Out of touch with life, says MEP

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MEP Paul Nuttall has described a likely £3 a week rise in household energy prices as "unacceptable."

"It goes to show how out of touch those in Government are with the man in the street. To those in power £3 a week may be insignificant but to those on the breadline and the jobless it means a great deal.

"It is the price of a couple of loaves, four cartons of milk or four cans of beans," said Mr Nuttall, UKIP Euro-MP for the North West.

The Government's Energy Bill is to be unveiled next week but already experts are predicting annual household increases of £170.

"This is the result of politically correct green policies, such as building yet more ugly useless wind farms," said Mr Nuttall.

The proposed reforms will see homeowners and businesses asked to fork out around £7.6 billion a year towards the cost of building greener power stations by 2020 and a decade later the average annual fuelled bill is expected to reach £1,427.

"The whole agenda is driven by the EU and its carbon targets. It is madness which future generations will look back on in disbelief," said Mr Nuttall.

"In the North West we are sitting on 4.6 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, that is the real answer to this country's energy needs."