As temperatures dipped this weekend, Plaid Cymru Parliamentary candidate for Clwyd West, Llyr Huws Gruffydd was joined by local councillors and Euro MP Jill Evans in Colwyn Bay on Saturday, when they gathered signatures on a petition calling on the UK government to take immediate action to cut people's heating bills.

Bay of Colwyn Mayor Councillor Phil Edwards, who is also Plaid Cymru Parliamentary candidate for Aberconwy, and Plaid Colwyn Bay Councillor Abdul Khan were also busy taking signatures. The party is campaigning for a package of measures including a temporary cut in VAT on home heating funded by a windfall tax on energy companies.

Llyr Huws Gruffydd said:

"The average family in areas such as Colwyn Bay and Abergele is paying £517 more for gas and £236 more for electricity than five years ago, while UK energy companies' profits have risen by over 500%. A national charity has calculated that there could be over 40 excess deaths in the Colwyn Bay area alone this winter because of the cold.

"We are running this campaign to send a message to Gordon Brown, whose government must do more to help people cope with the cost of heating their homes. His out-of-touch and out-of-ideas Labour party needs to show some guts, stop pandering to the large energy companies and act to cut people's energy bills.

Photo (L to R): Councillor Phil Edwards (Plaid Cymru Parliamentary candidate for Aberconwy), Plaid Cymru Parliamentary candidate for Clwyd West Llyr Huws Gruffydd, Councillor Abdul Khan, and Jill Evans MEP.

Jill Evans MEP said:

“Far too many people are being forced to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families this winter, when the cost of heating has gone up extortionately. This is no time for Gordon Brown to make token gestures, when he should be on the side of the people struggling to keep warm, and that was clear from many of the conversations I have had with people in Colwyn Bay today.

"While Plaid is on the people’s side, the Labour government in Westminster continues with more of the same 'let-the-market-run-wild' approach.”

Plaid's petition is calling for the following immediate measures to be taken in order to help people over this winter:

- temporary cut in VAT on home heating funded by a windfall tax on energy companies

- UK Government to implement a Windfall tax on the profits of the Energy Companies, which would fund a help package for those who have been affected by fuel poverty

- Extend Winter fuel payments to include disabled people, cancer patients, people with long term illnesses and also families with disabled and young children

- End the price disparity between prepaid meter customers and direct debit customers

- Re-introduce price controls on gas and electricity which were abolished in 2002

- Introduce a mandatory social tariff

- Secure further UK government funding to ensure that more homes can be brought up to the minimum standard of energy efficiency

- Link benefit advice with energy efficiency advice

- Ensure the role of Local Authorities in the fight against fuel poverty

You can sign the petition and get more information about the campaign by visiting www.warmingwales.plaidcymru.org or by signing the petition that will be collected throughout the constituency over the coming weeks.

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