The SNP has urged the UK Tory government to act immediately as industry experts predict energy bills are set to soar even higher, potentially to £3,000-a-year.
Chief Executive of Energy UK Emma Pinchbenk said the conflict in Ukraine has seen the price of crude oil rocket again.
She warned that households can ‘expect bills to be anywhere between £2,500 and £3,000 in October.’
Household energy bills were already expected to increase to £2,000-a-year as a result of the cost of living crisis.
This, on top of increasing food bills and council tax, has resulted in the SNP to urge the Tories at Westminster to introduce measures that will help ease the cost of living for thousands of families.
Commenting, SNP MSP Emma Roddick said:
“Thousands of families are already suffering from a spiralling cost of living crisis and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is about to make things worse as the price of a barrel of oil continues to rocket to unprecedented levels.
“Ultimately, this will impact families on the lowest incomes, but the Tory UK government has done next to nothing to support them and see them through the crisis.
“We need to see real action from the Tory Chancellor.
‘He should introduce an emergency budget to support families through this crisis before we see thousands plunged deeper into poverty.
“This should deliver a Real Living Wage, reverse the callous £20 cut to Universal Credit and change his energy loan into a grant and to make the scheme more generous than it is planned to be.
“Despite the best efforts of the SNP Scottish Government to support families with game-changing policies to lift families out of poverty such as the Scottish Child Payment, it is still working to mitigate the callous decisions and inaction by the UK Tory government.
“It is only with the full powers of independence can we support every family in Scotland and build a fairer country.”
