So should we make fuel much more expensive in an insane effort to turn the "thermostat" DOWN?

The news is cold comfort to people facing a bleak winter as fuel costs and the price of food spiral above inflation, while benefits remain unchanged. Age Concern estimates that 3,000 people in the South West die every year as a result of the cold weather.

Martin Rogers, director of the charity in Exeter, said pension money could only go so far and people were faced with the choice of whether to spend limited resources on heat or food.