coincides with areas that hold 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity and about 40 per cent of all terrestrial protected areas and ecologically intact landscapes. “

Tracking Canadian wolves is best done on a camp-out with First Nations guides, says Audley Travel (Coastal Rainforest Safaris)

Many of the UK’s top tour operators have new experiences taking guests to indigenous heartlands in 2023. Audley Travel is proudest of its new two-day adventure with Tlatlasikwala First Nation guides in British Columbia. Out in the wilderness with a maximum of six guests, your First Nations hosts will show you how they track sea- and land wolves, as you camp out surrounded by nature.

“I think this trend is gaining traction because clients are interested in immersive experiences: they want to meet local people, to get a sense of what these destinations offer beyond the tourist hot spots, and there’s a feeling of supporting a local community, a local way of life,” says Audley’s head of product, Alex Bentley. “It feels good, it feels responsible. It’s a positive impact story that clients relate to.”

As well as cultural immersion and a new appreciation of wildlife, he says, “these communities also often directly show or tell you how tourist money is spent. For our wolf-tracking tour, some of those funds go to schools that keep their traditional language alive, a language that was in danger of disappearing.” Two of Audley’s other tours he recommends are visiting Borneo’s Lemanak longhouse, run by the Iban people, and visiting deep-rooted communities in Japan’s Kyoto-by-the-Sea, engaging with local artisans and seeing their longstanding way of life in stilted, coastal houses.

Indigenous storytelling at Flinders Ranges, South Australia (Intrepid Travel)

Elsewhere, Much Better Adventures is tapping into the local knowledge of Panama’s Guna and Emberá communities, who will lead kayaking adventures in the the Guna Yala Islands and Chagres National Park on their 2023 tours. On the tourism board front, Australia’s Tropical North Queensland, already home to three major indigenous Australian festivals, has pledged to double indigenous employment in the region by 2032.

In the US, Trafalgar has launched a nine-day “National Parks and Native Trails of the Dakotas” tour, where visitors will spend time with representatives of the states’ Lakota, Rosebud and Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes, going on plant-foraging walks, learning about the preservation of native languages and being treated to a dinner and dance ritual.

Accommodation can be a source of income for indigenous communities, too: this year, US operator Ranch Rider has launched trips to its first wholly indigenous-owned and operated ranch for horseriding and culture exchange holidays in Alberta, Canada. And Original Travel is leading tours to Nemiah Valley Lodge, British Columbia, which will open for its first full season in June. Run by the Xeni Gwet’in community, it’s the first tourism venture in the Tsilhqot’in region, after a landmark ruling awarded this 1,900 sqkm territory to six First Nation communities in the region in 2014.

Guna Yala is a comarca indígena (indigenous province) off the north coast of Panama (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This trend has some unhappy realities behind it. It’s partly driven by the public consciousness raised by headlines around indigenous peoples protecting whole ecosystems, receiving apologies for historic cruelty and even being murdered for defending their land. Many countries are letting go of any attempts to gloss over cruelty and past dismissal of indigenous communities, and instead facing up to and atoning for their history. More positive is the increased awareness about how remote destinations were affected by the tourism slump during Covid, and a concerted effort to spend tourist dollars where they’re most needed.

The first sign of anything becoming too commercialised or taking advantage of locals, we would walk away

Alex Bentley, Audley

I question Alex Bentley about how Audley keeps its experiences respectful and beneficial to tour leaders, well away from a dated idea of wealthy, white people going to stare at an “exotic” way of life. “That’s crucial, isn’t it,” he says. “We work closely with local tourism commissions to ensure there’s a degree of sensitivity, and we’re mindful of our language to clients, and also preparing clients for how they should interact with local people.

“But what we’ve found is that these communities, particularly in Canada, are very supportive of this as a way to generate income, to promote themselves and make a living with something they enjoy doing. It’s low impact: you’re typically walking, talking, hiking and camping, looking and viewing. People are seeing this an opportunity to further promote themselves and their culture. Provided we continue to review and consider all of that carefully with our partners, it’s a good message to send.”

First Nations guides lead Audley’s wolf tracking tour (Coastal Rainforest Safaris)

“There are some operators that don’t do it well,” says Alex. “There has to be a mutual understanding of what we want to deliver. We want to maintain a respect, a mutually beneficial relationship with each community; the first sign of anything becoming too commercialised or taking advantage of locals, we would walk away.”

The Intrepid project hasn’t been without its challenges, says King. Tour leaders and businesses in the US and Canada have been harder to connect with. “Many indigenous guides in the US don’t have websites or tour information online, so we have to find them through word of mouth from local tourism boards, plus some deep digging around for phone numbers,” she explains. But she’s confident this kind of experience will only feature more prominently in its tours.

The rise in interest correlates with the increase in guests wanting to put experiences, people-led encounters, nature and wildlife above luxury and seclusion

But, in many cases, learning skills or engaging in knowledge exchange with a First Nations community is the highlight of a multi-stop trip. Alex Bentley observes that the rise in interest correlates with the increase in guests wanting to put experiences, people-led encounters, nature and wildlife above luxury and seclusion.

“Many of our clients are willing to sacrifice a certain degree of comfort for something that is so unique and may be the most memorable part of their holiday,” says Alex Bentley. It’s often also one of the best-value components of a trip, he says, given that many hikes and camp-outs are pretty rustic in nature.

For Sara King, it’s all about recognising and paying tribute to indigenous residents’ part in each country’s history and culture. “Indigenous tourism has the power to bring travellers closer to the communities that shaped destinations, honouring their customs and unique history while paving a new path for peace and reconciliation,” she says.

What’s the true value of crypto? It lays bare the lies of libertarians

Zoe Williams
Tue, 17 January 2023 

Photograph: David Dee Delgado/Reuters

I’ve laboured hard not to engage with cryptocurrency, to turn the page on its scandals and file its many bin fires under “fools and their money being easily parted”. But this has been a mistake, because the story is just getting good.

The PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel said in 2020 that crypto was one of two poles of technological conflict, the other being artificial intelligence. AI could “theoretically make it possible to centrally control an entire economy” while crypto “holds out the prospect of a decentralised and individualised world”. He concluded that AI is communist and crypto is libertarian; it was unnecessary to add which of those he thought was better.

Parking for the time being how communist AI is, let’s take that last bit as read. Naturally, if you unshackle a currency from the state and don’t regulate it, that’s a pretty libertarian proposition. You might even call it the ultimate free market. So how’s that panning out for you, lads? Or should I say bros?

Three years after Thiel’s prophecy, Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned from the cryptocurrency exchange he founded and FTX has filed for bankruptcy. As Bankman-Fried continues to proclaim his innocence, investigators point in court to a $65bn (£53bn) backdoor between his two companies; they’ve also identified tens of millions of dollars of spending on hotels, travel, food and luxury items in under a year.

No question, there will be technical details in here that are hard to understand, but there is a principle that is very easily grasped, that is as universal and intuitive as time itself. Markets have never been free: they are social spaces and, as such, have always been governed by rules, which – since the first time a snake-eyed trader tried to cut flour with chalk – work because they are formally determined. Take away those rules and soon a greedy, clever person might take advantage. He won’t be able to help himself. He needs the rules as much as anyone else, if not more.

I think Thiel is right: crypto is the ultimate technology of libertarianism, the final frontier of discovery. He just missed the second footfall, which is that, through crypto, we will discover that libertarianism is bullshit.

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

Rohingya fleeing Myanmar or Bangladesh by sea surged fivefold in 2022- UN

Tue, 17 January 2023 

Rohingya refugees are seen on a boat near the coast of Seunuddon beach in North Aceh

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The number of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar or Bangladesh by sea surged fivefold to more than 3,500 in 2022 from a year earlier, the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday, in the deadliest year for the ethnic minority group at since 2014.

At least 348 Rohingya died or went missing as they attempted to cross the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal last year, with the figure reaching alarming levels after the sinking of a boat in December, with all 180 Rohingya Muslims on board presumed dead, the UNHCR said in a statement.

"They undertake dangerous sea journeys seeking protection, security, family reunification, and livelihoods in other countries. Growing desperation in Myanmar and Bangladesh appears to have driven the increasing numbers undertaking sea journeys in 2022," the agency said.

The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority group that has lived in Myanmar for centuries but has been denied citizenship in the Buddhist-majority nation since 1982, are seen as illegal immigrants from South Asia.

Nearly 1 million Rohingya from Myanmar are additionally living in crowded facilities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, including tens of thousands who fled Myanmar after its military conducted a deadly crackdown in 2017.

Most boats carrying the Rohingya departed from Myanmar and Bangladesh, the UNHCR said, and those on board disembarked primarily in Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

In 2014, more than 700 people were estimated to have lost their lives or were missing with nearly 60,000 taking the risky sea journeys, an UNHCR spokesperson told Reuters.

The number of women and children undertaking the dangerous sea journeys rose by 7% last year from 2021, and comprised nearly 45% of those disembarking.

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta and Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Krishna N. Das and Bernadette Baum)

Swedish mining town sinking into the ground to be relocated building by building

 

By Isabel da Silva • Updated: 16/01/2023

The Swedish town of Kiruna is sinking into the ground due to years of mining. - Copyright Malin Moberg/Copyright 2019 The AP. All rights reserved.

The Swedish town of Kiruna will be moved building by building to a new location in the country due to years of mining that have caused it to sink into the ground.

Valuable minerals have also been found in and around it, including Europe's largest deposit of rare earth minerals, used to make green technologies.

Kiruna is located 200km north of the Arctic circle and was founded to house the workers of an iron ore mine installed 125 years ago.

Most of its inhabitants have welcomed the move, after taking part in a consultation about their desires.

Clara Nyström, an antiquarian at the Kiruna Municipality told Euronews that the relocation is a significant improvement.

"They wanted places to meet, like a big town square, we did not have that [before]. Also a more defined shopping area, like our new shopping street, and also - maybe the most important - was the access to nature. We really enjoy outdoor life," Nyström said.

The relocation of 450,000 square metres of houses, schools, public, commercial and leisure premises should be completed by 2035.

One of the most sensitive buildings is the iconic church, from 1912, which Lena Tjarnberg, a vicar at Kiruna Lutheran Church says is crucial for the town.

"It is very important to move the church for us and for the city. People are very happy about that... that the church is going to the new city, and is not going to be torn down. I think people are looking forward to the move, for the day when it is going to happen," she told Euronews.

Kiruna has around 23,000 inhabitants that populate a territory the size of Slovenia.

It is located in a protected landscape that attracts many tourists as it includes birch forests, alpine tundra, seven rivers and 6,000 lakes.

But the expansion of the mine worries the indigenous people of Lapland, known as the Sámi, who mostly live off reindeer herding.

The government says it will take into account their needs, but Stefan Mikaelsson, the Deputy Chair from the Board of the Sámi Parliament, told Euronews that the surrounding nature must be taken into account.

"Biological diversity in the Arctic is very crucial also for the people of the continent. We cannot just depend on the Amazon and pretend that by protecting it we are then allowed to keep the consumption habits, the extraction of natural resources and gaining profits in the Arctic by endless amount of years," he said.

The mining company involved, LKAB, announced it will soon use just clean energy sources, aiming to be at the centre of the so-called green industrial revolution. But questions remain, given that the discovery of rare earth elements in Kiruna means an expansion of industries in the Arctic.

BACKGROUNDER

The dark climate secret of self-driving cars

Rob Waugh
·Contributor
Mon, 16 January 2023

Is there a dark environmental secret behind self-driving car technology? (Getty)

In many visions of the future, self-driving electric cars will whoosh through our cities, picking up passengers - but is there a hidden environmental cost to the technology?

New research from MIT suggests that the energy required to run the computers in a global fleet of autonomous cars could generate as many greenhouse gas emissions as all the data centres in the world today.

The research highlighted the sheer amount of computing required to keep billions of self-driving vehicles on the road - with up to 21.6 quadrillion calculations per day (one quadrillion is 1,000 trillion).

Data centres account for about 0.3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, or about as much carbon as the country of Argentina produces annually, according to the International Energy Agency.

MIT researchers built a statistical model to study the problem.

Read more: Melting snow in Himalayas drives growth of green sea slime visible from space

They determined that 1 billion autonomous vehicles, each driving for one hour per day with a computer consuming 840 watts, would consume enough energy to generate about the same amount of emissions as all the data centres currently on Earth.

The researchers warn that to minimise the impact may require more efficient computers - perhaps requiring faster upgrades than the current rate of technology evolution.

Lead author Soumya Sudhakar, a graduate student in aeronautics and astronautics, says, "If we just keep the business-as-usual trends in decarbonisation and the current rate of hardware efficiency improvements, it doesn't seem like it is going to be enough to constrain the emissions from computing onboard autonomous vehicles.

Read more: A 1988 warning about climate change was mostly right

“This has the potential to become an enormous problem. But if we get ahead of it, we could design more efficient autonomous vehicles that have a smaller carbon footprint from the start.”

The researchers built a framework to explore the operational emissions from computers on board a global fleet of electric vehicles that are fully autonomous, meaning they don't require a back-up human driver.

The model is a function of the number of vehicles in the global fleet, the power of each computer on each vehicle, the hours driven by each vehicle, and the carbon intensity of the electricity powering each computer.

"On its own, that looks like a deceptively simple equation. But each of those variables contains a lot of uncertainty because we are considering an emerging application that is not here yet," Sudhakar says.

Read more: Why economists worry that reversing climate change is hopeless

When they used the probabilistic model to explore different scenarios, Sudhakar was surprised by how quickly the algorithms' workload added up.

For example, if an autonomous vehicle has 10 deep neural networks processing images from 10 cameras, and that vehicle drives for one hour a day, it will make 21.6 million inferences each day.

One billion vehicles would make 21.6 quadrillion inferences.

To put that into perspective, all of Facebook's data centres worldwide make a few trillion inferences each day.

Sertac Karaman, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics says."After seeing the results, this makes a lot of sense, but it is not something that is on a lot of people's radar. These vehicles could actually be using a ton of computer power. They have a 360-degree view of the world, so while we have two eyes, they may have 20 eyes, looking all over the place and trying to understand all the things that are happening at the same time,

UK
Starmer calls for tighter gun laws after church drive-by shooting

David Hughes, PA Political Editor
Mon, 16 January 2023 at 3:24 am GMT-7·2-min read

Laws on gun ownership should be tightened, Sir Keir Starmer has said following a drive-by shooting at a church in his constituency.

The Labour leader said he had been given a police intelligence briefing on the “awful” incident, in which four women and two children were injured.

A seven-year-old girl is in a serious but stable condition after the shotgun attack on mourners at a memorial service at St Aloysius Church in Euston, central London, on Saturday.

Four women and two children were injured in the gun attack at St Aloysius Roman Catholic Church in Euston (Yui Mok/PA)

Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, said the Euston incident, and shootings such as the killing of five people in Keyham, Plymouth, in 2021, show the need for reforms to gun laws.

“We’ve had these incidents from time to time with guns,” he told LBC Radio.

“And every time there is, there’s evidence, which I am concerned about, that people have access to guns that they shouldn’t have access to.

“Now, if it’s illegal access, obviously, that’s a pure matter of the criminal law.

“But other people, where better checks should be taken over circulation of guns…

“So I think that we need to look again as to whether those laws are strong enough, that may or may not help this particular case.”

He added: “There are many illegally-owned guns out there and there are legally-owned guns, which I don’t think should be in the hands of the people who are legally owning them.”

Sir Keir added that he does not back an outright ban on gun ownership, saying that exemptions should be allowed for famers and sports shooting clubs.

A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder over the Euston incident.

Bulgarian political crisis: President asks Socialists to form government

Euronews
Mon, 16 January 2023 


Bulgaria's president asked the Socialists to form a new government on Monday, amid a long-running political crisis.

Rumen Radev gave the Socialist Party a mandate to try and create a new government in a last attempt to avoid the country's fifth general election in two years.

Amid a cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine, Bulgarian politics has taken a bumpy turn recently, with successive governments collapsing due to resignations and no-confidence votes.

Although their chances of success are dim, Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova said her party would make every effort to establish "a regular government, which this country badly needs at this point.”

Radev's move came after the two main groups in Bulgaria's parliament – the centre-right GERB party and the reformist We Continue the Change party — failed to find enough support to form their own coalitions.

Political parties with the strongest election results are given the first two mandates, but a third one can be offered to one of the president's choosing.

Austria blocks Schengen accession of Romania and Bulgaria, while Croatia gets green light

In Bulgaria's most recent election in October, the Socialist Party finished fifth.

GERB and Democratic Bulgaria have previously said they will not support a Socialist-led government, mainly because the left-wing party is pro-Russian and has repeatedly voted against military aid to Ukraine.

If the Socialists fail to find coalition partners, the president must dissolve parliament, appoint a caretaker government and schedule another early election to be held in two months.

Analysts expect another election would produce a similar outcome.

This would mark a continuation of the political showdown that has gripped the country since 2020, when thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets to demand reforms in the judiciary and efficient anti-corruption actions.

The political crisis adds to the economic woes of the European Union’s poorest member.

More volatility could delay its plans to join the eurozone and the EU’s visa-free Schengen Area, as well as the timely receipt of billions of euros in EU recovery funds.

UK
Charities and organisations call for social energy tariff

Josie Clarke, PA Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Mon, 16 January 2023 


Almost 100 charities and organisations are collectively calling for a social energy tariff to help low-income and vulnerable older and disabled households heat their homes.

In an open letter to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the group including Age UK, Fair By Design, National Energy Action (NEA) and Scope warn that many older and disabled people, their carers and low-income households, are facing an uncertain future as they grapple with unaffordable energy bills.

A survey for Age UK suggests that 24% of over-60s are living in homes which are colder than they would like them to be, rising to 27% for older people with a disability.

The letter calls for targeted support for those on means-tested benefits, disability benefits and carer’s allowance, as well as those missing out on welfare support but still struggling with their bills.

It describes “deep concern” that the withdrawal of universal energy support from April “will leave many older and disabled people in a increasingly desperate situation”.


Charities said they were being inundated with calls from people in “dire need”, including those relying on medical equipment like dialysis machines and who were facing a daily struggle to keep their equipment turned on and stay warm and well.

NEA estimates that the energy crisis has pushed more than 6.7 million UK households into fuel poverty, up from 4.5 million in October 2021.

It predicts that the figure will jump to 8.4 million households when the Government’s energy bills support scheme comes to an end.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “Imagine having to choose between staying warm, feeding your family or powering essential medical equipment.

“This is the reality for increasing numbers of older and disabled households across the country.


“Older people are struggling to get by now, and that’s before another energy price increase comes their way in a few months’ time.

“Many will simply not be able to cope with further price rises and we’re extremely concerned their health and wellbeing will pay the price.

“There needs to be much more protection for those who have no other means of paying such extortionate energy costs.

“The Government must introduce a social tariff for the energy market whilst prices are so high, and ensure we never face a crisis like this again.”

Martin Coppack, director of Fair By Design, said: “We need to make sure vulnerable households are protected from future hikes in energy prices.

“This is why Fair By Design has been calling on the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to introduce an energy social tariff.

“This would benefit those in greatest need, who would no longer be faced with the impossible decision of going without essentials such as food just to be able to heat their homes.

“The number of signatories to our joint letter to the Chancellor shows there is broad consensus on what the solution is.

“We urge the Government to make good on its commitment to work with organisations like ours to consider the best approach for those struggling with their bills.”

James Taylor, director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “Astronomical energy bills are pushing disabled people to the brink.

“Our helpline has been inundated with calls from disabled people whose bills have doubled or even quadrupled in a year.

“Prices will rise again this April but disabled families have nothing left to cut back on.

“They can’t turn off vital, life-saving equipment and budgets can’t stretch any further.

“The Government must introduce a social tariff, a discounted energy rate, for disabled people before it’s too late.”

Huge Tornado Crosses Iowa Highway

A tornado swept through Conroy in central Iowa on Monday, January 16, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Credit: Matt Krieger via Storyful