One of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers has sparked fury after recommending that households save on their heating bills by ‘cuddling’ their cat.
Ovo Energy sent an email to customers on Monday listing ten ‘simple and cost effective ways to keep warm this winter’.
They included having a ‘cuddle with your pets and loved ones to help stay cosy’, eating ‘hearty bowls of porridge’, sticking to ‘non-alcoholic drinks’ and eating ginger — but not chilli, ‘as it makes you sweat’.
Also included is advice to ‘get moving’ by ‘doing a few star jumps’, cleaning the house, or ‘challenging the kids to a hula-hoop contest’.
The email, seen by the Financial Times, was sent to customers of SSE Energy Services, which was bought by Ovo in 2020.
MPs called the advice ‘insulting’ and ‘offensive’ as Britons face a crushing cost-of-living crisis. One Government figure told the FT the advice to eat porridge and cut out alcohol was ‘like some Dickensian nightmare’.
Energy bills for millions of households are expected to jump by more than 50 pet cent in April to £2,000 a year, when Britain’s energy price cap is adjusted.
Labour’s Darren Jones, chair of the Business Select Committee, demanded Ovo apologise to its customers for the ‘insensitive’ comments.
One of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers has sparked fury after recommending that households save on their heating bills by ‘cuddling’ their cat
Ovo Energy sent an email to customers on Monday listing ten ‘simple and cost effective ways to keep warm this winter’. They included having a ‘cuddle with your pets and loved ones to help stay cosy’, eating ‘hearty bowls of porridge’, sticking to ‘non-alcoholic drinks’ and eating ginger — but not chilli, ‘as it makes you sweat’
Former Tory Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers called the advice ‘pretty insensitive’, adding: ‘Many people are very anxious about rising energy bills and won’t take kindly to being told to do some star jumps’.
And Clive Lewis called the guidance ‘clown-like’ and ‘depressing’. He told the FT: ‘It is laughable and insulting, but then with this Government’s lack of an energy strategy you almost expect it’.
The Labour MP added that the comments ‘will be read by people who have to choose between eating and heating… if that’s the state of the country we are now in I find it quite depressing’.
An Ovo spokesman told the FT: ‘We understand how difficult the situation will be for many of our customers this year.
Ovo Energy sent an email to customers on Monday listing ten ‘simple and cost effective ways to keep warm this winter’
‘We are working hard to find meaningful solutions as we approach this energy crisis, and we recognise that the content of this blog was poorly judged and unhelpful. We are embarrassed and sincerely apologise.’
Charities have warned that the energy price surge could plunge millions more households into ‘fuel poverty’.
It comes as official figures suggested that inflation could soar to its highest level in more than 30 years in 2022 should ministers choose not to place any controls on increasing energy bills in April.
Government projections are understood to be warning that steep rises to consumers’s energy costs could see inflation rise by a further two percentage points come spring.
Financial services company Goldman Sachs provided a similarly damning picture as they warned hiking up fuel bills could see inflation hitting 6.8 per cent in April.
Experts have warned the latest squeeze could be even worse than the credit crunch 14 years ago, thanks to a toxic combination of spiking prices, the looming national insurance hike, and over a million people being dragged into the higher rate of tax.
Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure to tackle the cost of living crisis after Boris Johnson said he is ‘constantly’ meeting with the Chancellor to discuss rising energy bills.
Mr Sunak is due to hold talks with Tory MPs in the coming days, according to the BBC, as he tries to dampen Conservative anger on the issue.
Some Tory backbenchers are adamant the Chancellor
