Time To Act Is Now

Brown says Cobra must meet up to find a plan to tackle our national emergency

- Peter Davidson

FORMER PRIME MINISTER'S SOS CALL TO TORY LEADERS

GORDON Brown has demanded that the Government's disaster committee, Cobra, gets together immediately to deal with the cost of living crisis.

The former prime minister also hinted Parliament should be recalled as the Tory Government has created a "vacuum" with Prime Minister Boris Johnson off on holiday.

Brown's message was last night backed by the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford, who said the outgoing PM was "missing in action".

Writing for the Daily Record, Brown said: "Cobra, the Gove disaster emergency committee, should be in permanent session to deal with the coming fuel and energy crisis.

He called for "urgent measures" to cover the cost of a further £1000-plus rise in fuel bills on top of April's already painful increases, saying millions were on the brink of poverty.

He added: "The facts are grim: Four in every five pensioners, four in every five single parents and four in every five large families face fuel poverty that's when their energy bills come to more than 10 per cent of their weekly incomes.

"About 35million people in 13.5million households are under threat of fuel poverty in October that's an unprecedented 49.6 per cent of the UK."

He said Cobra needed to convene, adding: "A vacuum exists because the Prime Minister is on holiday, the Chancellor of Exchequer is on holiday and the two leadership candidates for prime minister are on the campaign trail.

"Not enough thinking is being done at the centre of Government about this major social crisis - the biggest issue that we're facing in the next few weeks.