In order to not save the world from supposedly dangerous anthropogenic global warming (because UK GHG emissions are tiny – and going downwards – in comparison to emissions from China and India, which are huge, and increasing), the UK climate change committee has recommended that householders set their central heating thermostat to 19C. This is 2C below the temperature which most people living in Britain consider to be ideal. It is also 2C below what Age UK recommend for older people in their living rooms, in order to maintain health.

The original idea was that the government insulated people’s homes and encouraged the building of new eco-homes so that it became much easier (and cheaper) to efficiently heat our living spaces to a ‘comfortable’ temperature. It seems that’s not good enough anymore. In order to get to zero emissions by 2050 – thereby virtue-signalling our way into decimating our industrial competitiveness, our environment, economy, and the social and physical mobility of large swathes of the populace, whilst doing virtually nothing to change the climate – we must not heat our homes to the perceived optimum temperature for normal, healthy people and have them a full 2 degrees Celsius colder than that which is recommended to maintain the health of elderly and sick people.

Nice. Politicians on 78 grand a year plus extremely generous expenses, will no doubt be able to afford to heat their taxpayer funded second homes to 21C or more all winter. Meanwhile, the sick and the elderly will be made to feel guilty about turning the thermostat beyond 19C in order to preserve the precious futures of the Greta Thunbergs of this world, presuming they can even afford to do that once the government has stolen their pensions. Maybe they’ll even get around to banning thermostats which can be set higher than 19C – after they’ve banned wood burning stoves of course.