THE SNP have hit back at the Labour Government after Ed Miliband said ministers were "relentless" in their efforts to bring down energy bills for Scots.
The Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary said that the UK Government was "standing up for Scottish consumers" in a column for the Daily Record on Saturday.
Miliband said that high energy bills were leaving many families and businesses across Scotland unable to keep up with rising costs.
He welcomed the news that energy regulator Ofgem announced a 7% reduction in the energy price cap for duel-fuel households from July 1, but conceded that "this is a long way from job done".
"Building clean homegrown power is the only way to take back control and protect billpayers from repeated price spikes. That is why the government is driving the most ambitious upgrade to Britain’s energy infrastructure in generations through our Plan for Change.
"We’ve already consented enough wind and solar projects to power two million homes, secured more than £40 billion of investment in clean energy announced since July, lifted the onshore wind ban and set up Great British Energy with its headquarters in Aberdeen – Britain’s first publicly owned energy company in more than 70 years."
The SNP have criticised the comments, arguing that Labour's "unjust transition" has left families facing "sky-high" bills and oil and gas workers "in fear of losing their jobs".
SNP MSP Kevin Stewart said that Labour's "broken promises" on reducing energy bills did not show "relentless progress" but "a failure to deliver".
During the General Election campaign last year, Labour pledged to bring down energy bills by £300. The SNP have previously said that household energy bills will need to come down by more than £450 in order to hit that pledge.
Stewart told The National: "Ed Miliband’s claim that Labour is working ‘relentlessly’ for Scotland will be no consolation for the thousands of Scottish families still facing sky-high energy bills, rising living costs, and broken promises or for oil and gas workers that are in fear of losing their jobs because of Labour's unjust transition.
"The reality is that, even after yesterday’s announcement, Scotland’s energy bills remain £152 higher than when Labour came to power, despite a clear promise to voters that they would cut bills by £300. In fact, Labour still have £452 left to cut from bills before they meet their election promise. That’s not relentless progress, it’s a failure to deliver.
"Scotland is an energy rich country but our vast natural resources are controlled by a Westminster system that refuses to act in our national interest."
