Millions of citizens face a painful cost shock with soaring energy bills.
In Great Britain, this is even slightly stronger than in many other European countries, because gas boilers are used extensively on the island for heating.
Taking all gas and electricity price increases this year together, the annual bill for a typical UK household will rise by nearly £2,300 to £3,550.
Another jump is already threatening in January.
In the winter months, many people will hardly have the financial means to heat their homes reasonably adequately.
Eating or heating?
The tax cut announced by Liz Truss, who is likely to be the next prime minister, by withdrawing the increased social security contributions will help the middle class, who will have a few hundred pounds more in their pockets net.
But millions of pensioners and social security recipients are not helped because they do not pay the social security contribution, so the relief is passed them by.
For them it will be particularly bitter.
A winter of freezing and deprivation threatens, some have to choose between heating and eating.
To alleviate the cost shock, Truss will be forced to issue new multi-billion dollar grants.
How should this be financed?
Labor leader Keir Starmer's call for another special tax on energy company profits is popular with voters, and the Conservatives will probably come back to it.
Freezing gas prices, as Starmer is calling for, would be wrong, however, because the incentive to save energy would then disappear.
However, there must be a socio-political compensation.
The fact that the British have particularly high energy bills is also due to the unfortunately poor building fabric of many houses.
With thin brick walls, rickety single glazing, and often even leaky windows, many homes are real gas and money-burning machines.
A major offensive to better insulate the homes on the island should have started years ago.
The fact that no stronger investment incentives are created for this remains a major oversight.