James O’Brien reflects on ‘Dickensian' 21st Century Britain as people struggle to heat their homes
7 December 2022, 13:11 | Updated: 7 December 2022, 13:26
James O'Brien: Millions and millions and millions of people in this country are cold
James O'Brien spoke of the Dickensian reality of “millions” struggling with the cold during the cost of living crisis.
James O’Brien asked his listeners how they were coping with the cold with “sub-zero nights setting in across the country”.
“It is freezing, it is freezing”, he said, launching into a monologue on how “nobody is alone in this experience”.
James spoke of listeners describing their “inside and outside coats” and letting their children sit by the radiator for an hour in the evenings, saying calls like these are “no longer exceptional”.
“People who would have traditionally seen themselves as successful or middle class, whatever phrase you prefer, solvent, are not turning on their heating at all in some cases”, he said.
James acknowledged that he was “better insulated” from some of these problems than others but is still “conscious” of it with “a modicum of stress”.
He also wondered what it was like for people in shared homes, saying: “You might want to turn the heating on, but your flatmate says they can't afford it. What do you do then?”
He noted how blankets upwards of £70 already price people out and that coffee will only warm you up “briefly”.
“Millions and millions and millions of people in this country are cold”, he said.
In a “side order” of the political element of the energy crisis, he added: “I don't know how helpful it is today to start screaming about the fact that the current Chairman of the Conservative Party once put heating for his stables on expenses, while huge numbers of people in this country can’t afford to heat their living room.”
This was in reference to Nadhim Zahawi, who apologised for this in 2013 and faced further backlash on the matter during his time as Chancellor.
James added that his wife often works from home and uses an electric blanket instead of central heating.
“I can't quite believe that that is happening in our family at this time, but it is”, he said in reflection.
James pointed out that the UK has one of the largest economies in the world.
“The money’s there, swishing and swilling and swashing around, but we are living in a country in the 21st century that Charles Dickens could have written about”, he said.
