The Labour Government has failed to tackle the high cost of energy bills

Writing in the Daily Record, First Minister John Swinney says people are going to struggle to afford their heating this winter.

I know a lot of people won’t be quite ready to hear this, but summer is almost over. The kids are back at school, the nights are getting a bit darker and before you know it, you will be putting the heating on.

It has never been a point in the year many people look forward to. But over the last few years, it has increasingly become a time of real concern for people.

Bills have skyrocketed and so many families across the country have struggled to pay – often going without other essentials to make ends meet. In an energy rich country like Scotland, I do not think that is acceptable.

Bills began to get truly unsustainable under the Tories. And Keir Starmer went into Downing Street with a promise to make things better – pledging to reduce bills by £300.

What has happened instead? Bills are more than £150 higher than they were this time last year. It is no wonder that people are truly scunnered with Labour.

On Wednesday, we will find out if bills will rise even further when Ofgem publish their latest energy price cap review – which sets out the maximum amount suppliers can charge you for energy.

But no matter what it shows, the fact is that going into this winter people are going to struggle to afford their heating.

I think that the cost of living crisis and stagnating living standards are the defining political issue of our time. And with energy bills higher than before, and food costs continuing to rise, it is clear that the Labour Government does not have an answer.

They have completely failed – and are trying to distract people by scapegoating migrants and refugees rather than coming up with any real solution to help people. It is very low politics.

It does not have to be like this – other countries are taking action to support people. Leaving families to deal with unaffordable bills is a political choice by the UK Labour Government.

It is not a choice I can imagine making. But thankfully for us, Scotland can make another choice.

With independence, we could choose to finally make our vast energy wealth work for us – capitalising on our low-cost renewable energy resources to bring down household bills.

People can’t afford yet more Westminster government. We need real change – and the only change that will actually work for Scotland is independence.

Gaza

The situation in Gaza is continuing to worsen. Israel is undertaking a ground assault on Gaza City and a new UN-backed report has confirmed Gaza is now officially suffering a famine.

More innocent Palestinians are going to die. Israel cannot get away with this. And the international community cannot just stand by and watch.

Israel’s latest outrageous escalation must be a further wake-up call to the international community. We have to see a clear and determined international effort to put a stop to this genocide.

And as part of that, it is clear that the Prime Minister must apply the strongest possible sanctions against Israel, end all UK arms sales to Israel and use every ounce of international influence the UK may have towards putting an end to this brutal assault on the people of Gaza.

In the meantime, I am determined that Scotland does everything we possibly can to help. On Friday, we committed to bring up to 20 children from Gaza who need urgent, life-saving care to receive treatment in Scotland’s NHS.

This is ultimately a small measure – but it could be truly lifechanging for 20 innocent children who have already suffered far, far too much.

Baby box

We recently marked the 8 ^th anniversary of Scotland’s world-leading Baby Box – an innovation I am incredibly proud of.

I want to end child poverty in Scotland – and the baby box has now given more than 350,000 children the best start in life and helped new mums and dads with some of the essentials they need.

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