ALBA Party Depute Leader Kenny MacAskill MP has today (Friday) hit out at the UK Government accusing them of “betrayal” over its plans to provide £100 in aid to households who rely on unregulated fuels such as heating oil as their main source of domestic heating. This was confirmed to Mr MacAskill in an answer to a parliamentary written question by the UK Minister for Climate, Graham Stuart MP.
In a statement Kenny MacAskill MP for East Lothian and said:
“This is an energy price betrayal and shows how out of touch this government is from the real needs of the people especially in rural, remote and island communities – many of whom have a reliance on unregulated fuels through no fault of their own, usually because they are off the gas grid.
“£100 is an insult compared with the soaring price of unregulated fuel which has gone through the roof with the price of heating oil alone having tripled over the last year. It is a wholly inadequate level of compensation for people who are not covered by the Ofgem energy price cap.
“Over 200,000 households in Scotland use an unregulated fuel source such as fuel oil or bottled gas to heat their homes rather than electricity or mains gas as their primary source of heating. Of these 125,000 rely on oil as the main source of heating.
“This announcement fails to take into account the dire financial circumstances families are facing with sky rocketing energy bills.
“It shows where this government’s true priorities lie – tax cuts for the rich, lifting the cap on bankers bonuses and a pathetic pittance for people in real need.