I as ‘Aladin’ rubbing on my Plastic Magic Lamp ( as advertised by the Government of the UK) -Jimmy Jimmy come out, come out.. I have tried again.. then again.. But I am stuck in the cave.. there is no way out.. Jimmy ..Jimmy come out.. nothing is happening.. I am sweating.. Is this the end.. How i will survive? .. I tried again… I am sweating… I open my eyes and to my utter suspense.. I just woke up .. ahh thank God it was a dream..!!
This is the nightmare for hundreds of thousands of families and my community members now. It’s a common dream for many of us. Yes, it is. I can confirm it. Every day we are living in that fear of how will we cope this winter. A couple of days ago while I was hiking in the lakes one of the explorers bumped into me and was saying- “What a wonderful Summer Aye?! .. I just replied to him in a low voice ‘Yes of course but not with joy. As thinking about the hard winter that is coming after this. Certainly, we live for today but our past and future must be included in our life plan and we as human beings can not discount the facts of the future challenges we can not see we always get ourselves prepared. For example- We invented covid vaccine due to our needs although the Coronavirus did not give us any notice for future consequences.
Let’s go into the main discussion. The way the UK is leading with its energy price hike, daily essentials price hike, immigration problems, corruption in the government etc will be hard for this little Island to cope with in 5 years’ time. As an asylum seeker & a law student who mixes with the community in an extensive way due to my voluntary work, I can at least say this. What is our duty as fellow citizens? as a fellow politicians? Are we not putting out the next generations a risk of not being able to cope with anything at all? Why we can not see what is going on in the system? Why there is no accountability in the system and who is behind it? We, of course, do see that but we try to remain ourselves in a famous English hope that ‘ Ah don’t worry everything will be alright’!. No, I would say it wouldn’t be ok.
It seems we are quite happy to accept some kind of scheme announced by the government every time the price goes up etc. These are eye wash schemes and will only aid us for a certain period of time rather than a good prosperous solution. I would say this is a failure by the government ministers who do not see the future consequences and prioritize cash cow companies rather than the best interest of the members of the public.
I really wish if I had the power to change something in the political system I will pass a universal divine law & guidance about ‘ How to serve the Best Interest of your Community & your People”. Politicians will be the first to take oath in this and serve the nation according to it. The first paragraph on that rule will be _ ” I promise and oblige by the virtue of the United Kingdom that, I will always and must serve the best interest of my people in the country before and even after my service. If I failed to do so I will resign and face public prosecution willingly without any prejudice with maximum sentences agreed by the member of the public”.
The way our energy bills are going is impacting our daily life. While I was reading I news another day it was saying “I quote’- ‘A GP has told i that patients have “effectively disconnected their electric supply” and are relying on candlelight and battery-operated lights, while charities say parents are skipping meals in order to leave enough food for their children.’
Some people I have recently met were asking me – What Are The Consequences For Not Paying Your Energy Bills? . There is a petition ongoing where more than a hundred thousand people signed if that can cancel their direct debit! I have heard from people who tell us they are already cutting back on groceries, limiting themselves to only boiling the kettle once a day, and who expect to switch off the heating this winter.
The typical bill under the existing price cap is £1,971 a year, or £2,017 for the 4.5 million households with a pre-payment meter. The rise in October to £3,549, or £3,608 for those on pre-payment meters, is an 80% increase. Analysts at Cornwall Insight forecast further increases in January, when the price cap is updated again. They say the typical bill will then be £5,386 a year and that more rises will follow.
However, Ofgem says predictions of future price cap levels should be treated with “extreme caution”.
There is advice and support available online on how you can reduce the usage and in some situations how could you speak to the energy company to set up a plan?. To avoid future problems like debt, debt collectors, court summons etc the companies are taking social media platforms to alarm the consumers. I did say to the people always we should pay our bills but at the same time ask the government this simple question- “Why do you think we should be able to cope with this nonsense?”. You got your MP, you got your social media and you got your friends who are a reporter – share your story and ask the question. It is your public right. There is a famous saying in Bengali- ‘ If a little baby doesn’t cry his/her mom doesn’t give her/him milk’. So if you do not cry and do not say it’s not ok for the government to let this happen this will happen.
So far what I have seen in a lot of aspects of this current situation the government of this country actually only thinks about money. They overspend on some issues which are absolutely not necessary. I will not prolong my blog at this point. But I would like to admit that- If you love yourself, you think you are a part of a democracy and you have rights, then you should see regardless of your situation the hard time is coming for the people of this country. The aim of this blog is to share a reminder that this will affect you directly or indirectly, your family, your friend, your community and your country unless you have ” Aladin’s Magic Lamp”.
Links may help you with energy price/ support scheme etc)–https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/find-schemes-grants-and-benefits-help-home-energy
Disclaimer: Any comments are welcome. As a community member, and law student, I respect everyone’s view but that must not indicate I should support your view or even in the future my perspective may have moved (Due to reasons), But that does not discredit the truth that I am correct. Please do not copy my blog and If you share please admit the credit to me. Thank you. Md Mominul Hamid ( Acting like a lawyer ( Barrister), an asylum seeker in the UK ( please do not be surprised).
