Chancellor must take action to bring down energy bills, says SNP

The SNP is calling on the Chancellor to introduce a package of measures to bring down energy bills in this week’s Budget.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out the UK Government’s tax and spending plans on Wednesday in what will be the first Labour Budget in more than 14 years.

The SNP’s work and pensions spokeswoman Kirsty Blackman urged the Chancellor to make good on Labour’s pledge to reduce energy bills by £300.

The party also demanded the Government reinstate universal winter fuel payments for pensioners after Ms Reeves reduced entitlement to them.

Due to the new price cap which began in October, a typical household’s annual energy bill has increased by £149 to £1,717.

Ms Blackman, the MP for Aberdeen North, said Labour must now reduce bills by £449 in order to meet its pre-election promise – calling on ministers to set out a timetable for doing so.

She said: “Keir Starmer promised voters he would reduce energy bills by £300 but instead bills have gone up again on the Labour Party’s watch – with a typical household now paying £149 more a year.

“Instead of tackling the soaring cost of energy, the Labour Government has made it even worse by increasing household energy bills by 10%, taking £600 in winter fuel payments from pensioners, and proposing to increase fuel duty for millions of motorists.

“It’s no wonder the Labour Party’s poll ratings have plummeted so quickly when they have already broken so many promises – and left millions of households worse off.”

She added: “If the Chancellor wants to repair the damage to the Labour Government’s reputation, she must abandon her plan to impose billions of pounds of austerity cuts and fuel duty rises, and introduce a package of measures to slash bills, including reversing the cuts to the winter fuel payment, introducing a social tariff, and finally announcing when it will reduce bills by £300.

“It’s shameful that some of the poorest and most vulnerable people will be forced to choose between heating and eating this winter as a result of Labour Party cuts.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “In a world of volatile fossil fuel markets, we are confident a clean power system is the cheapest to build and operate.

“The effect on bills by 2030 depends on the pathway we take to achieve our policies, which we will set out in due course.

“In October 2023, independent experts modelled the effect of a clean power system on electricity bills.

“Based on the latest renewable generation costs available at the time, they found electricity bills could be up to £300 cheaper by 2030 when compared with the cost of electricity in July-September 2023, which was higher than today’s levels.”