Public support has also grown for other forms of Government help to tackle the energy crisis.

Scrapping fares on public transport is an ideal way to respond to the soaring fuel prices caused by the war in the Gulf, Fare Free London says.

Abolishing fares makes public transport more attractive to drivers, as well as giving instant support to public transport users, whose journeys are far less fuel-intensive.          

“Free public transport would reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and on world markets where prices are set by events outside our control”, Pearl Ahrens of Fare Free London said.

The fuel price shock from the US-Israeli attack on Iran is likely to last a long time. The UK will be hit harder than any other country in the G20, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development has said. And the EU has warned that cutting taxes on petrol could cause a fiscal crisis.

This terrible war should force a permanent rethink of the transport system, Fare Free London believes. The drastic changes necessitated by climate change are long overdue, and the war just adds to the urgency of addressing energy vulnerabilities now.

This is an opportunity to put in place policies that make our transport system more resilient to shocks – both fuel shortages and economic crises – and work towards a sustainable transport system in the longer term. Instead of cutting taxes on fuel, which is already heavily subsidised, we should try and save fuel by encouraging people to travel on public transport.  

In Asia, municipal authorities have turned to free public transport to shield people from the worst effects of the sharp increases in oil prices.

In Pakistan, the state of Punjab, the largest state in the country, with 125+ million population, and the capital, Islamabad, have made public transport free for a month. The Punjab Mass Transit Authority reckons that more than 800,000 passengers are benefiting from the policy each day, and the provincial government is considering expanding the bus fleet to cope.

In Australia, both the state of Victoria and the island of Tasmania have also made public transport free, temporarily.

Municipal authorities in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam – which has a population of 14.5 million, much more than London’s – are considering a permanent scheme.     

Free public transport as an emergency measure is not problem-free, but its implementation in UK cities would be a welcome relief from the costs of tickets. Evidence from Montpellier in France, where public transport has now been free for two years, is that a properly-managed scheme in a European city works very well.

In the run-up to the 7th May elections, more than 170 candidates have signed a pledge to “use our platforms to call for the extension of free public transport”. Fare Free London, together with Fare Free Yorkshire, Better Buses for West Yorkshire, West Yorkshire Needs a Tram, Tipping Point UK and the Greener Jobs Alliance, are backing the initiative.

The Government should help end our exposure to fossil fuel price shocks

The campaign chimes with shifts in public opinion, with households keen to break free from the cycle of fossil fuel price shocks for good, according to new polling.

Figures show that the ongoing conflict with Iran has prompted more than a third of adults to increase their interest in new technologies to cut their bills and reduce their exposure to volatile global markets.

Research by Survation for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition finds that 35% of the public have become more interested in home energy technology since the Iran conflict began. Of these people, 45% are now more interested in getting solar panels on their roofs, 36% would like more home insulation, 35% are more interested in the new plug in solar option and 26% are now more interested in getting a heat pump.

But with 60% saying such options are simply too expensive, the public is calling on the Government to act, with 71% wanting grants for insulation and 68% seeking support for solar panels and heat pumps.

With 83% of the public worried about energy bills and 44% saying they would be unable to afford the expected £228 annual increase in energy bills from 1st July, 73% want to see targeted support for households and 67% want to see help for all households with energy bills.

Heating Oil and LPG customers have already seen the cost of energy increase and as price rises loom for even more households from 1st July, a majority of the public (64%) believe that the energy industry is profiteering from the conflict in Iran and a  majority say that ending the Windfall Tax now would be the wrong thing to do.

Simon Francis, End Fuel Poverty Coalition coordinator said: “The public want to protect themselves from oil and gas price shocks for good, and the Government has both the means and the mandate to help them do it.

“Energy firms made £125bn in profits on their UK operations over the last five years and companies like BP are already expecting bumper profits from the fresh crisis. The Windfall Tax revenue raised by the Treasury should be going further to help households cut their bills for good.

“The Government’s Warm Homes Plan is the right vehicle, but now is the moment to make it even more ambitious and to ensure it comes with a guarantee that every upgraded home will see energy efficiency improve and bills come down.”

“A Trump Tax, plain and simple”

Three-quarters of the public (76%) hold Donald Trump responsible for energy bill increases set to hit UK households, while 65% also blame the energy industry directly. The anger runs deep enough that 63% of respondents agree the increases amount to a Trump Tax on their bills.

Robert Palmer, Deputy Director of Uplift, added: “People know they’re being hit with a Trump Tax, plain and simple. We’re facing higher energy bills, rocketing fuel prices and more expensive mortgages. Our dependence on fossil fuels is making all of us poorer. All except for the oil and gas bosses and their shareholders who – once again – are set to cash in at our expense.

“Now Trump is demanding that the UK doubles down on drilling. But we can’t drill our way out of this crisis. More drilling won’t take a penny off our bills, and would have no meaningful impact on the UK’s supply of gas. We’ve burned most of what was in the North Sea already.

“The only way to insulate ourselves from these risks is to press on with renewables, like wind, and upgrade our homes with solar power and heat pumps, so we can free ourselves from oil and gas and ensure we have a liveable planet. And this polling shows the public gets this, even if Donald Trump doesn’t.”

Image: c/o Labour Hub