Today many elderly people, those who feel the cold most, can not afford escalating gas and electricity bills.

With fuel bills rising steadily, Help the Aged now puts the figure of pensioners facing fuel poverty at five million across the UK, with many having to choose whether to "heat or eat".

I can recall those sort of choices. The early months of 1947 were amongst the coldest on record. Coal, gas and electricity were in short supply. Like most homes, ours did not have central heating and relied on the coal fire. None was delivered.

My task was to chop up wood but wood burns quickly, and soon became hard to find. We were desperately cold.

Finally dad took the baby's pram and walked miles through the snow to a coalyard and returned with a sack of coal. Our family were all middle-aged or young and we survived.

Households in fuel poverty are defined as those in which more than 10% of their income is spent on energy. In 2006, 3.5m households were fuel poor. The majority were elderly people, the long-term sick and those with children.

A recent Citizens Advice Bureau report highlights the increasing number of elderly people who are in serious debt. If made to repay, they may find both heat and food out of reach.

But not just the elderly. The government boasts that it has raised the minimum wage to £5.73 an hour. It fails to point out that the increase is less than inflation and far less than fuel inflation. Over 80% of people have hardly had a pay rise in three years.

Now the financial crisis, brought about by the wealthy, will mean even lower wages and more unemployment. Fuel poverty will multiply.

The government has promised action. Its ministers mumble about cutting heat-loss in homes. But insulation does not help poor people pay fuel bills now and will not save lives this winter.

What should the government do? For a start, it should remove from its new National Economic Council all those financiers who have contributed to the economic crisis. They should be replaced by people who have experience of fuel poverty.

Second, it should adopt the Keynesian policy of substantially increasing the wealth of those on low incomes, not the rich. This would both enable them to pay their fuel bills and also to spend in shops, getting the economy moving again and reduce unemployment.

Thirdly, it should increase personal taxation on those earning over £100,00 a year and use this to improve the heat efficiency of homes.

Fourthly, it should introduce a special tax on the spivs and speculators who have promoted the economic crisis. Despite the Prime Minister's threats, they are still enjoying their gains which have harmed our society.

The by-election at Glenrothes is scheduled for November 6th. John Mason, who won the East Glasgow by-election, says the SNP will win again on its policy of recognising that its time for action - action to help hard-pressed households who are struggling to make ends meet with the soaring cost of food and fuel.

The Labour Party can only counter this if it puts the interests of these families ahead of those of its fat-cat friends.

Gordon Brown was once a socialist. In his excellent, approving biography of the great socialist MP, James Maxton, Brown's final comment is: "The secret of Maxton's conduct was an inherent sense of human equality."

Brown should live by that and strive to reduce, not widen the financial gap between the members of his new Cabinet and those in fuel poverty.

Bob Holman is a retired professor of social policy and a community worker in Easterhouse, Glasgow.