An SNP MP has branded the UK Labour government “out of touch” over their energy policy failures that are leaving Scottish households worse off than their English counterparts.
It comes after fresh analysis from Cornwall Insight revealed Scottish households could be left paying £96 more per year than households in London, despite Scotland producing much of the UK’s energy supply.
The bombshell report follows three consecutive increases to the energy price cap since July 2024, with bills now nearly £300 per year higher since Labour took office, despite their pre-election pledge to cut bills by the same amount.
Graham Leadbitter, whose Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey constituency, is home to several renewable energy projects and yet where household bills are among some of the highest in the country, has been campaigning for a Highland Energy Rebate which would see that injustice rectified by giving money directly back to households.
Commenting, Graham Leadbitter MP said:
“The Labour government’s energy record has been a complete failure that’s shown how out of touch they are with ordinary Scottish households.
“Whether it’s by their inability to bring down soaring prices, their slashing of the Winter Fuel Payment, or the huge differences in bills for Scottish versus English consumers, people feel furious at and betrayed by a government that promised to help them.
“They promised to cut bills by £300 per year, instead they’ve risen by nearly the same amount, levelling even more financial hardship on households still reeling from the Tory-imposed cost of living nightmare.
“And it’s fundamentally wrong that people who can see excess energy being produced from their homes are forced to pay more than people using the same energy 600 miles away.
“Labour must reverse their dreadful record on energy by lowering peoples bills, as they promised to do, and deliver justice to Highland communities by adopting my proposals for a Highland Energy Rebate.”
