What a tangled web we weave....

Did you hear what Ed Miliband had to say about electricity and gas bills a while ago?  It’s pretty clear.  No room for wiggle.  A straight talking politician telling you exactly what they are going to do. Here are his words.  Exactly.  “The next Labour government will freeze gas and electricity prices until the start of 2017.”  That's what he told you and I the voters. And then backed it up with an advert. 

But wait a minute, what’s this in the small print that he didn’t tell the voters.  Labour spin-doctors wish to point out that they said in September 2013 that they would set up a body with “the power and remit to force energy companies to cut their prices when there is evidence of overcharging, for example when wholesale costs fall and the market fails to respond.”  Er, what?

The same note also stated: “we will put a stop to unfair price rises by freezing energy bills up to January 2017 for people coping with a cost of living crisis.”  Got that?  But that’s not the same thing as what Ed said.

So what Ed said to the voters and what Ed's spin team are putting out as small print on the story are rather different.

When the Labour party tweeted today "It’s pretty simple. When energy prices go down, your energy bills should go down too." they showed the Labour Party is complete ignorance as to how the energy markets actually work. Worrying for a party that aspires to government.

But that’s a story for another day.