The SNP has called for a three hundred pound cut to household energy bills in next week’s UK budget, saying families need immediate support as prices rise again and Scotland faces another hard winter.
The call came on the same morning Ofgem confirmed bills will increase in January, a development that adds pressure to households already struggling with the cost of heating, food and transport.
The SNP argues that the cut would correct what it describes as Labour’s broken pledge to reduce bills by three hundred pounds, a promise made before last year’s General Election but never delivered, with prices instead rising by one hundred and eighty seven pounds since Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street.
Under the plan, the three hundred pound reduction would be delivered in the same manner as the previous Energy Bills Support Scheme with either a direct discount or a voucher issued to households.
The proposal would be funded by a windfall levy on major commercial banks as recommended by the Institute for Public Policy Research, which estimates such a tax could raise eight billion pounds each year for the rest of this parliament.
IPPR notes that profits for the four largest UK banks have more than doubled since interest rates began rising in December 2021, increasing by twenty two billion pounds compared to the pre pandemic period.
The SNP’s Westminster Leader, Stephen Flynn, framed the case in stark terms.
He said:
“The Labour Party can’t keep a promise, so we’ve decided to help them, tax the banks to cut energy bills.
“Chaos and the ongoing civil war in the Labour Party has already defined the Chancellor’s budget, and amongst all that chaos people’s real priorities have been lost and ignored.
“Instead of the Labour Party fighting amongst themselves, people would be far better off if we were all focused on fighting to bring down energy bills this winter.
“And for all the talk and speculation the Chancellor generated about breaking the Labour Party’s manifesto promises on tax, people equally haven’t forgotten the promises Keir Starmer made to them that his government would cut their energy bills.
“Labour promised people at the general election that they would cut energy bills by £300, everyone knows that they have instead gone up by nearly £200.
“This SNP budget proposal would immediately right the wrong of the Labour Party’s broken promises on energy bills and put money directly into people’s pockets this winter.
“Cutting the public’s energy bills by £300 this winter is one promise the Labour Party can, should and must keep.
“This policy can be fully funded through the IPPR’s proposal, which would see a tax on the big banks to cut energy bills.
“Unfortunately, Rachel Reeves has been busy briefing that she intends to let the banks off the hook in her budget, despite preaching to the public that each of us must do our bit to plug the black hole she has created in the UK Treasury.
“People will rightly ask what the point of the Labour Party is, if they aren’t prepared to introduce a bank levy that even Margaret Thatcher thought was a good idea.
“Labour desperately needs to think again, they must back this SNP proposal to tax the big banks so that we can finally cut energy bills.
“Energy bills have spiralled out of control under successive Westminster governments which treat Scotland as an afterthought.
“Ultimately, it is only with the fresh start of independence that we can harness Scotland’s vast energy resources so that we can permanently bring bills down by finally putting Scotland’s energy in Scotland’s hands.”
The SNP believes the proposal will dominate the final days before the budget announcement as households weigh the impact of yet another rise and look for signs of genuine relief.
