Letter to the Editor: If W C Fields were alive today he would no doubt suggest the motto of the electricity companies and indeed government should be, “Never give a sucker an even break”.

How many companies can you name, dear reader, that have doubled the price of their product in less than a span of one year. My electricity company was charging 16 pence per unit (1 kWh) in January 2022 and is now charging 33.9 pence per unit in October 2022 – over doubling the unit charge (I won’t mention the standing charge).

Foreign electricity companies must be laughing all the way to the bank at the naive, inept, engineering and economical incompetence of our major political parties. Good of government to pay the power companies £400 to help with my power bill, which effectively comes from our taxes. As the power companies would say: “Heads I win, tails you lose.” This is not to overlook the so-called smart meter, which has cost the country £13 billion so far, and you just have to look in the mirror to realise who pays for this nonsense in their electricity bills.

On a brighter note, if you wish to save on electricity and have delicious tasting cooked food, then buy an air-fryer — also my latest book, All Smoke and Mirrors, obtainable from Amazon, and which shows how to save 4,000 kWh hours per year.

Dave Haskell,

Cardigan