LABOUR have been warned they must keep their promise to cut household energy bills by £300 – amid “chaos and confusion” over the pledge.
The SNP have demanded Keir Starmer stick to his guns and work to slash bills, as Labour faced a barrage of questions over uncertainty on the policy.
During the election, Starmer said Labour’s Great British Energy plans, which were laid before Parliament for the first time on Thursday, would reduce household bills by £300.
But since taking power the number had fallen by the wayside with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (below) ducking questions about the figure in a TV interview on Thursday morning.
Later, Starmer stood by his election pledge, saying he “wouldn’t make a single promise or commitment” that he could not keep.
Dave Doogan, the SNP’s energy spokesperson, said: “There is no question the Labour government must lower energy bills this year – and over the coming years. Households need urgent help with the soaring cost of living in the UK.
“The fact there has been such chaos and confusion in the Labour government over this issue is a worrying sign that there is no clear plan to lower household bills – and the pledge Labour made at the election is in danger of being broken.
“People in Scotland were promised change at Westminster – and they now expect the Labour government to get on and deliver it. Keir Starmer must set out exactly how much families can expect to see their bills lowered this year – and over the next four years.”
And there is uncertainty about when people can expect to see their bills falling, with Miliband saying he expected GB Energy to start generating returns – which he said was key to cutting prices – “within the lifetime of this parliament”. He refused to set out an exact date.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie (below) welcomed the creation of GB Energy but set out tests it must meet to avoid becoming “yet another cash cow for private investors”.
He said: “That means finally breaking the link between gas and electricity prices. That is how we can cut bills straight away, making zero-carbon technology affordable for more people, and making it cheaper and easier to warm our homes and buildings with clean, green renewable energy.
“At the same time as we are building our renewables capacity, we also need an immediate halt to all new oil and gas exploration and to scrap the dozens of licences that the Tories handed out in a climate-wrecking splurge.
“There is no time to waste. Warm words are not enough. We need bold and radical action if we are to avert climate breakdown. GB Energy could be a step in the right direction, but it is only the start of what needs to be done.”
Meanwhile the Tories said the public had been “sold a lie”, with former and now shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho saying GB Energy would involve “funnelling taxpayers’ money into reducing risk for multimillion-pound energy companies” while the 2030 decarbonisation target “will hike bills and ramp up our dependence on batteries and cables from China”.
