Scotland energy rich but forced to pay the price for Westminster’s failure
Scotland is energy-rich, and yes, Scotland could exploit its energy resources much more fully. Yes, oil and gas companies could be more heavily taxed in the UK.
Yet the UK government’s chosen route to pay for a freeze in energy prices is to: force £40bn of loans on bill-payers, with repayments lasting 10 to 20 years, starting in 2024; cut around £30bn of revenues from electricity-generating companies that produce zero-fossil electricity; and take out £185bn of additional government borrowing.
£185bn is equivalent to two years of the UK government’s entire education budget.
And that is for 24 months of domestic price freeze, and six months of a price freeze for industrial, commercial and public-sector gas and electricity.
This is just a sticking-plaster; a very, very expensive sticking plaster.
We will be paying for this sticking-plaster for years, or even decades, to come.