DOUGLAS Ross has defended Liz Truss’s plan to freeze energy bills despite the fact this will hit taxpayers in the pocket over the coming decades.
The Scottish Tory leader told BBC Radio Scotland he supported the new Prime Minister’s plan to borrow almost £100billion in order to pay for freezing bills at around £2500 a year, rather than applying a windfall tax to oil and gas giants.
The plan will leave taxpayers to foot the bill over the next 20 to 30 years while energy firms are expected to make £170bn in excess profits over the next year.
But Ross said it was important to ensure investment to boost energy supply going forward.
The Moray MP also revealed he supported plans to lift a ban on fracking in England and dodged questions on whether he would call for more money to be handed to Scotland in the UK Government’s block grant after the Scottish Government was forced into making £500m of cuts to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Asked about the energy price cap “handout” Truss would be announcing, Ross said: “It’s a massive intervention and I think this rapid announcement shows the scale of the problem affecting individuals and families, and of course businesses, who need support.
“We are looking as we did during the pandemic at getting support out quickly, this is a huge package of support to help people immediately and supply some confidence going forward.
“The Prime Minister said yesterday we also want to ensure there is continued growth, we want to boost domestic energy supply and that means investment and innovation by the energy companies.
“The energy companies are already taxed on this extra income they will be making but it’s also crucial that we don’t deter further investment going forward because if we are to get out of this cycle of increasing energy costs then we’ve got to boost domestic energy supply.”
Ross was then pressed on why the package of support being drawn up by the UK Government is not targeted at the most vulnerable and whether it was fair those with several jobs – like him – should get support when they don’t need it.
📻 Douglas Ross out of hiding and on the radio trying to defend Tory plans for energy firms to avoid a windfall tax from the additional £170 billion profit they’ve made meanwhile plans foodbanks and heatbanks get in place to help people in Scotland make it through the winter.
— Erik Geddes (@erikgeddes) September 8, 2022
He replied: “Well it will also go to households like yours Gary [Robertson, presenter] but crucially it is able to get to people very quickly.
“To get it to people quickly, to get it to businesses that need support and the families, the best way to do that is to have a policy that can be rolled out quickly. You’ll also know that part of the £37bn that’s already been provided by the UK Government offers further support to those on low or no income.”
The UK Government is also set to reverse a fracking ban in England, though this will not affect Scotland which has its own ban.
Ross was grilled on whether this combined with climate sceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg becoming energy secretary meant we could kiss goodbye to net zero.
He disagreed, but said it was important energy supply came from as close to the UK as possible and North Sea oil and gas jobs should be prioritised.
“The Prime Minister committed to meeting our net zero ambitions during the campaign,” said Ross.
“It’s also crucial though that while there is still a need for energy we have to ensure as much of that supply as possible is from as close to the UK as possible.”
Asked whether North Sea oil and gas jobs should be prioritised over climate change targets, he added: “Well I think Scottish and UK North Sea oil and gas jobs should be absolutely prioritised rather than the SNP and Green approach to shut off the taps and decimate that industry and import American gas or Russian oil.
Listening to Douglas Ross on the radio this morning flippantly gloss over climate change & rising temperatures to pander to Liz Truss's lifting of the fracking ban was stomach churning & skin crawling. A horrible wee guy in charge of the Scottish branch of a horrible wee cabal.
— Jay H (@jay_mfc) September 8, 2022
“The climate emergency is crucial but we also have people who need to heat their homes.”
Acting finance secretary John Swinney announced yesterday that in order to introduce measures to support people through the energy crisis, the Scottish Government would have to make £500m of cuts to services given that inflation has caused its budget from Westminster to decrease in real terms by £1.7billion.
But Ross only complained about the £20m put aside for a second independence referendum rather than call for more cash to be sent north of the Border.
Ross added: “Scotland already has the largest block grant ever since devolution.
“What we heard yesterday was a raft of cuts but the one area that was protected was for another independence referendum.
“The public can now see Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney, the SNP and the Greens prioritise holding another independence ref and the cost that will come to the taxpayer over the services they are cutting.
“I always call for as much money as possible coming to Scotland but I want to see it spent in the right way.”
