You may have seen me recently in the papers regarding Energy Bills, I am a member of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, and I have called for a Select Committee investigation into continually rising energy prices. I have sent a letter to the Conservative Chair of the Select Committee, Tim Yeo MP, requesting an instant and extensive inquiry into the energy market and the recent price rises. I will let you know his response.

The number of Scottish households in “extreme fuel poverty”, those who spend over 10% of their income to heat their home, had risen from 3% in 2002 to 10% in 2009. Yet, only last December, the biggest energy suppliers in the UK, announced more price rises again, despite only previously cutting prices by less than 10% when wholesale energy prices had been lower and when other European countries saw their energy prices rising substantially less than in the UK. It should be noted also that for every 1% increase in energy bills that means that 40,000 more households enter into fuel poverty. People in Glasgow and the rest of Scotland have been struggling to keep warm this winter, and the big energy companies are not being responsible and definitely not helpful to hard working families.

So I want the Select Committee to look into these price rises to make sure they know we are sharpening our teeth.

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