Comment: Fife standing on precipice of a harrowing winter

Panic buying amid fuel shortages, empty shelves in shops, rising energy bills, scrapping the Universal Credit top-up, and, next week, an end to the furlough scheme, will have a painful impact on the lives of many families.

Every single one of them will hit home - and hit home hard.

The financial choices really are stark - heat or eat.

The alarm bells being rung frantically by local frontline charities need to be heard before people fall through the growing gaps.

The decision to end the £20 Universal Credit top up alone will hit tens of thousands of families across Fife.

For those who made the decision, £20 may well be a tiny sum.

For families who relied on it to keep their heads above water, it is akin to severing a limb.

The resilience they needed to get through lockdown has all but evaporated - and their vulnerability is very, very real.

As a community we must do all we can to support those in most need.

Businesses, families and individuals can all play their part. Even the smallest gestures of support can make a huge difference to people who stay in your town, and whose kids go to your schools.

The frontline organisations which support them also need our help - they cannot do this alone.

We stand on the precipice of a harrowing winter.

It is not being alarmist to describe this as an emergency unfolding in real time.