LibDem Angus MacDonald: It costs four times more to heat my Highland home than my MP’s flat in London, as he warns of spiralling fuel poverty rates

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15 comments

  1. Oi, what’s this, mate? Four times more to heat yer place in the Highlands? Cry me a river! Back in me day, we didn’t have all these fancy central heating systems, did we? We didn’t sit there like softies moanin’ ‘bout the cold! Nah, we got on with it, tougher than a two-week-old steak. What, you want a medal for struggling to keep warm in yer mansion up North? Let me tell ya somethin’—we were hard, REAL hard! I was born under the sound of the bells, right in the middle of East End proper. The clang of them bells didn’t just wake you up, they punched ya right in the gut, mate. And if you didn’t get up and get on with it, you were outta luck. I had it tougher than a bag of nails.

    Look at the Scots back in the day, eh? You had the likes of Rob Roy and William Wallace, proper men of steel, marchin’ through the mud, snow, and blood, fightin’ for freedom, like a proper warrior class. These lads wouldn’t be complainin’ about fuel prices—they’d be out there choppin’ wood with one hand while fighting off an English army with the other! Now look at ‘em—can’t even turn on the heater without gettin’ all dramatic, spoutin’ off about spiralin’ fuel poverty! Wah, wah, wah, poor you! Back in my day, we didn’t need all these electric gadgets to keep us warm. You had yer coat, yer boots, and yer grit—straight up, no nonsense.

    These new Scots? Pfft, you’d think they’d all gone soft, all cozy in their flannels, cryin’ over bills! Where’s the spirit, eh? The fire? The pride? It’s like they’ve replaced their backbone with a yoga mat and a gluten-free diet. There’s no way on God’s green earth Wallace would’ve ever been caught whinin’ about a price hike. He’d be out there rippin’ through the Highlands, tellin’ everyone to toughen up. Instead, now, we’re all sittin’ here watchin’ ’em whinge like they’ve never seen a cold day in their life. Soft, mate. SOFT.

    As for me, I’d be lucky if I had a warm bed to sleep in! I had to fight to keep a roof over my head, had no help from no one. You think I’m gonna sit around cryin’ over a draft? Nah, mate, we didn’t do that. We got tough or we got gone. So, before you go on about fuel prices, maybe take a second to realise how much harder it could’ve been—how much harder it WAS, ‘cause this lot today wouldn’t last a day in the trenches we were put through. Now they’re all woke and complaining. They’ve lost the plot!

  2. This information is completely worthless without knowing the details of the two properties. Is his home an old stone cottage for example? We live in one now and compared to our previous 90s semi the heating bill would be double or triple if we didn’t have our own supply of firewood. Before we bought our first house we were renting a small flat and almost didn’t need to heat it at all as the lady downstairs had heating on 24/7. This is not to say fuel poverty is not a thing, or that it isn’t getting worse. I just hate these stupid meaningless comparisons.

  3. Because I know people aren’t going to read it, the article is less about the difference in energy prices between the south of england and scotland, and more the difference in price between mains gas and electricity.

    I wouldn’t say the solution here is to install mains gas to the 70+% missing it in the highlands, I’d be more in favour of not tying electricity prices to the price of gas. I get the idea – if (hypothetical figures) renewables ~~makes~~ costs 1p per kwh and gas ~~makes~~ costs 5p, you’ll get much more returns investing in new renewables. But it doesn’t seem to be having an effect on the consumer. That needs to change somehow.

  4. Over the last two months, the Highlands have had the second or most expensive prices for electricity. Our standing charges are some of the most expensive out of the 14 power regions – only beaten by Southern Scotland and North Wales. This is despite the fact we provide huge amounts of energy for the UK – and enough to power the entire Highlands and Islands many times over. Communities look out over hydro dams, wind turbines, solar power units, biomass plants and tidal power units and get basically zero benefits.

    While kWh unit rates in London are a fraction cheaper, standing charges are 50% cheaper which can mean huge savings off the bat. Coupled with the warmer temperatures and more modern housing stock, average annual usage in London is around 3,000kWh per year and over 4,000kWh in the Highlands. In the Northern Isles it’s as high as 8,300kWh: [https://www.shetland.gov.uk/shetland-statistics/energy](https://www.shetland.gov.uk/shetland-statistics/energy)

    On top of this, only around 60% of properties in the Highlands and Islands have a gas connection. This means they need to heat their properties with electricity, usually via THTC meters, or liquid gas or wood. This is extremely costly and the UK Government does not offer any financial support or discounts on these methods – and they are not regulated in the same way electricity and mains gas are.

    As Octopus Energy has said for yonks, true regional pricing zones and networks need to happen.

  5. Latitude 56+ N, it’s always going to cost you more.

  7. Massive house in Roshven costs more to heat that a flat?? No shit !!
    Posh twat.

  8. *Tory multi-millionaire and sinking-ship-jumper Angus MacDonald.

    Only ran for the LibDems to get a seat in parliament and knew the Tories he funded wouldnt get him there

  9. My energy bill is up at about £80 a week just now and that’s like 60-70% heating. 😭

  11. Another toff moaning about the price of heating his country pile, rather than actually engaging with the real day-to-day concerns of his constituents.

  12. He’s a 62 year old man with 4 children (now adults) who’s quite well off. I would assume his home in the Highlands is probably at least 3 bedrooms, where an MP flat in London would only need to be 1 bedroom.

    Even if he wasn’t referring solely to the unit cost of heating, it would still be more expensive.

  15. Aye ok Angus ya walloper, your house is more than 4 times the size of that flat, much more than 4 times bigger!

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