News of yet another hike in our fuel bills could not come at a worse time.
Usually our energy costs fall in springtime and after a chilly and stormy winter, most households would have hoped the pressure on finances might ease. Council tax is already getting hiked across Scotland and inflation and food prices are on the rise. It feels like we’re getting clobbered again and again.
When Labour came to power last year, voters hoped it might mark a turning point after years of cost of living hardship. Keir Starmer’s party, after all, promised to lower energy bills. So far in office, however, it has presided over three straight rises in Ofgem’s energy price cap.
The latest increase, announced yesterday, will add more than £100 to average annual bills and will drive many to despair. There’s just no let-up – household finances keep getting squeezed and the result will be more families slipping into fuel poverty, forced to choose between heating and eating.
As we report today, some industry chiefs think Scotland – with its abundant renewable resources – should have the cheapest energy in Europe. The reality is we have among the highest bills on the continent, and in the world.
We know the UK’s broken energy market, which is causing these crippling bills, can’t be fixed overnight. But Labour simply have no choice but to make reducing the energy burden on citizens a top priority.
The UK Government must open its toolbox to do all it can to help families now – and find a short-term fix while it works on the longer-term solutions that can bring down bills for good.
Nats dunce it
It is an outrage that Scotland’s poorest kids are falling even further behind the richest on school results.
At every level, the gap between those from the most and least deprived areas has widened compared to the previous year. And the proportion of kids leaving school after S4 is at its highest level for 14 years.
Nicola Sturgeon promised to close the attainment gap and said she should be judged on her record in education. Her record is now in tatters and this is just another example of a promise the SNP has failed to deliver on.
And it is kids in the poorest areas who will suffer. They will be less likely to be able to break the cycle of poverty and more likely to have problems in adult life.
At the same time, we have record school absences and rising violence in the classroom. The Scottish Government has to get its finger out and start delivering for our kids before it is too late.