Highlands & Islands MSP says UK budget must reverse damage caused by Tory-made cost of living crisis

Highlands & Islands MSP Emma Roddick has said that tomorrow’s UK budget must deliver for households across the Highlands & Islands that have felt the ‘devastating’ impacts of the Tory-made cost of living crisis. 

Ahead of tomorrow’s UK budget announcement, Emma Roddick MSP has joined SNP colleagues in calling on the UK Government to deliver on her party’s 5-point plan – part of which calls on the government to cut the Energy Price Guarantee to £2000 and maintain the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme to the summer, saving households around £1400 on energy bills.

She said:

“Tomorrow, the UK Government must step up and implement a plan that will see folk able to recover from the devastating impacts of the cost-of-living crisis.

“Pre-cost of living crisis, households across my region were already facing some of the highest levels of fuel poverty in the country, and they have now faced a long cold winter with ever-rising costs.

“With energy companies making record profits and the wholesale price of gas falling, there is simply no excuse for the UK Government’s failure to act.

“Folk should not be struggling to get by in a wealthy, energy-rich country like Scotland, but, under Tory rule, that is the reality for so many.

“The SNP Government is doing all it can to mitigate the damage being done by UK energy policy but with limited powers, households in my region and across the rest of Scotland are still suffering.

“While the UK Government fails to act, it’s clear that only with the full powers of independence will we be able to secure the real change needed to implement fairer policies and protect our people.”

Notes:

• The Scottish National Party’s five-point plan:

1. Saving families £1400 on energy bills – by cutting the Energy Price Guarantee to £2000 and maintaining the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme to the summer.

2. Raising public sector pay and benefits by CPI – putting money into the pockets of millions of workers and delivering Barnett consequentials for Scottish spending.

3. Scrapping Tory plans to raise the pension age to 68, and reinstating the Triple Lock – so no one has to struggle in old age.

4. Re-joining the European Single Market – to boost economic growth and halt the multi-billion pound long-term damage being caused by Brexit.

5. Investing in green growth – by competing with EU and US subsidies to attract green investment.

• European wholesale gas prices for 2023-24 are down 75 per cent from their summer peak.
• As a consequence, the Energy Price Guarantee will now cost the government £26.8 billion – this is down from a forecast of £42 billion last November  (Cornwall Insights analysis and comparison).