By Bill Heaney
Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer will today put a kilt on the case for change with a Labour government on a joint initiative with Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar to launch Scottish Labour’s General Election campaign.
Sir Keir will make the point that after two failed governments in Scotland – the Tories and the SNP – Scots are now much less willing to believe that politics makes a difference.
Highlighting the ‘need for a new feeling in politics’, Starmer will make a point of encouraging people to play their part in changing Britain and championing Scotland.
Labour leaders for Scotland and the UK – Sir Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar.
Focusing on the decision the public are faced with at the General Election, Starmer has said that it is an opportunity to finally “turn the page on 14 years of Tory Government and the failed SNP, and to chart a new course for the country.”
A Labour government “will bring down energy bills for good”, as findings show that the average family remains hundreds of pounds a year worse off due to 14 years of Tory energy failure and 17 years of SNP misrule in Scotland.
This comes as projections in today’s Ofgem’s energy price cap announcement shows that bills will be £1,574 per year for a typical household on a default tariff from the start of July. This leaves the average family paying a staggering £400 a year more than a few years ago.
On Labour’s first step to set up Great British Energy, he said: “With Labour, Scotland will lead the clean energy revolution. We will set up Great British energy to give Scotland the future it deserves. Cut your bills for good, boost our energy security, and it’ll be headquartered – here in Scotland.”
The Labour Party is committed to delivering the change that Scotland needs by setting up Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean power company, headquartered in Scotland, that will invest in clean power to help cut bills for good and boost energy security, paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas giants.
Great British Energy will invest in homegrown, clean energy to boost Britain’s energy independence and cut bills for good. Early investments will include wind and solar projects in communities up and down the country, as well as making Britain a world-leader in cutting edge technologies such as floating offshore wind. GB Energy is one part of Labour’s plans to reindustrialise Britain with the biggest investment in clean energy in British history.
Labour’s plans will reverse fourteen years of failed Tory energy policy during which the government has blocked investment in clean energy and left us fallen behind, as well as a new, changed politics for families across Scotland and beyond.
Starmer added: “After 14 years of Tory chaos, people across Scotland are desperate for change. Families are picking up the tab of 14 years of Tory energy failure and are expected to remain a staggering £400 a year worse off under the new price cap.
“We can’t just send a message in this election, we must send a government – but we can only do that if we rebuild trust and chart a new course for the country.
“The Labour Party is humbly asking for the opportunity to change the country. To serve the entire country. To be clear, there is no national renewal without a strong Scotland. There is no Labour without Scotland. There is no changed Britain without Scotland.
“A Labour government will take Scotland in a different direction and give people hope for the future. Labour will stop families paying over the odds for energy. Great British Energy, our new publicly owned energy company, will invest in homegrown clean energy to boost energy independence and cut bills for good.
“When I say let’s get Britain’s future back, we say it with one voice. Scotland is at the beating heart of that mission.
“It’s time to stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild with Labour.”
Anas Sarwar said: “Scotland is crying out for change, and it falls to Labour to deliver the change we need.
“After 17 years of SNP failure and 14 years of Tory chaos, Scotland has a chance to deliver a government that is on the side of the working people of Scotland – with Scottish MPs at its heart.
“A UK Labour government with Scottish Labour MPs will boot the Tories out of office, maximise Scotland’s influence, bring down bills, make work pay and deliver the change that Scotland needs.”
Ends