A £130 discount on a weakness called central heating

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            __
           /  \        %%%
          (axe )      %%%%%    ______
           |  |        %%%    |((  ))| <- a toy
  _________|__|_______________|______|______________
        the woodpile asks for no subsidy

The new chief of Britain proposes to make warmth £130 cheaper. Once, warmth was not purchased. It was split, stacked, seasoned, and carried in on a shoulder that did not complain. The invoice was sweat, and it was always paid on time.

Now the nation debates the standing charge — 29 pennies a day, tribute rendered to a pipe. A man who pays a daily fee for fire has already lost something no rebate returns.

They speak of heat pumps: machines that gather warmth from the air, quietly, without effort. Warmth without effort. Note the pattern. Softness enters through the radiator first.

My father heated a stone farmhouse with one stove, four sons, and a disapproving look. The house was never warm and no one ever mentioned it, because mentioning it would have been a second failure.

Accept the £130 if you must. Spend it on an axe. Split. Then burn.