All of a sudden, winter appears to be with us.

That means people begin to worry about their fuel bills.

Traditionally, the Treasury’s Autumn Statement has brought further misery, especially under Chancellor Gordon Brown.

No promises, but this time it might mean, if the Lib Dems can be persuaded, reviewing so-called green levies on fuel, which are partly spent on useless onshore wind turbines.

Energy bills have probably doubled in the last 10 years; big structural rises kicking off in 2003. I’d like to blame the last Government entirely, but the truth is that, over that time, wholesale prices have gone up 240 per cent.

But the previous administration did squeeze 14 energy firms down to the current Big Six, cutting competition.

It made matters worse by confusing the market with over 4,000 different tariffs, in true Gordon Brown fashion. In its last five years of Labour, two million more English households were dragged into fuel poverty.

The quickest way to save is to see about switching your energy provider. Ed Milliband threw this back at the Government, saying it was a “con”.

But, guess what? He’d already switched supplier himself, in order to cut his own private bills.

A few days ago, Mr Milliband told his people in the Lords to vote for decarbonising the power sector by 2030.

That’s all very well, but it would add another £125 to household bills at a time when my constituents are struggling already.

I’m very pleased we’re getting on with replacing our nuclear power stations. Hinckley Point C, near us, is just the start.

But why wasn’t this done 15 years ago?

As it is, we have to run like crazy just to stand still. And, for those who are queasy about nuclear, it’s worth remembering that if we didn’t build here, EDF would simply generate nuclear power just across the channel, flogging it to us at a premium and with no national control.