Had it been the opposite, England benefitting from reduced zonal pricing, then this U Turn would not have ever occurred

Liz S

It is being reported in the newspapers that Labour Minister Ed Milliand has abandoned plans to charge less for electricity in Scotland. This was reported as such in The Guardian newspaper.

However in the Daily Mail (the non so called ‘Scottish’ edition) they reported it as this:

“Ed Miliband ‘abandons zonal electricity pricing’ plan that would have charged people in southern England more for power than Scots” just so that we all know whose side they , the Daily Mail, are on i.e. not the “Scots” .

This is the same story as The Guardian but with a different pro English spin put upon it.

Unsurprising that The Telegraph also put the same pro English spin on this story as they reported “Ed Miliband has abandoned controversial plans to charge southern households more for electricity than those in the North”….

Meanwhile neither the Daily Mail or The Telegraph will concede that currently the place in the “North” as in where the “Scots” live is the country that is supplying approximately 2 million English homes with electricity via a large-scale subsea electricity cable to transmit renewable energy from Scotland to England.

Instead these English rags are trying to promote that the sweaty Jocks , who they as rags , often love to report as being those within the UK, as a nation , are those who are heavily subsidised by the UK, and who were, via via Zonal pricing, potentially going to gain yet ‘another’ benefit as in ‘cheaper electricity’. (which they as Scots see their own country Scotland produce in abundance).

This is where we in Scotland are already paying way more than the English for our electricity. (another fact that these two rags and other like them will ignore as it does not suit or fit their anglified agenda , which is to present Scotland as the poorest, neediest , weakest link and most -supposedly- subsidised people within their UK).

It seems to me that Labour’s GB Energy, which they reported was a way for them, as the new Labour UK government, to be able to get energy bills down is now clearly nothing but a damp squib of a Labour supposed ‘UK’ project, the GB Energy HQ may be located (tactically for political reasons) within Scotland but it has proven to be nowt but an empty gesture as there is no tangible benefits that have come to Scotland via reduced energy prices or jobs since Labour won the UK GE last July !

We did however see Ed Milliband many tweets in respect to reduced bills for various areas within England in places like Hospitals , Schools and Colleges , thanks to what he referred to as being a GB Energy projects …so the power and advantages lies only with regions within England in regards to GB Energy and not the place , Scotland, where it’s supposed HQ is based.

Who knew Scotland would be ignored by UK Labour ?

Well we all did on here (and others did too) and we also knew that after reading about GB Energy that it was just yet another Labour party initiative that was created as yet another opportunity for private investors to benefit from yet another Scottish resource , while the people of Scotland would see nowt of benefit from something that is yet another very valuable Scottish resource stolen to mostly benefit other areas in the UK (and too the UK government’s Treasury) that is sourced via our country, Scotland.

It was reported in March this year that:

“The boss of one of the UK’s biggest energy providers says people living in Scotland could have the cheapest electricity in Europe“.

“Greg Jackson, who founded Octopus Energy, wants the electricity market to be reformed to introduce zonal pricing“

“He argues that if prices were based on local generation, the high levels of renewable energy being produced in Scotland would keep bills low”

Now with what has been a backlash against Zonal pricing Labour are now said to have done yet another U Turn , as we cannot have the sweaty Jocks benefitting from something their own country, Scotland, produces, as the UK (mainly English media and politicians) will not condone this or indeed allow it and neither it seems will Labour either as the current UK government, hence the U-Turn.

(Had it been the opposite, as in England benefitting from reduced zonal pricing, then this U Turn and backlash would not have ever occurred as it would have been ‘all steam ahead’ ).

Liz S

8 thoughts on “Had it been the opposite, England benefitting from reduced zonal pricing, then this U Turn would not have ever occurred”

  1. I am with Octopus Energy. A couple of weeks ago I received an email to say energy prices would be going down from 1st July. They then set out what the changes would mean for me.

    The result: my ANNUAL bill will reduce by a munificent £5.43p. Blink and you miss it.

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    1. I switched to Octopus last year and my energy bill has definitely reduced. Also last autumn when the evil Westminster administration cancelled our winter fuel payment, Octopus, maybe because we are a priority customer due to age and medical conditions, gave us a lump sum of several hundred pounds towards our bill. And this year they gave us the option of a fixed tariff, or a variable charge. So with this experience, they seem to be one of the fairer energy suppliers.

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  2. Zonal pricing already exists in the UK . Scotland has lower average temps so pays more on average for heating/lighting etc…

    Energy companies already pay zonal charges to access The Grid – high in ”The North ” /Scotland low in ”The South”/England .

    Labour doesn’t appear to be against Zonal Salaries , witness their acceptance of ”London Weighting ” whereby wages are higher in London because it is so expensive living there- tell that to those on the Scottish islands !

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  3. O/T

    Is the rot finally setting in on the Tory party ?

    Just how many current and previous politicians at different levels will the Tory party lose from their party to the Reform UK party.

    The latest two are a former Tory Welsh Secretary Sir David Jones and now we have Sir Jake Berry also announcing that he too has defected to the Reform UK party.

    We also had Anne Marie Morris a former Tory MP also defect to Rerform.

    Then in the recent English local elections we saw ………..

    Former Tory MP (and Tory Minister) Andrea Jenkinson elected as the Reform UK Mayor of Lincolnshire.

    Also the former Tory Councillor Sarah Pochin now is a new Reform UK MP.

    Various former Tory councillors have also now defected to Reform UK as Councillors in Scotland and also elsewhere within the UK.

    Also the former (useless and so short lived ) Tory PM Liz Truss now vocalising her support for Reform UK.

    So who the H else , as both current Tory politicians or former ones , now sees a potentially brighter future aka better career prospects for themselves with the Reform UK party who, as a (pretend) party, are polling higher than the Tories ?

    Well quite believable is a former Tory MSP and MP……….one Ross Thomson (political blast from the past and one we all hoped would have stayed there in the political past).

    Thomson an ex Tory MSP and then also an ex Tory MP who was confusingly someone who went over to America to support the Trump election campaign, then he became employed by Trump International resort in Balmeadie , Aberdeenshire . He also canvassed last year for the Tory party in the 2024 UK GE but now he is yet another Tory who has defected to the Reform UK.

    Is this perhaps him seeing an opportunity to get back into politics , as his time as a Tory politician is very much dead in the water and so unable to be resuscitated due to his own stupidity and also now his very much obvious lack of loyalty to them.

    Ross Thomson tweeted this on 26 June 2025:

    “On #BBCQT tonight, @CllrKerrwas outstanding – straight-talking, honest, and full of common sense. While the old parties rehashed the same tired lines, Thomas showed exactly why Scotland needs Reform”.

    “@ReformUKScot”

    He also tweeted this three days before….

    23 June 2025 tweet by Thomson

    “The decline of the North Sea, the loss of jobs, isn’t inevitable – it’s a political choice We can still unlock 7.5 billion barrels, add £165 billion to the UK economy, and save 200,000 jobs Scrap the windfall tax. Grant new licences. Start drilling again “

    So what epiphany has Thomson had that made him change from being a Tory last year to now being a Reform UK member this year …..well I suspect recent results of dire polling for his former party has swayed him as well as the rising polling outcomes for his ‘new’ adopted party Reform UK.

    Some of the proverbial (Tory) rats are now abandoning the sinking (Tory) ship………..and all that they formerly declared as Tories , where they all told us that the Tory party was best , that it, as a party, was the most successful UK government(s) and so then the only party that we all should vote for in all of the previous elections within their UK……is now as declarations by them to be forgotten and so rejected ?

    Indeed only positive things did they all , as former Tories , communicate about their former party but now it seems that all of these supposed virtues and attributes connected to their former party (the Tories) have now all mysteriously disappeared and they have now all miraculously re-emerged under Reform UK.

    ( I wonder could Douglas Ross even possibly also join Reform UK as I think his neck has been well polished and is the brassiest it has ever been and he would be a perfect fit for them too).

    The Q is with all of these defections………..was it a case of the Tories, as a party, were always bad and so were always failing people within their UK throughout the time that these various former Tory politicians were in the Tory party and not, as they are all now trying to suggest, as in it all just being a sudden realisation by them of #ToryBad……….as in an collective epiphany.

    I strongly suspect it is the future dire political ‘writing on the wall’ for the Tories that is currently showing that they , as a party, have now fallen and may not rise any time soon.

    So that means that some of these former Tories as in, ‘Grifters gonna grift’ , realised that their future careers can only be sustained or reborn by them defecting to Reform UK.

    As we also have others , no longer active as a Tory politician, now seeing this as an opportunity to re-emerge (be reborn) as a new Reform UK politician and perhaps, they hope, their new political careers managing to reach certain new dizzy heights within their newly adopted party, Reform UK.

    I mean the no longer active and former Tory politician Ross Thomson was praising another Tory Defector to Reform UK, one Thomas Kerr’s appearance on BBC QT in Scotland recently , but the same Ross Thomson had formerly tweeted this…

    18 July 2024

    “? Why don’t those wanting to break up the Conservative Party muster the courage of their convictions & establish their new party”?

    “To paraphrase Margaret Thatcher, “You can separate if you want to, the Scottish Conservatives are not for separating.”

    “My @MailOnline comments”.

    Also……

    24 October 2024

    “I’m proud to have voted for @KemiBadenoch to be Conservative Party leader”.

    “Kemi is authentic, courageous, and brings a refreshing approach to politics. She stands for true Conservative values and will renew our party and our country”.

    So I wonder if he, Thomson, has been deleting historical tweets supportive of his former party, the Tories, as I saw this online but it seems to no longer be a tweet:

    “I’ve written for @ConHome examining the recent local election results and the impact of voting for Reform . Spoiler alert it’s a win for (Labour?)………” only to get this message come up “Something went wrong try reloading” aka that was a sure sign of a deleted tweet.

    (Thomson had written in this article in Conservative Home in May 2024 that “a vote for Reform UK in the UK GE would hand the keys of Downing street to Keir Starmer” and he also wrote in this article that “the Conservatives must offer an inspiring conservative vision for the future. There should be a vision, rooted in conservative values, that transcends the immediate challenges and offer a compelling picture of a nation brimming with hope, opportunity, and aspiration”.

    Well that never lasted long for Thomson as in June 2025 , just over one year later, he announced his defection to Reform UK. So what changed then for Ross Thomson?

    #SelfInterest that is perhaps combined with #NewCareerProspects

    Let’s be honest here Reform UK are nothing but a new version of the Tory party, as even their current leader, Farage, and also many of their existing MP’s and many Councillors were all former Tory supporters and members. Their deputy leader, Richard Tice, was also a former Tory donor .

    So if any Scots are indeed considering voting for Reform UK next year in the Scottish elections and who, as voters, formerly would never ever vote for the Tory party , then I really hope that they all realise , as voters , that in them now considering voting Reform UK next year then they are now just actually changing their voting habit in now voting Tory.

    Not really rocket science is it, as in with so many former and existing Tories being so very comfortable to move from the Tory party to the Reform UK party , that in itself is very telling and so self explanaTORY (Ha Ha) that they all are very much politically one and the same , in what is now really just a reinvented Tory (new pretend) party ?

    It seems for UK politics there is little distinction between Labour-the Tory party-Reform UK party.

    Now we just need a collective epiphany to be had by more voters in Scotland to that indisputable fact based on current evidence in policy and rhetoric from all of these UK parties.

    The scavenger party, the Lib Dems, are just those who mop up the votes of disillusioned former Tory voters and also those other voters who just cannot bring themselves to vote for any other UK parties, as it seems that as voters they prefer the party (Lib Dems) who jump on and off popular and unpopular bandwagons . (Oh and who also, as a party, has as a current MP who has been proven to be a LIAR -as in one A. Carmichael ).

    No wonder so many of us are beyond frustrated and also demented at times with the apathy and ignorance of some of our fellow Scots, that then allows this UK political circus to continue and so Scotland still being compelled to endure it as a terrible situation.

    So when will the rot finally stop for Scotland as a nation still confined within their clearly decaying and so quite unbearable UK ?

    Liz S

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    1. @ArtyHetty

      Byline Times ‘Scotland’ and then there is just plain old ‘Byline Times’ (UK version….minus Scotland?)

      Both set up as a supposed ‘alternate’ media to MSM.

      I mean why is it Scotland, as a nation within their UK, is the one that should always be expected to “be grateful” while the UK media and politicians in England never show their gratitude or appreciation for all that Scotland has contributed (via no choice but) to their UK.

      Recently we have also heard Labour government Ministers state to SNP MP’s in the HOC that Scotland should say “Thank you” to UK governments for their supposed generosity to Scotland, yet when did Scotland ever get any thanks or recognition from various UK governments , that it, as a nation within their UK, has contributed vast amounts of revenue for their UK Treasury via Scottish oil and also via our very much sought after, by other countries in the world , Scottish Food and Drink products as exports that also benefit their UK finances.

      Now there is Scotland’s vast potential and capacity for Renewable energy which is yet another Scottish resource we are also now seeing that they, Labour as a new UK government, are seeking to also exploit and so steal it for others benefit within their UK , as some bad habits just cannot be stopped by them as UK governments.

      #ElectrictyFromScotlandToEngland as in the #ElectricitySuperhighway

      Indeed all that we hear from Labour (and other parties) and also their media about Scotland is that it, as a nation, is regarded by them as a nation within the UK that is supposedly over subsidised by others within the UK. (they really mean subsidised by England)

      Scotland is also expected to always ‘follow’ England in all that they choose to adopt as policies and decisions etc even when those policies and decisions end up being disastrous .

      As to the so called UK internal market , well that is simply where a UK government restricts the legislative powers of the devolved nations in economic policy. Only when it is seen fit to be adopted by England is it then ‘allowed’ to be adopted by the devolved nations via their respective governments. It’s main intention is to place constraints on devolved nations as basically it is a UK government’s “power grab” post Brexit upon devolved nations. Indeed nowt but yet another centralised UK government dictating to us what we can and cannot do.

      Not a lot to really be grateful for is there, for Scotland or other nations outwith England within their UK.

      I mean their logic is that this should only be a one way act of gratitude from us to them , as in to be seen as an act from Scotland, and also other devolved nations , towards the English parliament dominated by MP’s representing English constituencies, maybe they should be more ******* grateful none of the devolved nations citizens have revolted, via a majority, at such an unjust political system that has existed within their UK politics over such a long long long period of time……..

      Also the best way to ‘revolt against’ the Byline Times (various versions) is not to support it, buy it (as they do produce paper copies of it) or indeed not encourage anyone to read it……so who are they an actual ‘alternative’ to , as far as media is concerned ?

      ******* sick of this…..(fill in the blanks as Byline Times Scotland will seemingly not do that for us Ha Ha)

      Liz S

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  5. Scotland pays more for fuel and energy. Despite being in surplus and nearer the source. There is no parity.

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