This will be a hard day for millions of households. From today, average energy bills will go up by an eye-watering 54%. It is a devastating increase that will decimate household budgets and plunge thousands of people into fuel poverty overnight.

It’s a move that has been decades in the making. Successive governments have cosied up to the fossil-fuel lobby and viewed energy policy as something to enrich oil and gas companies rather than provide vital services that we all rely on. They have focused on private profits and fossil fuel exploration rather than investing in clean alternatives.

There has been no shortage of warnings and missed opportunities. David Cameron visited the melting ice caps in the Arctic and presented himself as an environmentalist, but his decision to “cut the green crap” and slash funding for renewable energy initiatives added billions to energy bills.

The impact has been hugely exacerbated by Downing Street’s cosy relationships with oligarchs and Putin associates. This may have swelled Conservative Party coffers, but it has distorted our economy and left us far more dependent on fossil fuels and polluters.

Far from “levelling up”, the Tories have served to increase inequality. The richest have seen their wealth soar, but millions of people have been punished. This has only intensified since Boris Johnson came to power, with research from the New Economic Foundation showing that the number of families living in poverty has increased by 300,000 over the last two years alone.

READ MORE: Judge Boris Johnson and his colleagues on their actions, not their words

It is vulnerable and marginalised communities who are being hit the hardest. The cruel benefit cap and policies like the bedroom tax have trapped thousands in poverty and destitution, with the Universal Credit cut alone taking over £1000 a year from people who were already being stretched.

None of this is an accident. The Tories are all too aware of the impact of their decisions. Their vision of the economy is one that works for big businesses and the rich. They know that millions of people are struggling, and they know about the misery that they are causing and the poverty they are imposing. But that hasn’t stopped them. They just don’t care.

That poverty manifests itself in many ways, including poorer health, housing and access to education. People who live in poverty are far more likely to experience poor physical and mental health, and to work in low paid jobs and live in cramped and overcrowded accommodation.

But rather than addressing these issues and their causes, consecutive governments have chosen to point the finger and traded on hatred by scapegoating marginalised communities. Theresa May’s hostile environment didn’t come from nowhere. It was built on years of reactionary policies and a foundation of prejudice and inequality.

It doesn’t need to be like this. If our recovery is to be one that works for everyone then our economy must do the same. That means taking a totally different approach.

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It means planning our policies around needs rather than multinational profits. It means curbing the influence of big business and addressing issues like poverty wages and poor working conditions. It means providing a voice for workers and supporting public services, sustainable jobs and the green industries of the future.

It means acting against exploitative companies like P&O that are running roughshod over workers’ rights. The UK Government has condemned P&O’s decision to sack 800 workers without notice, but words are not enough. It has refused to take action against the company and has repeatedly demonised trade unions and refused to ban fire and rehire.

With Greens in government we are taking big steps to build a fairer society. Through negotiations with the Scottish Government we secured measures to mitigate the benefit cap and are increasing the Scottish child payment by £15 a week, which will be worth an additional £780 a year for every eligible child.

We are introducing a requirement on companies that receive public sector grants to pay at least the real Living Wage and give workers a voice, including through trade union representation.

By 2032 we will deliver 110,000 affordable homes and invest an additional £50 million over the parliament to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. We will complement this with the introduction of new rights and protections for tenants, including rent controls.

These are big changes that will mitigate some of the damage being done by Westminster and build on important policies that have already been introduced, like free bus travel for young people and free school meals for primary school children.

They will make a significant inroads into tackling child poverty and help those most in need at a time when the UK Government has abandoned them. However, as important as these changes are, they cannot be the extent of our vision or the height of our ambitions.

The last two years have been harsh and painful for far too many. The economic policies being pursued by Downing Street left us badly prepared for the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and skyrocketing energy costs.

The society we rebuild must be better. We are at a crossroads, and this generation of politicians will be judged by how we recover, and who that recovery works for. We will be judged by how we rise to the challenge and how we respond to the climate crisis.

Every day I am contacted by people who are in desperate situations. It is these people I am in politics to help, not the oligarchs who want to buy our democracy or the energy companies who are celebrating record profits while their customers are suffering.

I am very angry about the poverty and inequality that is at the heart of our economy, and about the stress, anxiety and economic violence that is being inflicted by a cabinet full of millionaires. But I am also hopeful: we can deliver a different future. Our job must be to plan and then build an economy that works for everyone.