We’ll invest £1bn in efficiency

It’s appalling that anyone lives in a cold home in a developed country in 2016.

The UK Government have frozen fuel duty for several years now to help family budgets and have taken 5000 of the lowest paid workers in Rutherglen out of paying tax to help protect the most disadvantaged.

The Scottish Conservatives have made it a manifesto priority to tackle cold homes.

Firstly, we want to invest £1billion in improving the energy efficiency of cold homes during the next five years. This would be targeted primarily at low income households in the first instance as its here that it will have the most transformative effect. We must also make sure we utilise all energy sources as part of the mix.

Renewable energy such as offshore wind can play a part but so can nuclear and, with a proper safety regime in place, fracking.

The other parties’dogmatic opposition to those energy sources is bewildering.

If we want to ensure energy is more affordable for families then we must take a pragmatic approach and exploit all sources which reduce the burden of energy costs on family finances.