Kirkie residents angry at rise in fuel costs

Campsie Branch SSP members brought the fuel prices issue on to the streets of Kirkintilloch on Saturday with a petition calling on the Government to “Take the Profiteering out of Heating your Home.” Kirkie residents queued up in anger to sign the petition that said, “We condemn the 17% gas and electricity price rises - to bills of over £1,000 a year.”

One angry Kirkintilloch resident said, "I am so glad the someone is highlighting how greedy these companies have got. The executives and profit takers won't suffer, but ordinary folk in Kirkie are. We'll have to turn our heating down and sit in the dark in the winter while they make billions."

Campsie Branch member, Mark Callaghan said, "Six big companies control supplies and fix the prices of our heating, electricity and fuel. They make obscene profits at public expense - Scottish Gas £700m; Scottish Power £502m; Shell oil £14billion (that’s £1.5million an hour!) – enough to run Scotland’s Education Departments and its NHS - and this would exceed the amount of money these departments receive at the moment!”

He went on, " Its time New Labour disappeared and the principle of taking the utilities back into the hands of the people was used to help people rather than banks like Northern Rock. Public ownership of the energy industry would cut prices; ensure we had a quick and painless switch to clean and sustainable forms of fuel; profits could go towards an investment of free insulation of every home and this in turn would help cut poverty and pollution. Sharing out the profit amongst the people of Scotland would improve lives from Shetland to the Borders rather than fuelling the 4x4's in Merchant City."

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Click HERE for the SSP Briefing paper on rising fuel prices.