Activists place ‘headstones’ by parliament to highlight deaths from cold homes

Greenpeace activists have erected hundreds of cemetery “headstones” made from insulation boards outside parliament to warn a failure to tackle cold homes is costing thousands of lives. Greenpeace UK estimates more than 70,000 excess winter deaths in the UK were linked to living in cold, damp housing conditions in the decade since the coalition government slashed support for home insulation measures. In a protest at what it described as the “needless and shocking” deaths from living in cold homes, the green group installed headstones in Victoria Tower Gardens and an eight-metre-long funeral wreath reading “cold homes cost lives”. Watch more on Independent TV: Click here to subscribe to The Independent: About The Independent: Making Change Happen. The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking newsbrand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded.