Evening News: SSP call to renationalise utility firms
MASSIVE fuel price rises have made the case for renationalising gas and electricity companies, Tommy Sheridan has claimed.
The Scottish Socialist Party leader said the recent increases made a mockery of the Scottish Executive’s plans to reduce fuel poverty and proved the free market did not work. He said the only way to deal with the situation was to take the energy companies back into public ownership.
Record increases in British Gas prices came into effect last week, putting gas bills up by 12.4 per cent and hiking electricity bills 9.4 per cent.
And ScottishPower has announced a ten per cent rise due to come into effect on Friday.
Mr Sheridan said: "ScottishPower and Scottish Gas are clearly exploiting their market dominance to fix prices.
"Privatisation and competition are driving ever more Scots into fuel poverty, making a mockery of the Scottish Executive’s pledge to reduce fuel poverty.
"The case for publicly owned power companies is there for everyone to see. Scotland has a surplus of power and yet prices go up with yet more Scots facing fuel poverty.
"The power companies should be taken back into public ownership and the obscenity of Scots who can’t afford to heat their homes ended."
