Who’s conning who?
How bizarre.
It seems both the Conservative-led Coalition and the Labour Party have claimed credit for a price freeze announced by energy supplier SSE.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re asking: Why is this bizarre when politicians claim credit for good news all the time?
Simply because SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies went on the record to say the decision had been swung by Ed Miliband – as you can hear on the video (above)!
The company is the second largest supplier of electricity and natural gas in the UK, incorporating SWALEC, Southern Electric, Scottish Hydro Electric and Atlantic Electric and Gas.
Its prices will be frozen at their current levels until 2016, which is good news for 9.5 million customers – and a good reason for them to consider giving Labour their vote.
The downside is that 500 jobs will be cut to minimise loss of profits. Four planned offshore wind farms will also be shelved, but many may be glad to see the back of the controversial wind energy projects.
Most interesting of all is the way the BBC has avoided reporting any suggestion that this could be a major coup for the Labour Party.
It’s possible that this could provide another reason to vote Labour in 2015…
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The BBC coverage gave me the impression of Miliband grubbily grubbing for credit for something that could just have well have been down to the Tories efforts.
Of course I know that’s not true. Wasn’t the idea of the freeze once described as “Marxist” by the Tories?
Reblogged this on Beastrabban’s Weblog and commented:
Another example of highly selective reporting by the BBC, which looks like a conscious decision by their news department to promote the Conservatives. And the price freeze by SSE, who agreed with Ed Miliband, is indeed one reason to vote Labour in 2015
The ABC in Oz is criticized for being Left leaning but I suspect it is running interference and is part of the problem.
Is this blog suggesting that because the company is dropping support for renewables we should vote labour.!!!
Of course not. Nor is it saying you should vote Labour because 500 jobs are being lost.
The downside had to be shown for the sake of balance but we don’t have all the details – for example, we don’t know how the job losses will be carried out. Will it be through ‘natural wastage’, in which people who are retiring will not be replaced? With the windfarms, the plans will only be shelved and may be revived in the future. Wind power is hugely controversial and, as the article states, some people may see the loss of the projects as a reason to give their support.
In any case, these are the actions of SSE and not Labour. Labour’s responsibility lies entirely and only in encouraging SSE to freeze its prices. Labour cannot be held responsible for these other decisions.
whilst SSE freezing prices is a good thing that Labour can take some credit for, they are doing it at the expense of jobs (bad thing) and wind farms (another bad thing) so that their profits are protected. In other words they couldn’t care less about people, jobs or the environment. Nice people!
See my response to Mike.
Also, there is a good comparison to be made with the Conservatives here. The Tories want to encourage fracking in all possible corners of the UK. They won many votes by claiming theirs would be the “greenest government ever” and have now completely reversed that by deciding to “drop the green sh*t” (I believe that was the phrase). The Tories’ attitude to people and jobs is already well-documented, so if you want to discuss an organisation – involved in this – that couldn’t care less about people, jobs or the environment, it’s the Conservative Party.
Jenny Howarth on Facebook makes this, extremely important point: “And that is why Labour keep quiet. They know that as soon as they say anything, the Cons will nick it and then try to make it out they thought of it first and it was Labour that nicked it.”
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