The Majority of MSPs Support Our Call to Cut Scotland's Energy Bills

MSPs would vote to cut Scottish consumers' extortionate and unfair energy bills - if only Holyrood had the power!

Believe in Scotland’s petition, End the Scottish Energy Bill Rip-Off, which calls for an end to Scottish consumers' unfair standing charges, has now been signed by a majority of Holyrood MSPs.

The “End the Scottish Energy Bill Rip-Off” now enjoys a Holyrood majority despite not being signed by a single unionist parliamentarian. Furthermore, several senior unionist figures appear to have not responded to hundreds, and in some cases over a thousand, constituent emails triggered by the campaign.

We launched our petition on 7 January and it has now been signed by more than 7,700 people. It's called an action petition because as every signer enters their postcode, the system matches them to their MSPs (constituency and regional) and their MP, and automatically emails those elected representatives on their behalf asking them to back a call for lower energy pricing and an end to unfair standing charge penalties that target Scottish consumers. This new style of action petition works to force direct accountability on issues that really matter to the MSPs and MPs constituents. Thus, making it a call for action that can't be ignored or the public will see that their elected parliamentarian just doesn't care about their needs.

This means that the campaign has now triggered more than 65,000 constituent emails, making it a huge success as we pioneer this new high-volume direct contact campaign highlighting the unfair energy bills faced by Scots.

74 MSPs and MPs have registered support so far and all supporters are from the SNP, the Scottish Greens, or former SNP members now sitting as independents. It's an absolute disgrace that no Labour, Conservative or Liberal Democrat MSP or MP has registered support, despite all parties being given the same opportunity to do so through the same link sent to elected members.

Why Our Action Petition Tool is Different 

Our petition tool is different. Most petitions go nowhere and are easily ignored. This is a direct action tool. Every signature instantly becomes an email from a real constituent to the people elected to speak for them. We can now measure who is listening to their constituents and who is ignoring their needs on key issues. That swiftly exposes which politicians are willing to stand up for Scotland and those that are happy to just take their salary and sell out their constituents. 

We have now achieved a majority of Holyrood MSPs backing the call to end unfair standing charges and fix the pricing system that unfairly penalises Scotland. Yet the unionist parties are refusing to stand up for Scottish consumers even when their own constituents are contacting them in unprecedented numbers.

The Energy Bill Rip-Off in a Nutshell. 

Scotland produces vast amounts of lower cost renewable electricity. Scotland is an energy rich nation but because the key powers over energy pricing and regulation are reserved to Westminster, households and businesses here are being hit with some of the highest bills and standing charges in the world. Energy users in the Highlands have to pay £55.00 a year more than Londoners just to connect to the grid, when the Highland region is a key region providing low cost renewable energy to London. Independence would allow Scotland to build a fairer system that reflects the carbon impact and lower cost of the energy Scotland generates and that would mean the ability to cut energy bills by at least a third and ending unfair standing charges.

Evidence of constituent pressure and political silence

Our new system shows hundreds (sometimes thousands) of constituents have emailed senior political figures asking them to support the petition, with currently no recorded response to any of those emails coming to light, even after several weeks of asking petitioners to forward them to us.

The campaign highlights the following examples from its own email logs:

• Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has been emailed by 676 constituents
• Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander has been emailed by 115 constituents
• Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser has been emailed by 1,187 constituents
• Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has been emailed by 1,003 constituents

We have been forwarded close to 1,000 examples of the replies received by petitioners from elected representatives of all parties, but with the MSPs and MPs listed above there is currently no evidence of a single reply being sent to constituents. We hope this changes in the coming weeks and call on all parliamentarians to respond to their constituents' concerns. 

This petition gives ordinary voters a way to contact politicians at scale, and it exposes who is prepared to act and who is prepared to ignore their constituents' concerns.

Setting the Agenda

Our campaign is already influencing the public debate. It points to the Westminster Scottish Affairs Committee session on energy in Scotland held on 4 February, and says the unionist committee members had received a combined 1,252 constituent emails triggered by the petition.

However, the only MP on that committee currently registered as supporting the petition is SNP MP Dave Doogan (The only representative of a non-unionist party). 

Doogan told Believe in Scotland:

“Scotland is an energy-rich nation, but under Westminster control we are being consistently ripped off. Despite producing vast amounts of clean, low-cost renewable power, households here face higher bills and higher standing charges simply because of where we live. Under Westminster’s dysfunctional regulator OFGEM, households, generators and businesses in Scotland are being exploited by disproportionately higher costs and unjust charges. This represents a massive structural impediment to Scotland’s economy which will only be resolved with independence.”

What the Petition Demands

Believe in Scotland is calling on the UK Government to work with Ofgem to:

• End unfair extra standing charges for Scottish consumers
• Deliver a fair and transparent energy pricing system that does not damage Scotland’s economy
• Recognise Scotland’s contribution to clean energy generation through fair pricing
• Publish a clear plan, with committed dates, to lower energy bills for households and businesses
• Cancel all new energy price rises planned for 2026

What Happens Next

We will continue targeted advertising in areas with lower signature levels, we will increase pressure on high profile parliamentarians from any party that has not yet signed, and will soon publish an alternative standing charge system that would be fairer for Scottish consumers.