Fife charities are stocking up on sleeping bags while vulnerable pensioners may sleep in churches to avoid paying high energy bills, Gordon Brown has warned.
The former prime minister warned poverty in his hometown of Kirkcaldy and across the region is reaching levels he never expected to see again due to the cost of living crisis.
Mr Brown said the government must act now to help struggling families before energy bills rise again in October.
The ex-Labour leader told Sky News local charities and community groups are “dreading” the winter and said the Tories should consider capping bills.
‘People are going to go hungry’
He said: “There’s no doubt that people are going to go without food and they’re going to go hungry and cold in October if we don’t take action now.
“I talk to charities in my own area here in Scotland a lot. They are dreading October.
“They are stocking up on duvets and sleeping bags and hot water bottles and sheets and pillows and blankets because they know that people can’t afford to heat their homes anymore.
“I talk to churches and faith groups, and to their great credit, they’re thinking of opening their church halls as heating hubs, so that pensioners instead of freezing at home can have a warm place to go to.
“If charities and organisations in the community are taking urgent action to do something, I think it’s about time the government responded.
“The vacuum at the centre of government has got to end.”
The cost of living crisis has already been biting for families and businesses in Fife.
In June the boss of a local heating company warned this winter will be “one of the toughest in living memory”.
In May Fife Masterchef winner Jamie Scott revealed his energy bills had shot up by £73,000.
Nicola Sturgeon has written to Boris Johnson to demand an emergency meeting as the crisis escalates.
She said: “The cost of living crisis is worsening by the day. Food, energy & housing costs are soaring & destitution is a stark prospect for many.”
Her party’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, wants the departing Tory chief to recall parliament.
Mr Brown believes the prime minister should meet with Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to agree on a new package offering more support to struggling families.
He said: “I am seeing poverty that I did not expect to see ever again in my lifetime.
“I grew up in a mining and textiles town which went through a long period of unemployment and now unfortunately we’re back to some of the conditions we saw then.
“Foodbanks need more help, but they cannot do it on their own. Charities cannot solve this problem on their own, no matter how well-meaning they are.”