Taxpayers are footing gas and electricity bills for multi-millionaire Scottish Secretary Alister Jack – while vulnerable families cut off their supplies in terror at rising prices.
The MP – who is a senior member in Boris Johnson’s zombie government – claimed £4059 of utilities for his second home on expenses over the last three years. But a Sunday Mail investigation has found thousands of pensioners and low-income households are being forced to “self-disconnect” because they have no money to put in pre-payment meters.
We also uncovered reports of customers asking engineers and plumbers to turn off gas supplies rather than face crippling bills. Our revelations have been branded “scandalous” by Labour MSP Neil Bibby and come as millions face financial oblivion after energy regulator Ofgem hiked a price cap on households by a staggering 80 per cent.
A typical gas and electricity bill will rise to £3549 a year from October, sparking fears lives will be lost this winter when people are unable to heat their home and millions plunge into fuel poverty.
Despite the unprecedented crisis, there has been virtual silence from the UK Government – with PM Boris Johnson having just returned from his second summer holiday in two weeks.
He now intends to spend his last days in office at his country retreat Chequers, while Tory leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have been unable to set out what they will do to help people.
West of Scotland MSP Bibby said: “It is scandalous that senior Tories are claiming eye-watering amounts of money for energy at the same time as their Government is set to plunge millions of Scots into fuel poverty.
“We face a tsunami of fuel poverty but both of Scotland’s governments are failing to act. It is shameful that the Tories are sitting on their hands and the SNP government also needs to understand that it is a political actor – not a commentator on this crisis.”
Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman added: “This illustrates just how far removed Conservative politicians are from the plight of people facing soaring energy costs.
“When they claim back these kinds of sums from the taxpayer, you can see why they are so divorced from the urgent need to act to prevent this national tragedy unfolding right now.
“They will never need to live with the fear of being disconnected or being unable to cook for their kids or whether the freezing cold might take them in the middle of the night.”
While ordinary households suffer, aristocrat Jack – who made £20million from a storage unit rental firm and owns a 1200-acre country estate in the Borders – hasn’t had to worry about some of his own bills.
The MP for Dumfries and Galloway claimed £1140 last year, £1608 in 2020-21 and £1310 in 2019-20 to cover utilities at his second home in London.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, meanwhile, claimed £1742 in utility bills for his London house over the last three years. Of the other Scottish Tories, Andrew Bowie claimed £1360, David Duguid £2736, John Lamont £1797 and David Mundell £2237.
Tory leadership candidate Truss has been branded a “hypocrite” for claiming £4817 in expenses on gas and electricity in the last five years.
Truss, favourite to take over from Johnson next month, said she won’t “bung more money into the system” to help families if she becomes the next leader. Neither she nor Sunak have pledged further support or given any detail on their plans for the crisis.
So far, all that has been promised is a £400 rebate on energy bills, with low-income and vulnerable households receiving an additional £650.
Peter Kelly, director of Poverty Alliance, said: “We held a meeting with our member organisations this week and many said they are coming across people who are self-disconnecting.
“Usually that’s people who are on pre-payment meters who don’t have the money to top up – if those on standard meters are now asking to have their gas supply shut off, it’s another shocking example of how the UK Government has failed to protect them.”
An estimated 350,000 Scots are on pre-payment meters and Citizens Advice Scotland has seen a 61 per cent increase in demand for advice on gas and electricity bills. Grace Remington, of its social justice team, said: “If those on pre-payment meters can’t pay, they have no heat or power. That means no hot water, not being able to heat up food, not being able to keep food and medication cold in the fridge or stay warm in winter.”
The charity Age Scotland has told how a Renfrewshire woman in her early 70s asked for her gas supply to be switched off because she could not afford the cost of repairing her boiler.
The woman was also worried that her bills would shoot up because of rising prices and asked the engineer to completely shut her down.
Adam Stachura, head of policy at Age Scotland, said: “It’s shocking that it has come to this and that some older people feel they have no choice but to turn off their gas supply. As we approach our coldest and darkest months, the cost of staying warm enough in your own home to stay well and in modest health is even more unaffordable, causing this kind of drastic action.”
Energy UK, which represents all the major energy companies, urged people not to cut off their own gas.
A spokesperson said: “We’d ask every customer to please contact their supplier and see what assistance might be available.”
A ScottishPower spokesperson said: “We are actively engaging with Ofgem and the Government on what more can be done to help people, particularly the most vulnerable.”
The price cap, set by the regulator Ofgem, is rising by 80 per cent in October.
The price of electricity will rise on average from 28p per kilowatt hour (kWh) to 52p and gas will go up from 7p to 15p per kWh.
A typical annual energy bill paid by direct debit is currently £1971. In October that will rise to £3549
Pre-payment meter customers – often those on very low incomes – will pay an extra £59 a year from October, taking the new typical bill on a pre-payment meter to £3608.
Labour has said it will freeze energy prices and pay for the move with a windfall tax on energy companies.
A Scottish Conservative spokeswoman said: “These expenses claims are for the time our MPs spend down in Westminster, representing their constituents in the UK Parliament.
“We know that people up and down the country are struggling with their heating bills and may be facing impossible choices this winter as a result.
“That is why both the Scottish and UK governments will need to act to mitigate these enormous bills and tackle the cost-of-living crisis as a matter of urgency.”
Alister Jack was approached for comment.
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “We know people are incredibly worried about rising energy bills.
“Direct support will continue to reach people’s pockets in the weeks and months ahead.”
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