Good PR, bad PR

The Guardian continues to assist Gordon Brown in his attempts to present a "£1 billion" package of energy measures:

A long-awaited £1bn energy package aimed at helping households cope with rising fuel bills, including improved cold weather payments of around £25 per head, will be unveiled today by Gordon Brown.

Meanwhile:

A senior E.ON executive was accused of insensitivity last night when he essayed a joke about high prices. Asked what expensive gas prices would mean this winter, Mark Owen-Lloyd said: "It will make more money for us."

Warming us up

In the Guardian today, Patrick Wintour tells us that:

Ministers and the country's leading electricity companies are expected today to finalise a £1bn plan to improve energy efficiency and help cut soaring fuel bills.

Last week, Wintour wrote of Gordon Brown's plans following his climbdown on fuel payments:

The prime minister still hopes to tout the programme as worth £1bn

And with your help, he has.

No gimmicks here

I would had some sympathy for Gordon Brown's claim that improving energy efficiency is better than short-term gimmicks on fuel payments if he hadn't tried and failed to introduce those same short-term gimmicks.

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that Labour backbencher Fabian Hamilton has warned the government of the political consequences of not doing something to help people in the short term. At the bottom of the piece is a staggering statistic from the Local Government Association, which argues that energy efficiency should be prioritised, funded by energy companies:

The association - which represents councils in England and Wales - says its research has found that the companies increased pay-outs to shareholders by more than a quarter of a billion pounds over the past year.

That is increased payments by a quarter of a billion. Does anyone think we're being ripped off?