When is a loan not a loan? If I were to give you money, and expect you to pay it back, most people would consider that a loan.
However, the Chancellor was insistent at Treasury Select Committee that his “buy now heat later” energy support rebate, which will be applied to all customers at some point later this year, and repaid in instalments over the next five years wasn’t a loan, and shouldn’t be considered that way.
I’ve been inundated with concerns about this from the public since I raised this matter in Parliament, particularly as there is no opt-out for this £200 loan.
The Chancellor believes he knows what’s best for people but I can’t imagine he’s ever been in the shoes of some of my constituents who have felt the ongoing stress of watching the electricity run down, wondering how they’ll keep the lights on, never mind heat their homes.
Disabled people and those with health conditions, in particular, have to no choice but to put their heating on to stay warm, to run equipment to make sure they can live.
There has been no recognition of this by the UK Government, and no uplift to disability and legacy benefits to deal with the
spiralling cost of living crisis. I was glad to see the Scottish Government increase the six benefits they control, and the UK Government should also act.
For the 4.5million customers who are on pre-payment meters a lot of uncertainty remains over how this scheme will operate.
A significant number of customers have been put on pre-payment meters as they had gone into debt on their bills – paying back a bit of that debt every time they top up.
The Chancellor suggested that his £200 “rebate” will be applied to pre-payment customers in a series of £40 vouchers but couldn’t say how that would work in terms of existing debt, or how that would be paid back over the next five years.
Adding that Government debt on at the meter would be a devastating blow for people struggling to get by.
There are no guarantees that energy bills will be any lower when this loan needs to be paid back, and the economist Paul Johnson, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told the Treasury Select Committee that the Chancellor would struggle to get this money back in at all.
A much better alternative would be for the Chancellor to recognise the real challenges people face with their energy costs and to turn his “rebate” into a grant for customers.
As bills go through letterboxes this week, more and more people will be dragged into fuel poverty.
France has put a four per cent cap on energy bills, while in the UK the cap is at 54 per cent, with an indication it will go up again later in the year.
The UK Government has raked in additional funds from the VAT on energy – the Chancellor must come back to Parliament after Easter to set out much stronger protections for our constituents.
Hosting generosity stalled by visa delays
The scenes from Ukraine and the brutality of the Russian forces have been hard to comprehend but I have been incredibly moved by the generosity of constituents who have applied to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes.
There is experience in Glasgow of people who have hosted people fleeing conflict, and those have fallen through the gaps in the UK Government’s hostile environment, and it’s so heartening to see this welcome expanded.
It was recently revealed that only 210 visas had been granted for Ukrainians coming to Scotland as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme. There remain difficulties in bureaucracy, with Ukrainian women and children stranded in mainland Europe awaiting the UK Government’s slow and bureaucratic machine to process them and their hosts.
I hear real frustration from my constituents who just want to get on with this and have no answers to give those waiting for sanctuary. It seems bizarre for the UK Government to put more barriers in the way of Ukrainian women and children – who are, after all, refugees who have suffered trauma – preventing them from getting to a place of safety when people have generously offered to host them.
The UK Government must move more quickly to support those fleeing, so we can all play our part in supporting and welcoming Ukrainians.
War crimes must be investigated
I have been horrified by the scenes of devastation from the Ukrainian cities of Irpin, Bucha and Mariupol.
The scale of Russian brutality is unimaginable.
My heart goes out to all Ukrainians. Russia’s war crimes must be investigated and a commitment given by the rest of the world to rebuilding and supporting Ukraine and her people.
Alison Thewliss is the SNP MP for Glasgow Central.
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