For several days, Ireland has seen some of the most militant protests in years: roads blocked, fuel depots targeted and fuel supplies thrown into chaos. While we’ve yet to witness the same level of protests in the north, the core demand of protestors is right and massively popular: price caps on fuel during a cost-of-living crisis crushing ordinary people. People Before Profit has been calling for energy price caps consistently for years.
Because the Executive has failed to act, we have a years-long cost of living crisis getting worse by the month. The Executive parties here have a case to answer for the stagnant wages, poor quality homes and unchecked profiteering of energy companies, which have compounded the hardships facing families across the North.
Over 40% of people here are living in fuel poverty. 27% of households went without heating or electricity in the past two years because they couldn't afford the bills. 1 in 4 children in west Belfast and Derry are living in poverty. Keir Starmer’s listless Labour government allocated the Executive a paltry £17 million to help with soaring energy costs. A month later, people have yet to see a penny of this support.
The Executive's de-facto response is to beg the British government for more support that clearly isn't coming. Britain is a vassal state for US empire, and spineless Starmer clearly has no intention of standing up to Trump.
People are told to be grateful for scraps while costs keep rising. In many working class communities, fuel protests are popular for exactly that reason.
At the same time, we must be honest about the class character of these protests. This movement in the south has been largely led by business owners and owner-drivers, with far-right figures hovering at its edges. They want to blame migrants and minorities instead of the profiteers, war-makers and politicians actually responsible. That cannot be allowed.
Soaring fuel costs are driven by energy company profiteering and by Trump and Israel's war on Iran - a war our governments enable by allowing US military use of Shannon and Aldergrove airports without question.
People Before Profit is calling for urgent action:
- Immediate price caps on fuel and energy - this is clearly a matter for the British government, but the Executive needs to recognise the clear link between fuel poverty and corporate profiteering, and push Starmer’s government to do something about it.
- Windfall taxes on energy companies' record profits
- Greater powers for the Utility Regulator to investigate the pricing of local energy providers
- £500 energy credit for all households, with additional support for disabled people and those on social security
- Free public transport
- Ramp up retrofitting to reduce energy costs
- End sweetheart electricity deals for data centres - make them pay household rates
- Ban construction of new data centres
- US military out of Irish airports and skies
People Before Profit supports these protests, defends the right to protest, and is committed to building a deeper movement for a country we can all live in.