Boris Johnson has told MPs that the UK must “abandon the phobia of our own hydrocarbons” for energy security.
At Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) Boris Johnson was asked by SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford about the soaring cost of inflation, as Chancellor Rishi Sunak is today setting out his Spring Statement
It was confirmed this morning that inflation rates in the UK have rocketed to 6.3%, a new 30-year high, sending up the prices of fuel, energy and food.
Mr Blackford said the “very people who borne the brunt of the health pandemic are now being hammered by the poverty pandemic,” adding that it is an “emergency”.
He asked whether the UK Government will raise benefits by 6% – the level the SNP has increased child payment benefits, which are under its devolved control.
Mr Johnson’s reply pointed to a £9.1bn package to support families with the cost of living.
The PM also took a jab at the SNP and Green party’s opposition to new oil and gas developments, while the UK seeks to increase the use of domestic supply rather than overseas imports.
He said: “We all recognise that global inflation is causing a real cost of living crisis, not just here but around the world. In the US, inflation is now running at more than 8%.
“We’re doing everything we can to help people, the Chancellor is putting another £9.1 billion into reducing the cost of energy for families.
“We want to do more, and I can tell him that Scotland is in the lead in helping this country to solve its energy problems, not just with more offshore wind, but by abandoning the phobia of our own hydrocarbons which I think are going to be vital for the transition and avoid us being blackmailed by Putin’s Russia.”
It comes as the UK is soon expected to announce a British Energy Supply Strategy.
Watch the full exchange above.