Isles MP Angus MacNeil says island families are paying the price for Westminster’s failure - and will likely continue to do so for at least the next seven years.

His warning comes as the new Ofgem energy price cap reduced yesterday (Thursday, May 25) means households will still be paying around double for energy than they did in 2021.

And grim predictions have been made that energy bills will not return to 2021 levels until around 2030 at the earliest.

Angus MacNeil MP said: “Families in Na h-Eileanan an Iar are paying the price for Westminster failure, with the typical household energy bill double what it was in 2021 and wages falling behind soaring inflation – showing exactly why Scotland needs to escape Westminster control as an independent country.

“Scotland is an energy-rich country, and it’s absurd the UK government is forcing families to pay through the nose for a resource we have in abundance while it refuses to reinvest the huge profits it is raking in from Scotland’s north sea oil and gas.

“Westminster should be using these profits to give families in Scotland an energy bill rebate – and it should match the ambition of progressive SNP government policies, like the £25 a week Scottish Child Payment, to help families struggling with the cost of living.”

He was speaking after Ofgem made a slight reduction in the energy price cap to £2,074 a year for the typical household from July. This is almost double what households paid in 2021 (£1042). And prices are set to rise again in January. The impact will be even greater for island residents, which have one of the highest levels of fuel poverty in the UK.

Meanwhile, the UK government has also withdrawn the £400 energy bill rebate, which along with wages trailing inflation, means families are worse off than they were pre-pandemic.