I have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt MP urging him to scrap the planned energy price cap rise in April as part of the upcoming UK budget.
I have serious concerns about the planned increase in the energy price cap which could see a further hike on the already soaring cost of household energy bills.
Millions of people across the UK, including in my region of Mid Scotland and Fife, are struggling to keep afloat amidst the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
Energy bills are already a source of worry for many given their unprecedented rise in recent years.
This is why I am urging any and all action necessary to be taken to mitigate against any further increases in household energy costs. The first point of action should be to scrap the planned rise in the energy price guarantee, and I am frankly astounded that the Treasury would go ahead with this increase following the recent news of record-breaking profits for energy firms.
I have also raised a motion in the Scottish Parliament highlighting the obvious and blatant profiteering by energy giants off the backs of ordinary people who are already struggling to juggle expenses amidst one of the greatest cost-of-living crises to be faced in the UK.
In the motion I highlighted the recent news of record annual profits from energy giant BP which have more than doubled to £23bn for 2022 at the same time as oil and gas giant Shell have reported record-breaking annual profits of £32.2bn for 2022, the highest amount in its 115-year history and double the previous year’s record.
The UK Government needs to stop letting energy companies off the hook and introduce further and proportionate taxes on the outrageous increases in profits made by these companies in order to help mitigate households struggling with rising energy costs.
While I imagine the Chancellor and I differ in terms of approach to economic policy, I would hope he agrees that the structure of taxation of companies in the UK needs to be overhauled to bring an end to the greed and excesses we are witnessing.
Shell has been able to pay more to its shareholders than it spends on renewable investments despite being a UK headquartered company – surely anybody can see something is wrong here.
The UK Government must take action to address the problems of energy giants making obscene profits despite paying very little tax in the UK and finally commit to a proper windfall tax on these record-breaking profits in order to help people simply pay their bills.
